NY Goals--Simple Steps

Merry Christmas friends! We've got just a couple of days until 2014 and I for one, could not be more excited to run toward it! 

I want to encourage you to set goals for this year, if you haven't already. 

Simple steps:

1. Sit down and think about what you want, close your eyes and visualize your life at this time next year

2. Write down what you see

3. Find pictures and phrases that keep those goals in mind.

4. Place your goals, pictures and phrases somewhere that you will see everyday (backdrop of your phone, on your laptop, hanging on your wall, in your car--or all of the above)

5. Review your goals daily, don't write them down and put them in a drawer!

In the bible in Habakkuk 2:2, it says simply: "write the vision and make it plain."

Write it, see it, start to believe it, take action toward it and your goals will be achieved.

In health & prosperity,
Monica

New Years Goals: Start Now!

Warning: This post contains tough love & some bold flavors

Goal setting is one of my favorite topics and I get a little passionate about it. I've made so many mistakes in striving for goals, but also had several successes. I learn from it all and love to inspire others to move toward their personal goals. Here's your pre-January "inspiration" on goal setting.

In my world, the term "New Years Resolution" is a four-letter word. It's become a joke in our society, and almost an expectation that if you set a resolution, you are going to fail. This is crazy. Why as Americans do we start the year, setting ourselves up to fail on NY resolutions? Truly, I don't know the answer to that, but I do know the solution.

It's all about the set-up, the action/play, and the follow through. In other words, It's planning, preparing yourself for success, going after your goal with the right action, and keeping up with it.

The Set-up: Ask yourself these questions:

1. What do you want?
Be specific.  If you truly don't know, sit down in a quiet room with a piece of paper (yes, real paper!), and write down everything you can think of that you want, even if you start small. Write down material things, intangible things, goals, dreams, let yourself go with it. Then look at the list and picture 1-3 things that you want too accomplish or get in 2014, and put aside the rest of the list (just for now)

2. Why do you want what you want?
This is the most important step, because it determines whether or not you will get what you want. If you don't know why you want something, and you don't keep that in front of you, you will not hit your goals, because you will not stay consistent. It's so key.

If you don't have a true why toward a goal that you have set, then seek out finding a why or change your goal to something that does have a why behind it. This is vital.

3. Put your goals in front of you. 

On a white board, on index cards, as your phone/tablet background, on your bathroom mirror, at your desk, on your fridge. Do any and all of these. Trust me, do not skip this step. Put up both the what and the why. Use words & pictures. Both!

Do not put your goals in a drawer and open it next year. This is the silliest thing you can do (and we've all done it!), because you won't remember in a week what your goals were and then you will definitely not accomplish them at the end of next year ;-)

Then, if you want extra credit, read Imagine Big by Terri Savelle Foy. This is the best book I have ever read on dreaming big, accomplishing goals, and doing it with expectation and joy. This book changed my personal training business positively in 2013 and I plan to apply it even more boldly in 2014.

The Action: 

With each of your goals, what do you need to do daily, weekly, monthly to move toward accomplishing your goal. If you don't know or you've never accomplished the goal, you are aiming for, don't do this part alone. Find someone who has hit that goal and ask them to help you figure out what to do. Most of the time, we know what we need to do to move forward with our lives, or what habits we need to change. Having a mentor (who is further along than you in a particular area), to keep you accountable and to check up with on your actions & progress is vital. Be sure to share your goals with someone who has what you want, not someone is struggling with what you are struggling with, unless they are on a positive path to change it too and have already had success moving forward. About 30 days ago, I met with one of my mentors to talk about a financial goal. I have an appointment on Jan. 30 to talk with him again and report my progress...I do not want to have not made progress, so it motivates me, as I make decisions daily.

Create a system for yourself to remind you of your daily/weekly/monthly actions. I have a big white board that lists mine, so I see it all the time when I am home. Everyone has a different way of keeping organized, figure out what works for you.

The Follow Through:

Consistency is key, in anything. Don't expect to take one right action and all of a sudden arrive at your goal. That's silly. You may or may not see immediate results when you start pushing toward a goal. If your goal is to lose 50 pounds in 2014, you have 12 months to hit this goal or 365 days. Don't quit after day 3, when you don't see results. Keep those goals in front of you-- If you start to breeze by and not read your goals, change the picture, not the goals. Don't put them away. If I start to do that, I erase my dry erase board and re-write the goals in different colors or larger print, or I find new picture to add, whatever it takes.

Expect to make mistakes. Gosh, I dislike this one, but it's true. You are not going to be perfect all year, so don't focus on that. Focus on what you do right, not what you didn't do. I bet you do more good toward your goals (if you follow the above initiatives),  rather than bad. We naturally tend to remember the bad, so  you must focus on changing that thought process and work on remembering the good. Who cares what you did yesterday. You have today, you have right now, you have this moment to do something positive for your future. Go for it!

