It is halfway through the day of your new regime and already things are going awry. This is how you can plan for success and reach your goal. Grab yourself a notepad, pen, your diary, a decaf coffee, and go through the following procedure:-
1. What is your ultimate aim? Is it to be more organised? Find a new job? Get fit? Lose Weight?
Be specific – quantify everything – but at all times keep it realistic.
What sort of new job do you want? Where do you want to be working and what do you want to be doing?
What do you want to organise?
How fit do you want to be?
How much weight do you want to lose?
2. What do you think your life will be like when you achieve this? Will you be happy? What will you be doing? What will you be wearing? How much will you be earning? What will you have more time for? Will you be able to book your dream holiday?
3. Now plan out a schedule of how long it will take for to reach your goal, but keep it realistic and achievable.
for example,
how much time do you need put aside for you to get organised?
how many jobs will you need to apply for every day?
how many times will you have to go to the gym to reach your goal?
how much weight do you aim to lose this week? So your answers might be something like
Spend an afternoon to sort out your desk and allocate an hour every Friday afternoon, Apply for 10 jobs a day every weekday Go to the gym three times a week for 4 weeks Lose 1lb a week for 7 weeks
4. How are you going to make sure that you maintain this and that nothing else distracts you from your goal?
For example,
by blocking out the afternoon in your diary
by rescheduling a meeting
by getting up 30 minutes earlier
by taking a packed lunch
by arranging childcare for a specific time.
5. So at what time this week are you going to do this?
What days have you planned to take this action?
Have you marked the time out in your diary so nothing else gets booked in?
Have you involved other people who need to know your plans?
6. Now read back what you have written and committed yourself to.
It should read something like this:
I have committed to be organised by taking 2 hours out of my day today and then 30 mins every Friday to plan the next week
I have committed to lose 7lbs over 7 weeks by planning my shopping list so I can stick to my diet plan I have committed to go to the gym 3 times a week for the next 6 weeks and I’ve scheduled the visits in my diary I have committed to get up 1 hour earlier for 5 days a week and will aim to apply for 5 jobs a day
If at first you don’t reach your goal, then change the boundaries and time frame so that it fits into your life. This shouldn’t feel like a punishment but an enjoyable and fulfilling process… and remember, no matter what day of the year you are reading this, TODAY is the first day of the rest of your life – make it count.
Let us know how you get on.
