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Congratulations you wrote your goals down! You did do that right? Double applause if you devised a plan of how to accomplish those goals. Now what?
 Build in a Systematic Review Process It is this systematic process of habitually appraising your journey as you move towards your goal that will make you successful. Furthermore, this grittiness, being determined despite adversity, is how you become a strong woman and a strong leader. I am an avid advocate of positive thinking. I know emphatically the quality of your thoughts is completely correlated to the quality of your life. However, I also know that positive thinking alone does not equal success. You actually have to do something! Review Your Strategy for Achieving Your Goals The actions you take and the way you take those actions on your journey to achieve your goals makes a difference. This is the hard part. In truth, many of those activities aren’t going to be easy, enjoyable or engaging. That is precisely why many people don’t achieve their goals. The minute it gets arduous or they come up against a barrier, they stop. Adversity Strengthens You Here is the thing, though….you NEED those roadblocks! The difficult parts are the essential parts. It is by going through the struggle that we learn. It is during the challenges that we grow. The process of getting through the trying segments of the journey are prerequisites to reaching the goal. The grittier you are, the more effective you will be.
Your Plan Keeps You Moving To keep moving forward when challenges hit, you must have a plan, a plan that includes recognizing roadblock and what you will do to get over them. That plan, strategy or blueprint might incorporate coursework; you could include tactics that include the building of support networks, or your approach might integrate the practice of learning to manage your thoughts and actions. I strongly suggest that your plan is multifaceted because let’s be honest ladies…we are a bit complex. Therefore, we need a plan that will address all of our intricacies. But You Must Keep Reviewing Your Plan Once you have your strategy in place, you need to review that plan on a regular basis. That way when you hit those roadblocks, feel overwhelmed and want to quit, reconnect to your strategies to get you over the hump. Your plan will remind you of what you can do if you are feeling overwhelmed, confused, apprehensive or stuck. Make the Review Time Effective You need to install a habit of reviewing your goals. The following steps will give you a process for your weekly review of your goals and your strategic plan to achieve those goals.
Goals --> Plan --> Take ACTION Believe you can. Set goals. Plan how to achieve those goals. Take actions steps forward. Fall down. Get up. Dust yourself off. Begin again where you left off. This is how you become a successful gritty woman!
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A few words on a piece of paper won’t change your life unless you move into action as a result of those words. To move forward, you need to turn your goals into plans. It’s time to take action towards making some shifts in your life.  How do you want to experience the next few months? Over the last few week’s I’ve encouraged you to look at how you want to feel in the coming months and to make a list of goals that will help you to achieve those feelings. I’ve explained how installing good habits can help you to reach your targets. If you’ve been following along, and taken some time to do the homework, then you now have a list of goals and habits. Now what? Get mindful & strategic! You may be wondering what the best plan of attack is to start moving ahead with those goals. The answer is... a strategic one. Before you get overwhelmed or try and dive into it all at once, I want you to slow down. Building a strategic plan to change your life takes mindfulness. Take a deep breath….and another one….and one more for good measure. Behind the scenes Moses may have separated the sea with one sweeping motion of his staff, but it was years of behind the scenes work that got him there. It’s that behind the scenes work that many of us want to skip over. But…..you have to do it if you truly want to succeed, change your life or have a dramatic impact. You know that nothing really happens, simply by snapping your fingers. Take the time, to achieve the results To truly attain results, there are many steps to take. Along the way there, obstacles, both inner and outer, that you will need to overcome. Also, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but truthfully there also will be many times where you will have to put in the sheer effort and persist over time to get somewhere.
Persistence and perseverance It takes persistence and perseverance, over time to achieve anything. What is going to help you stay the course during all of that, is a plan. Your plan must be complete with strategy, timelines, and lifelines when needed. It is a plan that you develop and then put into action that allows you to be effective. Creating a strategic plan for life Create your plan today by taking each of your goals and answering these questions:
 Homework: Putting it all together Now, create a strategic plan that you will work through in the coming months so you can achieve your goals.
Coming up Next week we will cover how to take move forward with the plan. Remember to put the work in now. Do the behind the scenes work this week so that you can reach the feelings you want, achieve the goals you desire and shift your life so that you find more enjoyment and fulfillment. Being strategic gives you the peace you want.