Focus on your strengths and you'll get stronger, focus on your weaknesses and you'll stay weak.

Evaluate yourself throughout the year--not with a critical, negative eye, but with a progression eye. If you get discouraged, look back and see what you've done to positively change yourself and move forward with your goals. You'll get excited about how far you've come and motivated to do more moving forward.

Start now. Like right now. It doesn't have to be Jan 1 to start working toward a goal. Do it now and you'll be thankful you did! I love the quote, "do something today that your future self will thank you for." Not sure who said this, but I see it on Pinterest & FB posts all the time :)

Figure out what you want & why, write it down, figure out what you need to do to get there, and get after it consistently.

Extra Credit: if you really want to change what you are doing and where you are, you have to change the way you think. You change the way you think by changing who you hang out with, what you read, and what you listen too. This trifecta will yield you amazing results, if you keep up with it. If you don't know what to read or listen too, ask me and I'll help you get started!

In health & prosperity,

Monica
thewellwithall

Wake Up Well Workout & Goal Setting

By nature, I'm into setting extreme goals, like I'm going to run 5-miles every morning, only eat fruits, veggies and lean protein, read for an hour a day, pray for an hour a day, pick up a new client everyday, volunteer everyday for 4 hours, put $200 into savings every week...starting all at once...ready go! 

But... the more I learn and experience and practice, the more I understand that to move forward it's a matter of setting small, reasonable, achievable goals.  Why set a goal that is so ridiculous, you set yourself up to lose? Goals are meant to stretch you, but they are also intended to be hit. 

Many times, I have set up one of my extreme plans, only to falter on day 1 and really never move much past that. To move forward, you must set small, sometimes seemingly insignificant goals, and do the action consistently. 

Recently, I created a habit in my business of educating myself and taking action toward helping others achieve their goals, daily. It took me about 3.5 rounds of a 21-day challenge to become consistently consistent. Some days I accomplish way more than others, but the point is, I accomplish something everyday or am very aware of the fact that I didn't. 

Keeping this same criteria in mind, I decided to set a 21-day health goal. My plan is to start every morning with a green smoothie and the workout pictured. Now, I may have another green smoothie throughout the day, and 4-5 days per week, I will be doing my regular work out (right now training for a half marathon). But the point is to start my day healthy and active. 

Today is day two. This morning it was early and cold and I really wanted scrambled eggs. There is nothing wrong with scrambled eggs for breakfast, but that isn't my goal right now. I can have scrambled eggs for breakfast number two or even for dinner, but my goal is to start the day with a green smoothie. I made a delicious smoothie with spinach, a banana, mixed berries and a tablespoon of almonds. It was delicious. Already on day two, I almost compromised my morning workout, because I am running 8-miles later. But..I did it anyways, truthfully in the middle of writing this post. How can I write about this, if I'm compromising my own goals! 

Top Tips for Goal Setting

So the key is, set yourself up to do something doable. 

Make it something you can do regularly. 

Put the goal in front of you. 

Figure out why you are doing it and put a picture of that goal in front of you. 

Find a way to hold yourself accountable. 

Take action daily. 

Remember that you may not be perfect at first, but each day to renew and get better and better, until your goal becomes a habit as easy as putting shoes on before you leave your property.

Great books on this topic are: 

The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson

Imagine Big by Terri Savelle Foy (pre-order for May 15, 2013)

Fall into Your Goals

The fall is always a time of renewal for me. 

The leaves falling reminds me of letting go of any baggage or negativity or any voices that may say, "no you can't do that." 

All that stuff falls to the ground and is raked away by us or washed away by the rain. What's left is a bare tree, ready to be renewed. You can be like this too, if you have things that you want to change. 

This month I have set 1 goal for myself and only one. It's scary, it's atypical, it's out of character, but I believe that hitting this one goal will catapult me & start the process of building momentum for what I really want.

Usually I set 3-4 business goals, 1 personal training goal, 1-2 personal health goals, a spiritual goal and an organizational goal. What? This is nuts--it's a lot of pressure, and it's unhealthy. And I almost never hit every goal I set (or even remember what they are a week or month later)

This month I have one business goal. 

One.  

This is the first time in my life I have only set one goal in a month. 

Change must be proceeded by change. 

I'll update you at the end of the month.

If you want change you have to change something. This is profound, I know. But how often do we desire change, but we change nothing. Or how often do we think we are changing, but then fall into old habits. 

 This fall, choose to fall into change. Pick one thing you want to accomplish and pursue it wholeheartedly. I bet that things will start to fall into place for you!  

Ok, enough puns about fall, it's time to take action. 

