The last few years have thrown a lot of hurdles our way and may have forced you to reevaluate the direction you want to take with your personal goals and how you are going to get there. You may have had to stall some projects, reschedule or even cancel. So, here are some top tips from us here at Iconic to help keep you on the right track in getting where you want to be.
1. Without a goal you can’t score
Set yourself an end goal. This can be the hardest and most laborious step but it will also be the most valuable. Setting a tangible goal and writing it down makes it real. Jessie Mitton, Co-Founder of The WellNow Company offers some great tips to do this, here.
Don’t forget that it is also important to set a realistic time period to achieve your goal. A deadline can be a valuable motivator. You now have something to work towards and focus on.
2. There is no giant leap that does it, it’s a lot of little steps
Setting an end goal is important but the only way you are going to get there is by recognising what you have to achieve first. So, start small and build on it. British cycling coach Sir David Brailsford used the term “marginal gains” for this type of thinking. He focused on making small, incremental improvements in any process which when added together can lead to significant progress.
Achieving these smaller milestones is also a great motivational tool. Use these to your advantage in evaluating if you are progressing or not. If you are reaching your milestones then well done. If not, then something needs to be done about that.
3. You are who you surround yourself with
To achieve any goal in life you must surround yourself with people who share your values, support your goals and respect your vision. As the African proverb goes: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”.
Surrounding yourself with the right people in the coming months will be tantamount to getting to where you want to be. The presence of friends and support has been important to get us thus far, moving forward it will be even more important. Seek out mentors and peers that have experience in what you want to achieve. Glean information and tips from them whenever you can. The best people to learn from are people who have walked your path already.
It is a guarantee that, no matter what your end goal is, someone out there has walked your desired path before and is willing to share how they got there. Experience is the best teacher and by collecting as much knowledge as you can from the people who have that experience is invaluable.
4. Confide in others in your network
When others around you know what you are trying to achieve, at the very least, it can make it a lot harder to take a step backwards. Now you are accountable to them too. The fear of failure can be a powerful motivational tool, use it to your advantage.
Now, you don’t need to go telling the whole world. Start by telling those who you trust and have your best interests at heart. Achieving any goal in life is a tough task. But, with the right network of supporters around, you have the opportunity to find support away from your project.
5. Never stop learning
Achieving a long-term goal takes a whole lot of work, dedication, and consistency. But above all else, it requires constant learning. Read, watch and listen to as many people as you can to gain some insight into what is needed to achieve the goals that you have set out for yourself.
The internet is saturated with people passionately speaking about their experiences in everything from wellness to business to sports. There are millions of individuals out there that dedicate their life to bettering others and helping them achieve their own personal goals.
We have everything from podcasts to social media posts and blogs to books. We have access to more information than ever before. Don’t waste this opportunity to learn.
Doing what you love and loving what you do is a good way to live your life, but that alone is not enough to live a life of greatness and of monumental impact.