Do you wake-up daily with mental ENERGY and PASSION to take on your professional challenges or does your heart sink into your shoes at the prospect of another day on the job or work-place?
Well, there are times in all of our lives and careers when we reach a crossroad. In which direction should we go? Some individuals will actively look for the next step, while others will hang around, waiting for the next step to come to them.
It is possible to have a career or business that ignites your professional passion and a life where you have personal power. You need to BELIEVE that it can be done and align your MINDSET accordingly. By defining priorities and then setting clear goals, strategies and actions, AND implementing these one step at a time, you can reclaim the life and career that you envisage.
Use the following simple steps as guidance:
1. Define your Priorities
Just who are you and what do you want? What are you passionate about? Start out by making a list of what is important to you – your broad values and priorities. By having these close at hand, it becomes much easier to make choices and decisions that are aligned to your personal preferences, values and life-style choices.
2. Define your Goal
Sure, you may have lots of good intentions, but you cannot get what you want until you actually describe what it is. Envisage what it is that you would want to be, have and do, if there were no obstacles in your way. Give yourself the liberty to dream. Brainstorm and write it all down. Finally, summarise your goal in a few powerful words – the one-liner that you can immediately recall when asked at any time!
3. Explore Your Options
What did you learn about yourself and your goals in the previous steps? What are your alternatives? Do you stay, leave or move to something new? What are the implications? Take your insights and turn them into explicit career and workplace choices. Do research, link up with contacts you know, or solicit advice from trusted experts in the field. EXPLORE and ASK – you need to be action-oriented.
4. Create a Plan of Action
Next you need to get a PLAN. Reflect on what you gathered from the previous steps and define broad steps to achieve your desired outcome. 4 – 6 broad steps is a good guideline. Next you need to break each broad step down into smaller, executable actions and diarise or schedule these. Look at:
· WHAT I want (Specific Outcome or Result)
· By WHEN will I get it?
· ACTIONS that I will take to get there (Specific Actions or Tasks)
· WHAT ELSE will I need to complete the task?
5. Implement It
To keep the energy and momentum going, you need to set daily, weekly and monthly tasks or actions. Follow through and persevere. Step-by-step you will be moving towards your goals. If something is not working, make the resolution up front that you will try something else, but KEEP GOING!
6. Complete!
Track your progress and celebrate your achievements. Give yourself credit for making the changes.
A final comment – Remember, CHANGE is often painful, but it begins with the acknowledgement that you are the author of your own life story. Insight and knowledge alone do not create change. ACTION leads to new experiences and new behaviours, which lead to change. Lasting change requires more ACTION.
About the Author: Gina Mostert is a business success strategist and coach who works with executives, entrepreneurs, business owners and independent professionals to plan for success, get more organised and take decisive action to get results.
By creatively combining the best of consulting, coaching and mentoring, she helps clients to define exactly WHAT they want to be, have or do in business and HOW they intend to get there. She is the developer of the 8 Essentials for Business Breakthroughs Program for Small Businesses.
