Do your goals need a tune up? Each month in my CEO advisory group, we share how we are doing on each of our top four goals that we professed at the beginning of the year. We are only allowed to rate our progress as green or red. Somewhere in between, or yellow as a rating, is not allowed. The reason for this is simple. Either we are making some level of progress or not. Period. As we went around the room, one of our members stated that a goal of hers would be red for the remainder of the year. This wasn’t because she hadn’t tried or made it a priority, it was because as with many things in life, circumstances changed that in turn changed the priority and relevance of that particular goal. This was not a failure to achieve, but an astuteness to recognize what was out of one’s control and then redirect energy and focus. A great “aha” occurred from this situation in that because of what she learned and experienced while attempting this goal, she realized a greater opportunity and desire that has now replaced this goal. As we near the mid-point of the year, June and July are great times to take stock in our goals. What are your “Me” goals that impact others in your life? What are your “Myself” goals that are for and focused on you as an individual? What are your “Inc” goals focused on your career and livelihood? How are you doing with these goals, and most important, are there certain goals that are no longer serving you, inspiring you or that need to be shifted or modified to better serve you now? Caught in Work/Life Balance Mentality: If you believe you just cannot get to achieving a particular goal because either work or your life is getting in the way, you are stuck in a work/life balance mentality. Before you toss a goal aside, consider the following: •
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Instead of focusing the nature of your goals around your work and your life, focus them on the three aspects of you and how you want to be and feel fulfilled in your life as a whole. By shifting the focus to being more internalized and in tune with you, you will make a remarkable shift that will ultimately result in achievement unlike any you have realized before.
Random Desires or Goals Focused on an Ultimate Outcome: Another challenge that can sabotage goals from being realized is having numerous goals that have nothing that links them together, either in our minds or our lives. They are random desires with no connections that would strengthen them and enable you to build one upon the other. As you review your goals, see how they can connect together to feel more like a whole versus compartmentalized parts: • •
What will you ultimately realize in achieving these goals? How will your life as a whole be better, more satisfying, more gratifying, more enjoyed upon achieving these goals?
Being able to see and act based on how your goals can work together instead of against one another will put you on the threshold of a whole new way of approaching your life. This begins with understanding why you have each goal to begin with and what achieving the goal will ultimately mean for you and those you care about. If you don’t have compelling reasons that nurture and bring out the very best in you, then perhaps this goal isn’t one to pursue after all.
Is the goal itself focused on trying to create some sort of balance within your external world or is it more focused on synergizing and bringing out the very best in and for you? Are you viewing your personal and career goals separately, which causes them to be pitted against one another or together where you can identify synchronicities that can help you achieve both?
pg 14 | Sophie Woman’s Magazine | July 2016
Bio: Sherré DeMao inspires people around the globe through her monthly columns, weekly Insight eZine and national contributing writing. Her books, Me, Myself & Inc. (www.memyselfandinc.com) and 50 Marketing Secrets (www.50marketingsecrets.com) have received national acclaim as Top Business Shelf picks and must-reads.