Giving The Nay Sayers In Your Life Something To Chew On – Other Than You!

March 22nd, 2011 Posted in Goals
Mar, 22 2011
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If you’re someone with big hairy audacious goals (like publishing a book or inventing a product or becoming financially free), chances are, that there are those in your circle of influence who love to tell you that you can’t accomplish said dream for any one of a million reasons – all of which likely apply more to them than they do to you. However, even if you don’t take it to heart, many times you still have to process through the junk their words leave you with. Dream stealing is not cool and many times, those people don’t realize how damaging their words of wisdom really are to someone else’s self-esteem and life’s dreams.

My great uncle George was a school teacher in the 20’s and 30’s in a village in Ohio. He was a good school teacher, everybody said as much, except… he chewed tobacco. And he was bold about how much he chewed it. He received letters about it and had to defend his behaviour many times.

Finally, a good friend of his took him aside and told him, “If you just stop chewing tobacco, they’d stop finding fault with you.”

To which uncle George responded, “I doubt it. If I stop chewing it, they’d find something else to complain about and it might be something I care a whole lot more about. I don’t care a bit about chewing tobacco, they can complain about my chewing tobacco all they please. If I give them something obvious to focus on, then they won’t find time to attack the things that really would upset me, like my teaching.”

This is not an article that is pro-chewing tobacco, just to set the record straight on that score. But, in the 20’s that wasn’t near as taboo as it is today. But the point is, that uncle George chose a flambouyant behavior and let it take the brunt of the criticism that came his way. The behaviour kept attention deflected from his real purpose in life, that was to teach the children as best he knew how. No one interfered with him about that and he was considered an inspiring teacher. He still teaches us – even today.

If you have big plans you’re trying to accomplish, and you find those plans are the topic of all the conversation around you, and that conversation is detrimental to your self-esteem or those voices keep running in your head when you’re working on your dream, then find a flambouyant bone to throw into the mix.

Change your hairstyle, dye it blue, peirce something, get a tattoo (henna is fine), take up a controversial hobby, find a trashy TV show to become a very vocal fan of, buy an exotic pet, buy hot-pink pillows or rug for the living room. Do something – anything (fair and legal) that will take attention off of what you need to focus on and put it on something frivolous and carefree – that you actually have no emotional attachment to at all. It will be interesting. It will keep the conversation lively and it’ll keep the dream stealers from talking bad about your dream!

 

Maslow said that “You need to be independent of the good opinion of others.” That is absolutely true. However, once something has been said, it is impossible to unsay it. If that something is harmful to you or your big plans, then it is something that you have to heal from. This technique will help short-circuit that whole problem. Give the people you talk to something else to pick on!

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Performance Coaching: Get An Actions Plan For Success

March 22nd, 2011 Posted in Goals
Mar, 22 2011
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In today’s blog post, we dive into Step 2 in our performance coaching goal setting process and develop action plans for every one of our goals.

Step 2: Focus

  • Identify the strategies you’ll use to achieve the goal
  • Chunk it down
  • Set explicit actions you can measure
  • Make them realistic
  • Set short as well as long terms actions

Identify strategies you’ll use to achieve the goals

What are the actions you want to take to achieve your goals i.e. technically, tactically, physically, mentally and that kind of stuff.

What do you need to do to enhance each one of these areas? Ask your coach and other professionals to help here if you are not sure.

Break down your actions into small pieces so it is straightforward to take action!

It is like having a big plate of food in front of you. You eat it one bite at a time! When you break things down into little bites, you can attain anything you set your mind to do.

All your actions must be precise and measurable, so you’ll know when you have achieved it.
As an example, an action might be to complete 100 repetitions of a skill every day for thirty days and so, you may know exactly when you have achieved it.

Make them realistic

It is no use setting goals or actions you can not reach. Target high but be realistic.

You are not going to be breaking world records in a week from now! It needs time and tons of difficult work! Set yourself up for success by setting plenty of smaller goals along the way to the big goal that actually stretches you.

It is so important that you have fun and really enjoy the journey.

Set short as well as long-term actions

Actions must be set for right now, and just as importantly for a few months time and likewise even a couple of years time too.

I first remember meeting Bill Sweetenham, who at the time was the Head Swimming Coach at the Australian Institute of Sport and I was blown away with his detailed planning he had already done for every one of his charges for the following four year Olympic cycle.

