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The 5 Most Common Mistakes of Goal Setting

1.You have no action plan
This is by far the most common error when we set goals. The intent is set and we even establish a time-frame, but we don’t create a plan. A plan is just a written step-by-step process to get you to where you want to go. Having a plan greatly increases your chances of achieving your goal. It also prevents overwhelm, stagnation and procrastination because the path is laid out for you and broken into smaller steps. You can approach it one small step at a time. Remember, bite-size pieces is easier for our human brains to deal with, especially when we’re doing something new.
2.The goal is unrealistic
Your goal can be unrealistic for a number of reasons. Usually it arises from expecting that you can do something in a much smaller space of time than is humanly possible. Any perfectionists and high achievers please note
… We are all human and we can only do what we can do. Setting super high standards will not make you better but just set you up for disappointment. The other major reason for unrealistic goal setting is in lack of factoring in the overall context of the goal. Our lives (work, business, personal etc) don’t happen separately or in a vacuum. Your goal is only one part of the whole. It may be an important part but it is still only just one of a few  parts. You need to factor in the context of the goal- your life  and business situation. Are you in the middle of moving, a family crisis, have 3 projects due at the end of the quarter? All of these elements, whether from personal or professional life will impact on the total resources that you can allocate to your goal. Factor in these other things that are “on your plate” to help you better set a more realistic goal.
3.You set it and forget it
Goal setting and achieving is an ongoing process, not a one-time event at the beginning of the year or quarter. The nature of working with goals is organic in the sense that you often need to modify as you go. In other words, flexibility is key. Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t mean you should create a goal and then “go with the flow”. No, you need a step-by-step plan on how you will achieve it. But then you must remain flexible to modifying it along the path you’re treading. Reviewing is the key to this process, so you need to be looking at your goal plan regularly to stay on track. Often the path to our goal is different than what we planned, so must adjust as required.
4.You don’t really want to achieve the goal
Is it possible that we actually want something we don’t really want? Yes. This is no personal flaw of yours. This can easily happen when we see a bright shiny outcome and from the outside looking in, we think to ourselves that that’s what we really. But having that thing, it turns out, actually involves doing or being certain things that really aren’t our game. An example of this: Having a multi-million dollar business speaking at live events around the country.  From the outside this looks amazing to you. Living your purpose and teaching others while getting to travel is a fantastic idea. Behind this goal are the background mechanics to make this work. You have to be willing to travel, stay in hotels alone, be away from your family and partner/spouse regularly. The idea of spending hours in airports and hotel rooms suddenly hits you and you realise you don’t want that goal after all. And that’s okay. You can however skip the whole process of discovering this after already spending lots of your time on it simply by understanding your values. Knowing your values will help you better decide on the goals that will truly bring you fulfillment.
5.Limiting beliefs stop you
We all have beliefs that we have established and often been unconsciously living by for most of our lives. Our early life has a large influence on how we perceive the world and these “learnings” and ideas end up manifesting as our belief systems about the world and other people. Everyone experiences this and most of us are unaware of most of our beliefs until we come up against a situation that challenges them.  This can be a situation where you feel stuck, unable to make progress or changes that you want. This is where working with a qualified coach can really help. They can help create awareness around the limiting beliefs and help you overcome them. It is difficult for us to see our own blind spots, no matter how aware we are of ourselves. If you find yourself in this situation, I recommend opting in for my FREE Introductory Coaching Session. I can help you create ways to move forward and away from feeling stuck or limited in your choices.

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The most underrated business hack for SME’s

Systemising is easily the most underrated tool for SME’s. It’s interesting because most of us know that we probably should have systems in place but still most of us don’t do it! And when we do implement it, we don’t update them. I know we’re all busy, but you would actually be a lot less busy if you systemised! 🙂

 That’s just one of 6 big benefits of systemising your business. Consider these benefits:
1. Managing (and preparing for) business growth
Systemising your business is essential for managing business growth and for creating the business that you really want. As your business grows and there is more to do, you must have the systems to deal with this expansion. Not systemising will result in stress and chaos and ultimately limiting the growth of your business. 

2. Save your time & energy
Time management is essential in business. The more efficiently you run your business, the less time and energy you will need to expend.  Creating a systemised way to do the most common processes in your business will save you many hours! Working within a system is faster. It’s simply easier for our brains to manage small steps in a sequence completing one thing at a time. Up goes your productivity!

