A New Way of Achieving Your Goals: Focus on the Journey, Not the Destination

I love January because it is a time for new beginnings! A chance to reassess and start new. Yet, statistics show that only 30 percent of people who set New Year’s resolutions actually keep them beyond 3 months. So why are people’s goals falling by the wayside and how can I help you make some important shifts to achieve what you want this year?

First of all, goals are exciting but when we start to work on them it can feel like we are standing at the base of a gigantic mountain. From this perspective, it may seem like a tremendous amount of energy to expend to actually bring your desires to fruition.

But like the popular quote from Lao Tzu says, “The journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step.”

In the coaching work I do with leaders, we decide on 3 goals at the first session that will be the basis of the coaching. Goals give the coaching focus and measurable outcomes to ensure our success. But what happens in between the first and last sessions is that I am constantly breaking the bigger goals down into mini-goals for the client to work on the process in smaller pieces. I am with them, walking this journey together, so it doesn’t seem so overwhelming. I am there to support them, be a strategic sounding board, and also keep them accountable.

So simply stating, “I want to lose 50 pounds” or “I want to be a CEO who drives the company to its most profitable year ever” are both great goals, but those goals likely won’t manifest unless you have the steps figured out.

Steps for your Goal Creation Using My ‘Journey’ Method:

When choosing the goal(s) you’d like to achieve for this year, make it as measurable as possible so you know if you’ve actually achieved it or not.

Choose 1 -3 goals so you are not spreading yourself too thin. Think less is more when it comes to goal setting.

Work with a coach to help you attain your goals. Making this commitment helps you to put some skin in the game to really go for it. Not only have you committed to yourself that you will make some shifts, but you have committed to your coach. A trained Coach will help you build an action plan of the journey to guide you along the path. It often will take a lot longer (sometimes years) to make the shifts by yourself compared to when you invite a professional coach in to help you focus and go for it!

Intentions versus goals can be a powerful way of looking at things. We tend to be so focused on the end game and what we want that we forget most of the work towards goal achievement actually happens during the process - along the journey. The process is about intention setting. Each day, I set an intention (realizing I don’t have full control over what happens in the world) as to how I want to be and what is important to me. When we can place ourselves in this mindset, often the goal achievement becomes the side effect of being your very best in this world.