And obviously, it was no surprise to see their success at the following Olympic Games.

This step requires some time writing. Make that time. It is a gift to your future. Plan to make it extraordinary.

For more awesome perfomance coaching tips check out Ann Quinn’s peak performance website right now!

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Goal Setting That Gets Results

March 22nd, 2011 Posted in Goals
Mar, 22 2011
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Why are goals important? Well, we all want to know how to succeed in life, and goals function to give us direction and purpose in order to become successful. What is really exciting about setting goals and achieving them is where they can take you – what you can become in pursuing them.

For example, if you are a parent, you might find that it helps to set goals in regard to your self confidence.

In fact, it is important to remember that we all undergo a learning process just in becoming fully functioning adults – in fact your first goal setting success may well have been to toddle across the room and pick up a toy, although you may be more conscious of using goals in order to pass exams.  It is our approach to personal development, and ultimately our own experience of learning, growing and developing which is fundamental in defining our approach to the ‘challenge’ of further self improvement.

1. How To Set a Goal

If you are already wondering how to succeed in your goals, you must begin by knowing what it is that you are after; which direction you are going in.

To help you identify the personal goals or professional goals you should aim for, focus on asking yourself this: ‘What is important to you?’, ‘What do you want to do?’, ‘What do you want to achieve?’ To be successful you must learn to know where it is you want to go in life!

For example, imagine going on a holiday without knowing where you are going. You wouldn’t be happy if your bags were packed for some sun, but you landed in Iceland. Think about it – when you don’t know where you are going you can easily end up somewhere you don’t intend to be!

Write your goals down in a way that inspires you, maybe using pictures, flow charts, photos even. And remember there is no goal setting formula for this – goals are simply dreams recorded.

 

2. Planning Goal Setting

A plan is like a map, it allows you to see what you need to do to get to where you want to be. Imagine you want to build a castle. Before a single stone is laid, you need to think carefully about your plans. How big will the castle be? How many towers? Will there be a dungeon? You need to give consideration to the type of materials that you will need. The more you think and plan, the more likely you are to have a strong and fantastic castle. But you can’t hope to achieve your goal if you DO NOT PLAN.

Think about your destination, the point you want to get to, and work back from there to where you are now. Imagine working backwards like this and you are likely to isolate any challenges to your goal.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. So get planning your goals!

3. Commit To Success

Make a deal with yourself, telling yourself that, whatever happens, you will do what you have promised, and make sure that you keep that promise! If you do this, it will help you become stronger and more confident, as well as help with achieving your goals. You will begin to develop the unshakable perseverance you need on your journey. Be strong in your commitment and most of all, believe in yourself. Amazing potential is within you, but it is up to you to bring it out!

A winner never quits and a quitter never wins!

It may not be easy, but nothing that is truly worth achieving ever is. The journey through life is full of challenges, but as you travel you will learn and grow. Think back to your learning experiences and those first steps which soon became great strides.  Enjoy this opportunity to think about what you would like to do with your life and focus on becoming a success story.

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Powerful Goal Setting Using The Three R’s

March 22nd, 2011 Posted in Goals
Mar, 22 2011
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In todays post, we move onto Step five in our goal setting process and learn one of the systems that top athletes use to achieve their goals.

Step 5: Read, Review and Reward

  • Read aloud your goals at least once each and every day
  • Review your action plans once a week
  • Reward yourself set milestones for celebration

Daily Discipline of Success – Read your goals once or more a day

Sounds straightforward but so few people do it! Do this daily to turn on the power of your dreams and increase your motivation. Remember, failure is not an option. Set yourself up to win!

This is simply accomplished by placing your goals in places where you will see them daily, for example in the bathroom, in your wallet, your sports bag, your automobile, your diary or perhaps the

fridge

! Have them as a pop up on your PC. Write them on index cards and leave beside your bed to read every morning and night. Have another set for your purse or wallet and carry them with you wherever you go so when you have a spare minute, you can simply read them.

There’s actually truth in the parable out of view, out of mind. Do not let this happen to your goals. And don’t just read them, say them with enthusiasm and passion and feel and see them already done and how great you are feeling. Experience the pleasure, pride and excitement of having achieved your dream. Feels great, doesn’t it?