3. Reduced costs
One of the most common errors in SME’s is hiring staff too early. This is usually due to a lack of systemisation. If you systemise first, you can avoid unnecessarily hiring staff to deal with the workload.

4. Consistent outcomes
A system can easily create consistent results for you and your business. Once you have documented the steps in your process, all you have to do is follow them. This also means that if you are susceptible to procrastination (most of us from time to time) having a system will help you overcome this! 🙂 It’s easier to get started on a task that has an outline and step by step process. Our human brain is less likely to resist such tasks as it requires less cognitive effort.

5. Improved customer experience
When you systemise your business processes, your customer experience is much more consistent. Customers notice this. They receive their invoices on the same date, the branding is always the consistent, they get a follow-up call at the time you promised etc. And what does all this consistency create? Trust. Lots of trust. We all know our aim is to create the know, like, trust factor for sales, so this is an unbeatable benefit of systemisation.

6. Enjoy your business more
Creating joy in what you do brings a sense of fulfillment and wellbeing. It’s the shift that happens within you and around you when things are organised. When you have a systemised business you are able to focus your attention easier. You move from task to task without having to sift through things. There’s less resistance because there is a path already created. This is when ease is created. This is truly a big benefit of systemisation.

As always, knowledge is not power, implementation is. So my question to you is: Which business process will you systemise this week?

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5 ways to better manage change

Whether change is something you are choosing for yourself or something that has been unceremoniously thrust upon you, you need to pro-actively manage it.

As we established in last week’s blog, change is hard and it doesn’t come natural to any of us really. If you want to move through change avoiding unnecessary stress and confusion, then you will benefit from understanding a few concepts about change and by arming yourself with a few tools. Being able to confidently navigate change in our lives is a practical and essential skill in being able to create new things for ourselves and our business. So the benefits will show up now and in the future.

Here’s 5 ways to better manage change:
1. Accept it’s a challenging time
We established in the last blog that change is challenging for all of us. So taking that a step further, you need to accept there’s nothing wrong with you. Everyone is challenged by change. So when you inevitably experience thoughts along the lines of “I’m not managing this very well, there’s something I’m not good at” etc. you can remind yourself of this truth. There is in fact nothing wrong with you. This is an adjustment phase and you are navigating it.

2. Simplify
If you are experiencing or creating major changes in your life and/or business, then you need to simplify things. This is one of the best techniques to apply, with immediate results. You look at everything that you have on your to-do list, goals and responsibilities and you decide which things you can delay (push your deadline back), delegate or delete altogether. You can’t do it all while navigating the change process, as this will only exacerbate the stress and overwhelm. Simplify by reducing responsibilities.

3. Allow more time
Most of us would prefer that we have a certain established amount of time and at the end of that time, the change process is complete. All nice and neat and predictable. Mostly we just want it to take as little as time as possible. I warn against giving into these thoughts as they completely oppose the process of change. You need to allow more time for this process that you would otherwise anticipate or expect for any challenge. Creating or accepting change takes time. And there is no way to speed this process up. Be patient with yourself and refer to the first point: There is nothing wrong with you.

4. Expect to fall off track
Change is not a straight line from one way of being to another. If you graphed it it’d probably be a zigzag. You cope and adjust to the new habit or situation quite well for a while, but then you “regress” back to the old way of doing or being. This is a normal part of the process. But often this is when we all feel like we’ve failed. This is just the beginning. You need to look at change as a series of getting on track and falling off… or if you prefer this analogy, getting back on your horse, time and time again. No one decides to change and does it in one action! You’ll go back and forth for some time between maintaining the change and then not. But if you keep getting back on track, then all you need is time. Over time it becomes a new habit.

5. Have your own back
Moving through change will require more time and energy from you. It can be unsettling, frustrating and tiring. On the flip side, when you do see progress, it will give you a boost of energy and hope. So you can see how it might be a bit of a roller coaster ride at times. It’s important to therefore have your own back. Work with yourself and not against yourself by becoming aware of any negative thoughts about your situation. Remind yourself that this is a process and will take time. Having your own back means supporting yourself as much as you would support a good friend in their time of need. Give yourself the things you need to rejuvenate your energy and write our any negative thoughts that come up.

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Why is change so hard?

