WHAT IT REALLY TAKES TO ENHANCE YOUR LIFE Happiness, Good Health, Wealth, Success, ... are wishes. Wishing for the sky won't improve the quality of your life and well-being. If wishes were horses, beggars might ride ... Neither will "wanting to succeed", "wanting to quit smoking", "wanting to lose weight" or "wanting to become more social, assertive, ..." be of much help to you. These are intentions. What it takes to be successful at enhancing your life is: GRASP IT! GRASP stands for: a Goal, a Reason, Action, a Strategy and Perseverance. Now, let's look into these elements in some more detail:
GOAL Some of us may find it difficult to identify their dream, while others have so many dreams that their main problem is to prioritise among them. In either case, it is important to remember that most dreams will remain just that: dreams. Unless we prioritise and then transform our most urgent or important objective into a smart goal.. SMART, meaning: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Rewarding and Time bound or Traceable. Now, write this goal down as a positive and concrete statement. For example: I will lose 10 kilos by the end of this year and will lose 2 kilos per month. Hint: It may be a good idea to paste your goal in visible, prominent areas around you to be regularly reminded of it.
REASON Motivation is very important. The path to success is almost never a smooth one. If you are not prepared for setbacks, you may discover that your goal suddenly seems a lot less important when the going gets though. Motivation is what sparked the fire in the first place. It's the reason why you selected this goal and want to achieve it. But along the way, the intensity and direction of your motivation will vary. Maybe you started your path with one important reason in mind, but discover after some time that this is not the real reason why you want to achieve this specific goal. That is o.k. as long as your reasons fuel the enthusiasm and courage that you need to learn from failure and continue toward the fulfilment of your goal. Hint: A visualization board to help you visualize yourself enjoying the benefits which you will experience once you have accomplished your goal, may prove very helpful to get you through difficult moments.
ACTION So, you have a great goal. But how exactly are you going to reach it? First thing to do is to break down your goal into manageable sub-goals. Not only will these stepping stones help you to keep things in the right perspective (- compare "half a kilo to go this month" to "still 8 kilos to go" -), but they will also make it easier to draw concrete daily action plans and to review and evaluate your progress on a regular basis. As long as you keep sight of your goal, this allows for some flexibility along the road. Hint: Once your preparations are done, don't delay: Act Right Now! And once you got started, don't stop.
STRATEGY Many roads lead to Rome. Depending on your personal experiences and preferences, your strengths and weaknesses and on your actual life situation, you will have to pick a trajectory, a means of transportation, the time you want to invest in your journey, the stopping places and the mileage you want to cover each month, week and day. But don't be too hard on yourself: even the best horse will stumble from time to time. Yet, it will get back on its feet and keep going. It is likely that your initial action strategy will require some adjustment along the road. Maybe you under-estimated the time or effort needed to execute your action plan. Or changes in your life situation force you to reconsider your schedule. This implies that it may take you a little longer to achieve your goal. But, hey! You know why you changed your action plan! The important thing here is to always be honest with yourself. But, if necessary, it's even much better to adjust your goal than to throw the towel and give up. Hint: Regular reviews are important. They allow you to evaluate your progress, to adapt your daily action plan and to celebrate your victories!
PERSEVERANCE You started on this path toward the accomplishment of your dream in the firm believe that you can realize your goal. Your goal is a SMART goal. You have the motivation and the right strategy to overcome any obstacles that you might encounter along the way. If you ever felt that you were a victim, by taking things into your own hands you have proven that you are determined to be the protagonist in your own life. It is not because the road is long and windy that it also should be dull and hard and lonely. Finding positive role models may be a great idea: Become inspired by people who accomplished something important. Read about them, watch positive movies. Surround yourself with positive, supportive people who care about you. Hint: Share your goal with the people around you. Tell them about it and, if possible, find others that share the same goals and form a small group in which members support each other and hold each other accountable. Or find a mentor to support you. Copyright: Dean Amory, 2014