Review your action plans once a week

Be certain to check your progress frequently. Are you on track? Perhaps you need to change some action points? Not achieving what you want is a part of the process helping you adjust what you do. Maybe you are a step ahead and can add some tougher actions to complete in the approaching month?

Ask your coaches for their findings. Feedback is the breakfast of champs. You want consistent and regular feedback to keep you on target. If you were driving to a new town you had never been before, you’d be checking the map and the road signs to be certain you are on the right road. It is precisely the same with your training. Wherever you are at, review and re-evaluate your action plans each week.

Reward yourself! Set check points for celebration

When you have achieved your goal, or perhaps a gigantic action, treat yourself to a reward and celebrate your success. This is the fun part. Add in some things you would adore to buy or things to do. They can be as little or big as you like! Enjoy!

Often athletes get so focused on their goals that they don’t stop to enjoy the journey. Remember life is a journey, not a destination. The accolades and adulations and incredible feelings you’re feeling when you achieve your sporting dreams do not last for long and the secret’s to ensure you have fun through the process and en-route to your dreams. One rule you must obey is that you can’t get your reward until you have finished your goals.

To get more info about how to join the ranks of top athletes, check out Ann Quinn’s peak performance website now!

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How To Prioritise Like The Top Athletes

March 22nd, 2011 Posted in Coaching
Mar, 22 2011
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In todays blog post, we move onto Step four in our goal setting process and learn the importance of deciding what is most vital and then scheduling actions for every one of your priorities to cause it to happen.

Step 4: Prioritise Like A Top Athlete

  • Number each goal from one to 5 ranked by priority
  • Decide what’s most vital NOW!
  • Schedule your actions

Number each goal from one to five in order of priority

Because of the detailed research we did earlier, you will have plenty of goals to reach. Remember, it’s a ten year journey! Now beside each goal, I want you to number them from one to 5, one being of the utmost importance and five being a rather more longer term priority. As an example, increasing your endurance base so you can finish a marathon in under three hours might be a longer term goal and concern whereas completing your injury prevention exercises each day is a number one priority.

Decide what’s most vital NOW!

The very next step in the process is to choose which of those goals are most vital at the moment. What are your absolute priorities? Go through each of your number one priorities and select the top five goals you must achieve in the subsequent a quarter. If you do not have 5, then go to the number two priorities and if you have more than five, I would like you to choose the top five amongst those. Add these into the goal sheet at the end of the chapter.

Schedule Your Actions

- If you can dream it, it’s actually possible
- If you plan it, it’s a goal
- If you arrange it, it is reality
- Put it in your diary NOW!

The final most important step of all is to schedule it. Sounds easy and it is! Take all of your actions for every one of your top five goals, and one at a time, schedule them into your training week and block off the time you’ll need to achieve that action. Go to it and fill in your diary with appointments not only for coaching commitments but most critically of all, for you!

To get more info about how to join the ranks of top athletes, check out Ann Quinn’s peak performance site now!

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Be Accountable For Your Goals

March 22nd, 2011 Posted in Coaching
Mar, 22 2011
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In todays blog post, we move onto Step three in our goal setting process and learn how to make ourselves more accountable, the same way that top athletes do.

Step 3: Be Accountable

  • Get support for your goals
  • Hold yourself responsible
  • Set a finishing point to achieve each action plan

Get support for your goals

A decade and ten thousand hours is a very long time! Ensure you get lots of support around you to help you achieve your ambitions and share the issues along the way. You can support yourself too by giving yourself small rewards on the way. Treat yourself on each stepping stone to your success.

Hold yourself accountable

Go one step more than simply asking for support. Ask your coach, a member of the family or one of your friends to hold you responsible. This is critical. The relentless review of your goals and the certainty that you are being held accountable for sticking to them, makes a huge difference. If you play a team sport, then that mutual accountability has been revealed to be extraordinarily effective.

You can also do this yourself with a straightforward list. One tool that works very well for many athletes is to make up a list of all the daily actions they have to do to do their goals. It is something that they carry with them everywhere and simply tick the box when that action is finished. It will only take a few seconds and is a great reminder.

There is even an iPhone app for it too which is great as you can check when you are on the go! No excuses! Your coach will also find it useful to see what you are achieving daily.

Set a deadline to achieve your actions and your goals

The following step in this process is to set deadlines for accomplishment. Do it! If you fail to do this one step, your dream will remain just that! When will you achieve this goal? What’s realistic? Be specific. Do not just say December, say the exact date in December.

