UPWARD CLIMB WORKING TOWARDS GOALS BY MATTHEW HUSSEY
There are volumes of books written about how to set goals, what your goals should be, how to divide them up into neat sections, and even specifying which glossy notebook has the best paper for writing them down on! But how can we make real progress towards our goals, so that we avoid falling into the dreaded trap of being the person who endlessly talks about what they hope to achieve “next year”? There are a few reasons people never follow through on their goals, and here I hope to present a few of the best lessons I’ve been taught over the years to make sure you never succumb to them.
“IF NOT NOW, THEN WHEN?” TIMING IS EVERYTHING
This is a handy phrase I have learnt to always ask myself when it comes to achieving even the smallest of goals. We all have that nagging voice that appears whenever we think of something we know we want or need to do that says “Well, you can always do it later, why bother now?” This voice is the enemy of progress. Believe me, there is no “later on”. When we put off starting until tomorrow, soon tomorrow becomes next month, followed by next year, followed by ten years. The only time you can be sure of having is RIGHT NOW. That’s why whenever my clients ask me “When should I get started on that plan I just made?” I immediately force the reply “If not NOW, then when?”. This phrase always reminds me that there’s no time like NOW to get started on something.
64 RAGMAG | NOVEMBER 2010