What do you want? What are you willing to do for it? Where do you see yourself at the end of October? Did you hit your goal?

In health & prosperity, 

Monica

19 Hikes in 30 Days

Yesterday marked day 30 in my quest to do 30 hikes in 30 days. Somewhere around hike 7, I realized how ambitious this goal was and how with a career and a business, doing a long hike everyday may or may not be possible.

This is not an excuse; it's a reality.

Hiking takes time (and also driving to each one takes time) and I didn't want to compromise the integrity of the hike, by doing half a$$ hikes. If I am going to do 30 hikes, I'm going to do 30 hikes, not 30 semi-maybe this counts-no one will know if I compromise hikes.

Let me next say that I missed my goal of 30 in 30 days.

But I did 19.

I'm impressed and happy with myself for doing 19 hikes in 30 days. Real hikes. No compromises. No cheating.

As I got into the pursuit of the goal, I realized how tough 30 hikes in 30 days actually is. I appreciated the goal more when I was taking action on it.

This is why at the end of the 30 days, I can get excited about the fact that I did 19 hikes, instead of bummed about the fact that I didn't do 30.

And guess what? 11 of those 19 hikes were brand new. Never before Monica charted territory. If I hadn't set the goal to do 30 hikes, I may not have ever done these 11 hikes, which I gained lasting value from.

So BIG question....

Did I succeed or fail?

Truth. I successfully completed 19 hikes. And I have 11 more to do.

I would fail if I stopped hiking at 19, because the 30 days is over. I'm not stopping. I will complete the 11 hikes, and in a timely manner. You won't see me blogging about my last 11 hikes in 2013. I will finish it ASAP.

So the point...and how it applies to you.

Set a goal that stretches you, and then pursue it. Evaluate it (not the first or second day, but after you've had a chance to understand if it's the right goal for you).

If I didn't set this goal, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to get as many in as I could have. I wouldn't have hiked Old Rag for my birthday, or met my friend Janelle on a Tuesday morning to explore a lake trail near our houses, or driven to Virginia to hike an unfamiliar trail with my friend Rachel, or hiked from Bethesda to DC with my friend Laura, or finally crossed a small bridge to Roosevelt Island in DC (highly recommended, it's like being in the Matrix!)

Going for 30, meant I got 19 in, instead of the usual 4-6 I would have done without thinking about it.

Set a goal that gets you out of your comfort zone, that maybe you are not sure that you can do (right now).

Pursue it.

At the top of Old Rag on my 30th Birthday!

Evaluate it.

Reset it.

Smile and speak that you will make it.

Hit your goal.

Set another goal.

Then set another.

And another..

Don't be afraid to miss a goal. Finish what you started. I didn't fail by doing 19 hikes in 30 days. I would fail if I stopped there. Because I am capable of more. And you are too.

Be brave and set new standards for yourself today!

It's Like Playing Bball Without Hoops

Recently I heard a very successful, young, and bold entrepreneur say, "doing a whole lot of work without a specific goal, is like playing basketball without hoops...it's very frustrating."

Now, at this moment, I had to set my own ego aside, because I am good at setting goals, and I would venture to say, I'm good at helping others set their goals too. When I heard him say this, it kind of hit me like a brick to the head, with regard to a couple areas of my life, where I have been working and thinking forward about things non-stop, but do often get frustrated with the results.

So this begs the question...

Are we really moving toward our goals (and do we know what our goals are), or are we just floating from event to event hoping something will change?

My hope is that  you are the first scenario, but so often (even if it's just in one area of life), we are stuck in scenario #2.

This statement was so powerful, it bears repeating:

"Doing a whole lot of work without a specific goal, is like playing basketball without hoops...it's very frustrating."

The truth is, that when you set a goal and make a full out commitment to it (with the right heart), things and people will come into play to help make it happen. This is a universal truth. You may not even know why someone is stepping in to help you. Another person, may not know why they were called to help out your cause. There is power in setting a true goal, and then pursuing it with passion.

In response to this young entrepreneurs statement, I spent the week thinking about it, and then applying it to my own life.

What I came out with, I want to share with you from a universal perspective. His statement got me thinking about:

1. Do you know what you're trying to accomplish in every area of your life, including: health, family, spiritual, finance, etc.

2. Are your goals moving you forward or frustrating you enough to keep you standing still?

3. Do you have a mentor (or someone who is where you want to be), that can help guide you toward your dreams and goals?

4. Are your goals important enough (for you), that they are worth pursuing (for you).

Change takes prepared action.

The saying goes, "plan your work, then work your plan."

Sometimes the planning is just as important as the action.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "do the thing, and you shall have the power."

Step out. Don't be afraid to reveal your dreams and goals (first to yourself, and then to a trusted mentor!)