You may even want to add in the time of the day too! Any insurance policy will have an expiry date on it including the time . When will you reach your target? Add in the dates now!

To see more information about how to join the ranks of top athletes, go to Ann Quinn’s peak performance website now!

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Make Your Future A Wild Ride

March 22nd, 2011 Posted in Coaching
Mar, 22 2011
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The reason behind doing all the detailed testing that I talked about in my first blog content, is so that you can create the road map of where you would like to go, very similar to an architect when he or she designs a home.

They do not design bits of it for now and then add in more later on. They create the giant plans of all that must be done. It is particularly critical to have clarity about where you need to go and detailed plans for everything you need to do to achieve your dreams, whether or not it’s becoming a professional athlete or not.

When you do all this, the believing becomes so much easier and you wont just believe, you'll know you can do it!

Setting your goals properly, needs time. However if you do not do it, then most likely you will be drifting aimlessly and going no where! It's a intensely valuable tool and well worth bothering wanted to plan every step of the way. Essentially the goals become your stepping stones to success.

“Failing to plan is simply planning to fail!”

Writing your Goals – The Road Map to your Dreams

After completing your technical, tactical, physical, psychological and other assessments, you’ll soon realise you have heaps of goals to set that might appear quite disheartening. Dont despair! To make you goal setting less complicated, I have designed a five-step process for you to follow which ties in with the assessments you probably did back the 1st blog entries. At the end of this series of blog content, you’ll find a worksheet where you can record your goals.

Lets begin today with Step one, by getting set for success!

Setting yourself up for Success:

- Create large goals that actually excite and energise you
- Concentrate on performance rather than end result goals

Create big goals that truly excite and energise you.

The 1st rule in writing your goals is by using positive, powerful words that actually excite you, ignite your enthusiasm and make you want to get out of bed each morning and get going!

For example earning a specific quantity of money does not truly excite you after all it’s just coloured paper, but it’s what that cash will give you that’s the thrilling part.

Think of what you may gain by achieving this goal and what it may cost you if you don’t reach it? Similarly, if you’re going on a diet, the big reason isn’t really to lose one or two kilograms but to get fitter and faster and feel fantastic.

Now that is far more reason to lose some pounds than merely reach a lower number on the scales. Likewise we do not actually need to run simply to get a better time on the clock. It is way more exciting to see yourself getting fitter and quicker and when you continue to do that, your performance and your results will only improve.

Concentrate on Performance rather than End result Goals

Many individuals have differing perspectives on this idea. At first I did this with my sportsmen. All we focused on was consistently improving and winning took care of itself.

I remember training Pat Cash in the year before he won Wimbledon. We never once debated winning Wimbledon and yet naturally, it was his dream. Instead we targeted on all we wished to do to achieve that dream, technically, tactically, psychologically and physically. No stone was left unturned.

Over time, I modified to creating end result goals for athletes too, like winning a selected event. In fact , that was their dream and that was definitely the explanation for them getting out of bed each morning.

But when you concentrate on result goals, you can be setting yourself up for failing. On any specific day, we will not control other variables and things that might happen, not to mention your opponents. You might even play your best ever game or run the swiftest time and break a record and some other person still beats you and thus in your eyes you have failed!

You may not have won the gold medal but to perform your best ever is certainly no failure. I now only set performance goals and focus with athletes on how they will get there and the winning takes care of itself.

For more great tips about becoming a professional athlete and achieving your dreams, check out Ann Quinn’s peak performance website now!

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How To Achieve Your Goals

March 22nd, 2011 Posted in Coaching
Mar, 22 2011
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 goalsSetting self development goals is a skill that everyone who wishes to be successful should learn and master. However, many people often set the wrong types of self development goals, and as a result either do not achieve what they really want to do in life, or give up on their goals because they do not become motivated by them.

 

Your basic values form an integral part of the kind of self development goals you set for yourself.

 

What Are Your Basic Values

 

Your basic values are the things that you believe in, you are passionate about and what you regard as important.Your basic values make up who you are and what you stand for. The things you value as a person, for example honesty and fairness, would become an important part of your actions and values and therefore your goals would be aligned with them.If you want to make money , you would do so fairly and honestly.

