Are you over-facing yourself? By that I mean are you setting goals for yourself that simply aren’t realistic. Now don’t get me wrong I am all for setting bold goals that stretch you and help you achieve more than you ever thought was possible. Your goals need to take you out of our comfort zone so that you can grow, but not be so big that they simply are not achievable or worst still put you into the fear zone.
Today’s post has been inspired by a client that I was having a strategy call with this week and it reflects that I have been noticing a lot with my clients recently. You see what happened is at the beginning of the year they set all these goals, and now with one third of the year gone, they are becoming disillusioned that they are not achieving all that they had hoped for.
There is a reason that goals are SMART and SMART stands for:
S – specific
M – measurable
A – achievable
R – realistic
T – timely
What you intend to achieve needs to expand your horizons but it shouldn’t be so audacious that it sends you into the fear zone, where terror sets in and leaves you paralysed, so you end up doing nothing.
I realized that is what has been happening with me and my pony Bracken training for the Wobbleberrries challenge. To believe I could teach my horse to jump 90cm from having no jumping experience at all, to teach her to canter and be balanced in the riding arena, to learn how to go to other venues and compete alongside horses she has never met, now that is a big ask. On reflection that is just too bold to achieve within 9 months. It was a step too far, and so what has happened is that I really haven’t moved forward. I’ve become paralysed by the enormity of the task and so I have not been taking action.
I’m sure you’ve all heard the adage “how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time” and this is the same approach we need to take to business and achieving goals. We need to take the first step. If we make that step too big then we won’t take any action but when we make the first step achievable and realistic and we are successful then our confidence grows. With renewed confidence we start gaining momentum and the second step seems easier, and then the third and fourth.
Little actions get results. So in the case of the work with Bracken, step one needs us to be able to master canter and get balanced, then I can add step two jumping, and then step three going to other venues. Broken down this way the goal seems achievable and realistic, something that I can do. So my goal for May is to master cantering in the arena. This is not something that is over-facing me and yet ensures that I am moving forward towards the ultimate goal. So my intention remains to complete the Wobbleberries challenge but realistically this year might not be possible, so next year it is. What is important is that I am moving forward towards that goal.
For the client who I was speaking with on that strategy call, what we established was that they needed some structure and accountability in their business. In fact because she had no structure she was procrastinating and going round in circles not moving her business forward. This was leading to a lack of confidence and self-esteem issues. Trust me I get this. When we get out of flow and start spiraling in a circle (I call this the tumble dryer effect where you are going round and round and going no where) it can be very demotivating.
So I’ve asked her to create her project list for May and share this with me so I can keep her accountable to achieving her goals. She was excited at this prospect and in the same moment I just knew she was going to over-face herself and create a massive list of goals would be nigh on impossible to achieve. Metaphorically, she was going to try and jump Beehers Brook (a large jump in the Grand National measuring nearly 5 foot) when in fact her first step was just to jump 50 cm!.
Sure should she set the intention of achieving a goal like jumping Becher’s Brook, hell yes, but just realise that to achieve this it takes many small steps. And the great thing about setting small goals and then achieving them is that it builds your confidence and self-esteem whilst also creating momentum. And we all know that the more momentum that we have the faster we will travel. When we are stuck in business taking the first few steps to move forward are always the toughest. Think an airplane. It uses 50% of its fuel simply to get off the runway! And it’s the same in business, the first few goals take time and energy as we need to put the groundwork in to make them happen, but once we have done that we can soar.
So today’s question is where are you over-facing yourself in life and business and what is just one small step that you can take to move forward? Trust me being in action and moving forward is way better that being in that tumble dryer going round and round in circles!!!
And if you need some help with your business then please reach out to me and secure one of the limited number of strategy sessions I offer each month.
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
