Stretching Beyond Limits

It's already the end of June and summertime is in full swing! Are you feeling excited about all the progress you've made towards your goals or are you feeling a bit overwhelmed?

Do you feel like shouting “Yikes” or “Yay”?

Regardless of where you're at, I'm here to encourage you to continue pushing forward and striving toward success by reflecting on goal-setting, utilizing effective tools, and recognizing the value of stretching beyond your comfort zone.

Let's begin by discussing goals. It may seem like a trivial question, but did you establish any goals back in January? Did you take the time to write them down and place them somewhere visible, so you could easily review and adjust them as needed? Were they SMART goals? (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound).

Interestingly, research shows that only 4% of the population sets goals and a mere 1% writes them down. However, those who do write their goals down are 42% more likely to achieve them. So, if you haven't already, now is the perfect time to define your goals and put pen to paper!

How do your goals reflect all areas of your life? I recommend setting goals in the following categories to align with your whole life. (These are not in order of importance) Personal (i.e., weight loss), Business, Spiritual, Family (vacations), Financial, Health, and Community.

Questions for you:

What is your strategy to review your goals? I recommend creating annual goals, evaluating, and tweaking to update quarterly. From the quarterly goals, establish monthly goals, then weekly and daily plans. It seems like a lot and it is, and it is worth it.

Whose goals are they? Yours? Your mate? Your children? Your business partner? Your boss? They must be yours and you must be clear on how they connect with your WHY.

Do you still want to achieve the initial goals you established or do you want to replace them with another goal? Or, have you decided to start something now that was not on the radar in January?

Tools for you:

1) Habits

Do you have daily actions that you need to do consistently? According to my mentor and leadership guru John Maxwell, our success is determined by our daily agenda. Consistency, as the former winning football coach and University President, Jim Tressel says, is the hallmark of excellence and the test of greatness.

Consistency occurs by adopting good habits. If you're interested in developing good habits, you might want to check out James Clear's book Atomic Habits. In it, he provides specific tips on creating tiny habits that can produce remarkable results, whether it's as small as flossing your teeth or as big as getting a promotion at work.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

Get clarity on what you want to achieve

Practice "habit stacking" by adding a new desired habit to your current routine. For example, you could add a 10-minute meditation session to your morning routine after brushing your teeth.

In other words, start with what you already know and gradually add new habits to achieve your desired behavior. Repeat the process consistently, and you'll be on your way to building good habits.

2) Vision Board

Have you created a vision board for this year? I strongly believe in the power of vision boards, which allow us to visually capture our hopes, dreams, and aspirations through pictures and words. It's important to review your vision board daily.

If you've already created one, since the year is half over, you might decide to update it. What should you keep and strive to achieve? What might be helpful to remove if it no longer inspires you?

If you haven't created a vision board yet, now is a great time to do so and stay inspired throughout the year.

3) One Word

I've got a great suggestion for you. Have you ever thought about choosing a word for the year to keep you motivated? It's an excellent way to remind yourself of your values, mission, and aspirations. And if you haven't picked a word yet, don't sweat it. I am sharing this link to a video that explains the value and ties these tools: habit, vision and one word together. I hope you'll check it out.

Click here for the One Word video:

Personally, my word for this year is "SHINE." It reminds me to let my inner light radiate outwardly and help others shine through my coaching and training.

After assessing your goals, developing new habits, and reflecting, it's time to stretch yourself. I know, I know, stretching can be painful, but it leads to feeling more invigorated. And you already know that to achieve what you want, you need to work smarter, not harder. That's why I recommend John Maxwell’s book, 15 Laws of Invaluable Growth. Law #10, the Rubberband is about putting yourself in a position to feel the tension, to stretch to get to the next level. It hurts. It's worth it!

Our Mastermind Group is reading the book No Limits, also by John Maxwell, which awakens us to the fact that if we want to get what we want and become who we want to become, we must remove self-imposed limits. We are ready to welcome a couple of new members so if you know a peer power group would be helpful, click on the last red tab below.

I encourage you to click on this video 212 Degrees to show that by stretching just a little, we can experience phenomenal growth and change. I think you’ll agree that the message inspires.

Click here to watch this video (feel free to skip the ad).