be the best you can be

the roadmap to success

Simple tips to kick start your journey

Where do you want to BE?

When I was growing up my parents would “go for a drive” on Sunday afternoons. They had no clear idea where they were going:it was the journey that was important. (Note: this is the days before traffic jams and exorbitant fuel prices!) Now, whilst I am a great believer in enjoying the journey, as far as a life change is concerned we do need a destination or at least a rough idea of what it will look like so we will know when we have got there, or at least a sign that we are getting closer! My top tip is to write down up to 50 achievable goals and then maybe 15 Big Life Visions. What is the difference? Well achievable goals are just that: they are things that are not in the realm of fantasy (or large lottery wins!), Big Life Visions are high end aspirations.

I like to start with a spider chart or mind map with the different aspects of my life I wish to change. I use 8 categories: health and fitness, career, finances, personal growth, relationships, attitude, fun and recreation and mental well being. The goals within these categories are different for everyone and there might well be other categories you want to add but I feel these cover most eventualities. I could show you my list but it wouldn't necessarily be relevant to you so just write down everything you can think of. The Big Life Visions are much more aspirational: the mega yacht, the house with the picket fence overlooking the sea, you know the sort of thing. Why do we write those down too? Well once they’re written down we can forget about them and focus on the more easily achievable ones and who knows where those might eventually lead? Once you have thought of everything list them down as either one of your 50 life goals or a Big Life Vision.

In the Mood

My next top tip is to make a mood board. This is a visual plan of where you want to be based on those 50 life goals. I make mine digitally by grabbing images from the web and pasting them together as a collage. I put the real aspirational ones in there too just to remind method there is no one end destination: there is aways somewhere else to explore. I love the process of making a mood board as it focusses my mind on exactly what each goal looks like and it makes me aware of which ones are the really important goals.

I find that by doing it digitally I can add to it and remove items so much more easily as priorities change. Up until last month I was running a mobile bar, and aspects related to this business appeared quite prominently on my mood board as goals. Now that I have sold that business I can wipe these off with one click of the mouse! Take your time on this. It is strangely cathartic to make and a useful tool later on to focus your mind and motivate in times of doubt.

Create harmony

Now, we go back to those 8 categories we discussed earlier, health and fitness, career, finances, personal growth, relationships, attitude, fun and recreation and mental well being and our spider chart. Were you in harmony? Did you have a similar amount of ideas for each category? My guess is you weren't and thats not surprising. Career, health and our finances are usually forefront in our mind when we want to make changes. If it looks out of balance see how you can make it right. Add some hobbies or other things to do as relaxation/recreation, think of some spiritual elements that could improve your mental well-being even if its just going for a walk, focus on how to improve your relationships not just with a life partner but with friends and family or even work colleagues. I find it useful to divide these up into goals and habits: a sort of 2 tier system. The top tier goals are supplemented by the lower tier feel good habits. It is these habits that keep us sane, in balance and ultimately on track!

Once you feel you have explored all the areas equally you can now start to narrow it down. I suggest you think initially of a 5 year plan: What is achievable in 5 years? Choose a maximum of 3 goals in each category that you believe (with focus and work) are achievable in the next 5 years. These are destinations on your life journey map: and as we move a step towards each one I like to think of putting in a push pin, anchoring each step forwards even as we move to focus on a different life category. This is not a sprint to one single destination, but more a series of gentle walks with all aspects in harmony. I talk a lot more about this in Next Steps and in the On the Right Track course.

Remember these are life goals: tangible and measurable. Running alongside this is psychological and emotional growth which is the basis of the work I do. Your vision is unique to you as are the changes you can make in order to bring this vision into reality. We all have limiting beliefs and long held behaviours and habits that no longer serve us, they are what make us who we are but are sometimes also what prevent us from being all we could be. Without change in this area our goals are much harder to achieve. In my On the Right Track course I help you to change your thinking and observe the behaviours that no longer serve you. This is the big work. A road map is vital to reach your destination but without a strong pair of walking boots the journey will be painful and slow.

Baby Steps

That’s the hard part done… honestly! Figuring out where we want to be and where we are right now is a huge achievement. Getting there is just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other with the knowledge that every step taken gets us closer to our goal. That’s right - every step gets us closer, even the times we take the wrong the path or end up at an insurmountable obstacle, they are all steps on the journey. So now we need to concentrate on what steps to take to achieve success. Read what to do now in NEXT STEPS