Hey my Dear, are you working on designing the year that lays ahead of you? I hope so! Creating goals for yourself allows you to find a different experience in life. Rather than letting your days unfold in front of you and reacting to whatever fire flares up, I am encouraging you this month to designing your life. When you create a plan with goals, your life will be a more enjoyable one; I promise you that!  Two Types of Goals As you refine your goals for the coming year, I want you to consider two different types of goals. External Goals First are the goals that most people set. I call them external goals because they are outside of you. What I mean by that is there is something that happens in the outside world that you can often see or touch when you reach your goal. When you achieve external goals, you can point to them and say I did that! Examples
Internal Goals The other kind of goals is what I call internal goals. I say they are internal because when you accomplish these goals, there is a shift that happens inside of you. It is connected to your thoughts, emotions and often includes a degree of inner discipline. Examples
Why does it matter? The reason it is important to make the distinction is it helps you when you decide what you will need to do to realize your goals. It can be a bit confusing, though. Let me help to clear it up.
The point in considering internal or external? The point in looking at the difference is to consider both what you really are looking for and how to accomplish it. When you feel the inner shift you need to make to obtain the visible results that you desire; you often find that you are more successful at goal attainment. Is it a goal or is it a habit The second consideration if questioning whether it is a goal that you are trying to achieve or a habit you are establishing. The difference between these two is when you reach a goal you are done. You don't have to do the same goal again. Conversely, a habit is something you continue with, often forever.
The point with considering the difference between a goal and a habit is to look at the change you desire. Frequently it is the habit that allows you to achieve the goal. It was when I created two habits of both taking10,000 steps daily and recorded my food daily, that I was able to reach my weight loss goal. The habit of sitting down and writing first thing each morning allowed me to reach the goal of publishing my book last year. Homework: Continue to refine your goals for the coming year. You may want to break them down into external goals as well as internal goals. Then, consider what habit you need to cultivate that will allow you to reach that goal.
Goals setting isn't complicated. It is multifaceted It is when you look at goals you want to achieve as more than a statement that you will find success. You are a multifaceted lady, my dear.....as such, your goals need to be multifaceted. Look at what you want to happen outside of you and the internal shifts you also need to make. Then, install habits to assist you to do that. When you create goals in this manner, you’ll find much more triumph this year.
You can choose this year to design your life rather than just wait and see how it unfolds. Too many women leaders live in default mode. Whatever gets thrown at us we take on. It’s not even like we wait to see what will be handed to us. We are so mired in the tasks and meetings right in front of us we don’t even see that we have a choice.  You do have a choice You can design your experience of leadership and life. It takes a bit of planning, though. You are worth the time it will take! Trust me! Don't live in default mode See, if you don’t plan, you live in default mode Defaulting to others, to lack of time, or the expectations set for you, means you don’t decide. Your indecision means you give up the ability to create your days and how you want them to be. Put together day-after-day of defaulting to the world, and this is what you will find:
I felt like I was a victim to my circumstances I look back in my journals and see when I was in default mode. It’s easy to tell. It was when I felt I was the victim. I blamed my mess of a life others, on the job, the sector, society and life in general. I gave up control.
Women fit their life around everyone else In default mode, women wait to see what everyone else around them does. Then women try to fit their needs, wants, wishes and dreams into the tiny cracks in the middle. That is if there are any cracks to be found. Most of us are so busy taking care of the things that need to be done, we don’t find the time for us. Everyone else will decide your life The problem is if you keep going down that path, you will never find what you want. It’s been said, if you don’t set goals for yourself, someone else will for you. I bet you have goals set for you by your organization and your boss or board. I bet someone else has decided what you will do, both at work and in your personal life. You follow the beat of the drums around you. It’s time to find your own beat! Don’t get me wrong. Your organization should have goals. You should have positions specific goals as well. And, in addition to those goals, you should design your own personal goals, both for in your career and in your life. Stop letting everyone else decide. Create your vision Designing your life means you step back and decide how you want to experience it. It means you chose what you want and then make that happen. That starts with deciding on a vision and then developing goals to reach that vision. Take back your power by making choices In design mode, you take back control. You take back your power and make choices. You become responsible for the choices and the outcomes of your life. When you do that, you ensure there are time, resources and motivation for you to reach your goals and dreams, whatever those are. I gained my power back I can also see in my journals where I took the time to set goals and the shifts it made in my moods and my day-to-day experiences.
Your homework:
Live life in design mode Make a choice. Decide to take back control of your life. Start by taking control of your agenda and setting aside time to plan. You’ll be glad you did!
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Kathy ArcherWomen leaders often hit a point where they find themselves in over their heads and wondering if they have what it takes to lead. Archives
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