As you set your goals you need to think about your basic values, for if in the end your goals are not in harmony with your basic you would not find the motivation to continue.

So if you strongly value honesty and fairness in life, but then try to make money using dishonest means you are likely to feel bad about doing so, and consequently will lack the motivation to successfully go after and achieve your goals. Doing something that you do not enjoy would mean that you would hardly be successful at it. This is the reason that you choose goals that are aligned with your basic value system.

 

Another important consideration to make when setting goals is whether or not they challenge you. Your goals should cause you to have to exceed yourself. You have to feel driven to experience them. However, goals should not be too challenging, or unrealistic, as otherwise they will seem impossible to accomplish and you will most likely give up on them.

 

This does not mean that you should set low goals, or not think big, What is possible for someone , may appear quite impossible for another. So your goals should be in tune with what you believe that you can achieve.Always set goals which are what you believe you can achieve and not what others think that you should achieve.For example, many people did not believe that airplanes would be able to fly.

 

However, the Wright brothers, did not believe flying was impossible and as a result went onto create the world’s first flying airplane. If the Wright brothers had allowed other peoples limiting beliefs to influence the goals they set for themselves, who knows, maybe we would not have airplanes today.

 

So when setting yourself goals make sure they are the things that you really want to do in life, and are aligned with what you believe in and believe you can achieve.If you can do this you will set goals that are right for you, and vastly increase the chances that you  would accomplish them.

 

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Tips For Finding A Life Coach

March 22nd, 2011 Posted in Coaching
Mar, 22 2011
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Are you feeling somewhat stuck in your own life? Are you experiencing a mid-life crisis, a career change or simply feeling like you can’t get a grip on which route you ought to go next. If you are not presently visiting a psychologist of some kind, you may want to think about heading the route of finding a life coach. A man or woman with excellent life coach training can help you create vast advancements in your life when it comes to clarifying your own ambitions and moving forward having a plan of action to make them occur.

A life coach is a good listener and communicator. Although they aren’t meant to be your therapist, for many individuals this may be a trustworthy source of support during a particular time in their life. Many coaches get the job done from another location by way of telephone so it is not really necessary that you have an in person meeting with your mentor, so that it is useful.

Generally, you’ll plan regular meetings with your coach and begin with the targets regarding what you look for to get out of your time with her or him. An initial consultation would mostly likely end up being at no cost to be certain that the both of you clicked in personalities and would be great working together. Quite often, the actual get togethers will be once a week, although this can vary from client to client, based on your distinct requirements.

An excellent mentoring period really should make you feel clear headed as to what your current targets are for the days and nights ahead. Quite often you will check in with your life coach by way of e-mail through the full week which will help with a sense of accountability. This tends to furthermore ensure that you may enter in the following session feeling great about what you’ve achieved and able to move ahead to your subsequent objectives.

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Benefits Of Hiring A Coach

March 22nd, 2011 Posted in Coaching
Mar, 22 2011
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Have you ever felt trapped in a specific predicament or life on the whole? If so, you’re certainly not on your own. Most people endure certain intervals in life when things seem to be out of place and they are unable to seem to overcome a specific problem. One of several options to enable you to advance may be the decision to take part in the right life coaching. This is sometimes a fantastic alternative to seeing a counselor because this sort of process can be extremely intimate and is much like getting your own individual cheerleader to help you to navigate a certain predicament.

A life coach is there to help guide in making clear your current targets and the techniques you can move ahead in your own life. Several life coaches have gone through some significant instruction to produce capabilities that will help their clients put their greatest steps forward and explain the ambiguous components of their lives.

A lot of people realize that this type of set up is exactly what they have been requiring within their lives to get “unstuck”. Imagine proceeding from lacking a definite route to knowing an organized plan on paper before you. With these crystal clear action steps which have been in alignment with your life values and objectives, you can be unstoppable and ready to overcome whatever may well cross your path.

Look at your nearby newspapers and Craigslist to discover if you can find any coaches in your immediate area. Note, however, that one great thing about this sort of therapy is that it’s often conducted by way of telephone, internet or through e mail so it’s not really critical that your individual mentor end up being based near you.

Once you suspect that you have found a good match, do not be frightened to inquire about recommendations or testimonial of earlier customers. In addition, most coaches should offer you some type of original consultation to clarify if you will be an effective fit for one another.

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