If  change is a natural part of our lives then why is it sometimes so hard?
Anyone  who  has  set  and  attempted  to  achieve  goals  knows  all  about  this.  Anyone  who  has  tried  to  break  a  habit,  create  a  new  habit,  adjust  to  living  in  a  new  city  or  without  someone  you  love…  you know  the  challenges  of  change.  

I mean just think about the last time you moved house or changed jobs. Do you have fond memories of that experience? Or did it feel chaotic at best? The  nature  of  change  is  unsettling especially  when  it’s  on  our own  doorstep messing with our routine, our work or our  relationship!
It can feel like a big challenge!

So  why do we all find it so challenging?  

Here are  a few key reasons why most of us struggle with change:
Change  alters  our  world
Change  interrupts  how  we  normally  go  about  things  and  how  we  cope  with  things  in  the  world.  We’re kind  of  knocked  off  our  usual  track  and  it’s,  well,  bumpy. Instead of doing things the way we’ve always done them, we’re having to do it differently and our brains don’t like that. It takes us longer to do it and requires more cognitive effort. So change is making it literally challenging for our brains to adjust to the new way of doing things.

Change  affects  our  notion  of  who  we  are
Change  challenges  our  beliefs  and  our  closely  held  values. This is really the major shake-up for most of us after experiencing a loss of some sort. Whether it was a break-up or death of someone you love, such a big change really shifts our beliefs and values. When this happens, our  very  concept  of  who  we  are  is  called  into  question. 

Change  can  trigger  anxiety
Change  within  our  relationships  and  ties  with  others  is the most unsettling. When these close bonds are disrupted or torn apart, it causes most of  us  to  feel  anxious.  When the sense of attachment or belonging is threatened or lost, it will trigger anxiety in all of us humans because we all want acceptance and love. This need is primal and goes back to the way our brains are wired. So there’s no escaping this one- sorry!

Change  signifies  an  end
Change  is  a  shift  from  the  old  to  the  new.  It  is  both  a  beginning  and  an  end.Depending  on  the  nature  of  change,  this  can  cause  a  sense  of  loss.  If you’ve felt yourself pining for or reminiscing about the past… that’s all to do with dealing with an ending.  Of course the reality is, we can’t have a new beginning without an end. So an end can always be be viewed as an opportunity to begin again.

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What you think is creating your business results

What do you think is creating the results in your business right now?

I pose this question because the more you understand this, the more results you can create, right? Can you answer that question succinctly and with complete confidence? You might have a list of factors that you think are all contributing to your business success (or lack of success) at this point. And, you would be right in assuming that there are a number of factors at work here. 

However, do you know that these contributing factors all lead back to just one basic, yet important factor?

Your marketing strategy, sales funnel, customer service and product quality may all influence your business results. But these influences all lead back to just one important thing. This one thing is the foundation for change and growth within your business. It’s also the most powerful (and sometimes complex) tool that you have.

Your thinking and the way you use your thoughts is what creates results in your business.

I am not referring to the “keeping positive” thoughts approach. I am talking about real cognitive awareness and understanding how your thoughts literally translate into business results.

Here is the way your mind works:You observe your circumstance and have a thought about it. That thought creates an emotion and/or a behaviour. Your emotion might influence your behaviour or vice versa. So your behaviours, whichever way you look at it, all originate from your thoughts.

When we are talking about creating business results, we are talking about specific actions you are taking to get those results. And underneath those specific actions there originates specific thoughts influencing your actions.

Are you aware of those thoughts? 

If those thoughts are creating your behaviours that create your business results, then it makes sense to get to know them a little better, right? This is what I recommend for everyone. Regardless of where your business is at. Developing cognitive awareness is a skill you can develop and use to create the business results that you want. 

If you want more. If you want bigger results. Then you need to do something different. Doing something different starts with your thinking. Creating something more starts with your thinking.

If you can become aware of your thoughts about your business, about your outcomes and your own abilities, then that’s the first and biggest step to creating more for your business.

I don’t want you to overlook the significance of this and the depth of impact it truly has. I don’t want you to skim the surface and respond to this all with a“yes, I know, I believe I can do it” reaction. That will not help you. I am going to ask you the harder questions, to get you the better insights.

To truly understand your thinking about your business, start by answering the following questions:
What do I think about my business? eg. Do I think it is easy or hard? Do I think it is enjoyable or not? What do I think is possible for my business?What is not possible for my business? How come it’s not possible?What do I think about the day-to-day tasks?