“The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat”
Wide World of Sports Intro 1978
November 10, 2014
I am dating myself by using this quote… I am guessing we can all identify it though.
Achieve a goal – motivation soars! When we “fail” motivation drains!
The fact is: Success Breeds Success!
Shorter days are here… we need all the help we can get to stay motivated through the winter.
What better time to set some SMART goals.
How to use the art of goal setting to set yourself up for success momentum:
#1: Choose an action goal that is specific to your readiness to change. (see last week’s email/blog and below)
#2: Write your goals in a way that sets you up for success (SMART goals below)
#3 If you do not meet that goal – look at what happened – was it the goal (maybe you just were not ready) or outside circumstances
#4 Learn from what ever happened to refine your goal setting skills next week. If you learned – it was success.
To start, go back to last week’s chat. You have chosen a specific behavior you know will lead to success. What stage of readiness are you in? Set your goal according to the stage. Here is a guide:
Stages or Steps of change
Psych – Thinking about change in the next six months but you are not confident enough in your abilities or feel unprepared. Jumping into action here can really set you back. You just need to build a stronger foundation for success before you start. Here are some ideas:
- List the pros and cons of change and of staying the same
- Write a letter to yourself or to the problem
- Draw a picture of how would life be different if you changed this?
- Ask yourself, what are you really wanting/needing more of right now?
- What is important to you about this? How does it line up with what you value in life?
- What would you need to learn; new skill, more information?
Prep – you intend to do this in the next month. Again, not ready for action – still preparing to act. There is much you can do in this phase to make sure you are really ready for success.
- Gain awareness of current levels ie wearing a pedometer to simply tracking activity level
- Plan for enough time, energy and support for new change.
- Set a date and a goal rather than wait for magic moment
- Tell at least one other person about your plan.
- Get substitutes ready. I.e.: finding lunch ideas that don’t take as much time to allow time to exercise during lunch break. Look at what you are doing now during the time you plan to exercise and make plans to rearrange that activity or let it go.
Perspire – Actively consistent for several weeks
- Learn the new skills that work for you right now
- Get/nurture the support/relationships you need
- Pay attention to culture and environments you are in that present challenges and/or support
- Track progress – what has improved?
Persevere – consistent for six months
- Create a plan for dealing with slips/lapses and achieving long term success (more on this in a future email/blog)
Based upon your stage of readiness – choose a goal this week. Remember, preparation goals are as important as action goals.
Set this goal SMART:
- How specific is it? (exactly what you will do on what date and time)
- How will you measure if you did it or not?
- Is it action based – meaning what will you do vs what you want. Ie: I will try to be more motivated vs. I will make a pro/con list
- How realistic is it? Giving all going on in your life this week, how confidant are you that you can do this – give yourself a score 0%-100%. If lower than 70%, rework the goal until you are more confident
- When will you achieve this by? Set a goal date
When your goal is set based upon your stage of readiness and written in a SMART way – you will know the thrill of victory… and that thrill is contagious. This takes practice. Give it a try this week and let me know how it goes…
Have a great week!
Keep Moving, Be Well,
Janet
Keep Moving Weekly 