The past couple of weeks I have been grateful for a slower pace. I have been afforded the opportunity to recharge my batteries, something that I very much needed at the end of 2022, a feeling that I know was reflected in many of the people I had the opportunity to talk to near the end of last year.

In my ‘down time’ I have been able to do some of my favourite activities…dreaming, goal setting, intention creating, planning, visioning…whatever you would like to call it, the start of the year is honestly one of my favourite times of year because of the natural intention to want to reflect and set new intentions.

If you have been doing some of the same, or at least been attempting to, then I thought it might be helpful for me to share some insights with you.

When it comes to creating the outcomes you set for yourself, I have learnt over many years of personal experience and coaching others that there are some common ‘trip hazards’ that can stop you from achieving what you set out to achieve and some tips for making sure the time to reflect at the end of the year is a positive one.

I thought I’d share the top three ‘Trip Hazards’ and ‘Tips For Success’ with you here so you too can go into 2023 with positive energy and make 2023 a wonderful one.

At at the end of this blog, if you would like some guidance working through these trip hazards and success strategies, then you can download my free 'Creating Success' guide

Trip Hazards!

You know what you don’t want but you aren’t really sure what you want instead.

So very often when I speak to people about what their goal is, there is far more clarity in what they don’t want, but limited clarity in what they do want.

Their response might be something like “I want to be healthier. I know my eating needs some improving, I don’t exercise as much as I know I should and I’m really hard on myself, I’m my own worst enemy which doesn’t feel good”

While it is true that it is helpful to know what we want to avoid, at some point there needs to be a shift in focus towards what you do want. We get what we focus on!The focus on what you no longer want will only keep you getting what you don’t want. Like looking through window, we notice only what we can see which then directs our thoughts towards what exists on the other side of the window. If we look out the window and we only see clouds, we might believe the weather is overcast. But in actual fact, it may just be that there was only cloud out that window, if we change our focus and look out another window, we find that it is blue sky and sunny, changing our perspective and view of the day’s weather forecast. This is why getting clear on what you want is so important. It directs your thoughts and shifts your perspective.

You have trouble creating a tangible outcome

Some goals are easier than others with this, but often when it comes to wellbeing, creating a tangible measure of success for goals such as ‘having more energy’ or ‘being kinder to myself’ or ‘feeling more connected to my partner’ can be difficult. How do you measure that? If we don’t find a way to measure them however, it can be difficult to know when we have been successful which in turn can decrease our motivation towards these goals.

You keep moving your goal post

If hitting goals can feel tiresome or exhausting then this may be a common trip hazard for you. Celebrating milestones and the successful progress towards a goal is a critical and important step in maintaining your motivation towards achieving your ultimate outcome and even towards achieving future goals. If once you achieve a certain level of progress you tell yourself you can do more, or you're not satisfied with the result and you change the desired outcome, then it feels like you are on an endless treadmill where there’s no end in sight. I don’t need to explain how exhausting this will feel, you get the picture.

Top Strategies For Success

Be clear on what you want for YOU!

Know your why. In my experience, for either myself or my clients, when there is a goal where is an attachment to both the outcome AND to the reason why the outcome is so important or what achieving the goal will mean, then there is a far greater success rate in achieving the goal.

If your reason why can tie into and support a sense of identity, ambition or purpose you will find it makes the goal feel more worthy of your effort and attention. So when you set your gals, first get clear on specifically what that goal is that you want (see Trip Hazard #1) and then ask yourself “When I achieve this goal, what will this mean for me and those around me?” and “What makes it important to me?” - ask either of these questions 3 times and come up with at least 3 different answers to strengthen your motivation.

Don’t try and do it all at once.

This is one that I’ve had to work on a lot myself. Once landing on a clear goal, it can be easy to want to change every part of your routine to make the goal become reality.

For example, wanting to eat healthier with more vegetables and less carbohydrates may require a change for many routines you have established. First of all, your breakfast, lunch and dinner meals may require an overhaul, this requires finding and becoming familiar with new recipes and this in turn requires different shopping habits. I’ve done this before and trust me, this becomes both costly and a time consuming exercise if you try and do it for all meals all at once. So my tip, for any goal, is to take it one step at a time. Change one recipe per week. Or add a new exercise session in one at a time. Start meditating one day per week. Organise one social catchup with one friend at a time. Take it slow and you will find that you far more likely change your long term habits rather than crash and burn.

Find your people

This is a big one.

For many of us, for many different reasons, there has been a shift in our social connection activities over the past few years.

Not only does social connection help you emotionally recharge when you are with the right people, they inadvertently help keep you accountable to your goals and dreams.

They don’t even need to do anything, it is simply the process of sharing your goals with them that will dramatically improve the likelihood of you making them happen. Plus, if you do get stuck, or you need some encouragement, ‘your people’ aka the people that support you, will be there to help get you through the tricky times. I encourage you to share your number one goal (or two or three) with 5 or more people and notice how much of a difference this makes.

If you would like some guidance on how to overcome these trip hazards and utilise these strategies for success, you can download my free guide below. It will walk you through activities that step you over the trip hazards, including 'how to' examples as well as activities that encourage you to apply the strategies for success to your goal setting. Check it out below!