We all have goals – those things in our life we want to do and achieve. It might be learning a new skill, learning how to play a musical instrument, travelling, climbing the ladder at work, or starting our own business for example.
Goals don’t even need to be that big. Your goal may be something like walking 10,000 steps every day, spending less time on social media, reading more books, cooking more, or maybe even spending more time with loved ones.
For many of us, we have all these goals, aims, ideas, and ambitions floating around in our head, but year in, year out, we don’t seem to make the progress we want. Life sometimes gets so busy, we put things off, and that leaves us feeling, well, frustrated!
In this article, we’ll help with that, by identifying and prioritising your goals, and then introducing the GROW model. In no time, you’ll be on the right path, making progress to achieving your goals.
So lets get straight in to it.
Step one
The first thing to do is write down all of your goals – doesn’t matter if it’s short, medium or long-term, whether it’s work-related or personal. It might take some time to think about but get all of those thoughts and ideas out of your head and written down. You might find it’s actually quite cathartic! Remember, your brain is for having ideas – not for storing them.
Step two
Next, you need to rank them in order of priority. This one might take some time and can be tricky because I know that ideally, you’d achieve them all. In doing so, consider which is the most important to you? Which ones are going to have the most significant impact on your life? Which one is the most urgent?
Think of it like this, which one(s) will you regret most if you don’t even try?
Step three
OK – so now, we’re going to take the top three. These are (in theory) things you really want. These are the ones we’re going to apply the GROW model to – for now, ignore the rest.
Put them out of your mind. Forget about them.
The reality is, the more things you’re trying to do, the harder it will be to focus on any one thing!
Once you’re well on your way to smashing these top three goals, you can always revisit your list.
The GROW model
The GROW model is an approach, often used by coaches to help people identify and work towards achieving their goals.
GROW stands for Goal. Reality. Options. Will.
GOAL
Start by writing down your first ‘goal’. In doing so, be specific with it. A good way to do this is to make it SMART, that is, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound. For example, “I want to be able to run 5k in 25 minutes within the next 3 months”.
REALITY
Now think about the current ‘reality’. What is happening now? What is your starting position? What are the challenges? What are the things that you also still have to deal with? Think about what you’ve already done or are doing. This can be tricky for some as it can be a reality check for the amount of work required to reach your goal.
For example, “I currently run 5k in 40 minutes” – so you know you need to speed up by 15 minutes in order to achieve your goal.
OPTIONS
Next, consider your ‘options’. What options exist which will help you achieve your goal? What constraints can you remove? Who or where can you get support from? This is where you consider the ways to help you move forward so – What’s the craziest idea you can think of to help you achieve your goal? Why not that? Considering all the options, even the ‘out there’ ones allows you to choose what is more likely to work for you.
WILL
And finally, ‘will’. How willing are you to put in the effort needed to achieve this goal? On your list – this is your top three, the most important things to you, so how much do you really want it? How prepared are you to do the hard work to make it happen? To make it a reality. On a scale of 1-10, how determined are you? If it’s not 10, why not? What do you need to change or do to increase that willingness and commitment level to 10?
It’s also worth thinking about how you’re going to keep yourself motivated – will you have a review period? For example, in a month’s time you may not be running 5k in 25 minutes but, you might want to review how fast you are and celebrate the progress made from where you currently are. Two minutes faster is still two minutes of progress towards that goal.
And that’s it! Actually putting in the effort and doing it will be more tricky than planning it but, having a plan is important and definitely a step in the right direction.
Do this for the other goals you’ve identified. Work out how you’re going to fit it in to your life – and go for it!
Remember, success is not immediate – it takes time, effort, and commitment, so allow yourself this time and understand that some days will be tougher than others. When you’re wondering whether it’s worth it, think about why you started and, assuming you’re not in exactly the same place, acknowledge the progress you’ve made so far. Re-focus, and keep going. Whatever it is – you can do it!
If you think you can, you will.
Think Can Will 