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Momentum And Goals – How To Build On An Inspired Start And Keep It Going

  • Posted on July 1, 2009 at 10:12 pm

When you’re inspired you get a tremendous boost to your energy and motivation. This is a great way to get started towards your goal, yet you also need momentum to keep going to reach it.

You can find momentum literally in DETAIL – one factor for each letter of the word. You can use this as a checklist anytime to build and maintain momentum. Score each factor out of 10 (where 10 is perfect):

* Direction

Is your goal still appealing and relevant? Does it have the magnetic attraction to pull you towards it?

If your score is less than 8, you need to clarify your goal. Maybe the size is wrong – if it is too overwhelming, break it into smaller chunks. If it is too small to attract you, make it bigger and bolder.

Remember Michelangelo: “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark”

* Energy

Check your energy levels. If your score 7 or under, where else is your energy going? Beware the energy vampires.

Low energy can be a sign of working outside of your strengths – what can you share or delegate?

Working with your strengths brings new energy – how can you do more of this?

* Time

Where is this goal on your priority scale? Is it getting enough time to ‘stay alive’? Procrastination is a huge energy drain.

If you score less than 8, the challenge is to find how you can spend more time on this goal. This is a subject in itself (!) so remember that the minimum time is that needed to maintain momentum. Therefore regular inputs of time are as important as the quantity.

If you don’t increase the overall time you spend, how could you use the time you are already spending to build greater momentum?

* Accountability

You may know that making yourself accountable for progress can be a big help in maintaining momentum.

This accountability can be to yourself (checklists, graphs, targets etc) and/or to others. It can be formal (for example, it’s usually a key feature in coaching) or informal. Generally the more people you are accountable to, the stronger the effect.

If you score less than 7, how could you make yourself more accountable?

* Incentives

How well do you use incentives and rewards for milestones on the journey? What celebrations do you make when you reach interim stages?

If you score under 8, there is much scope here. Incentives are inherently personal so you will have an idea of what could work for you.

Experiment with frequency – once a day, once a week, once a month – rewards need to be often enough to assist momentum without taking over so that more time is spent on the rewards than the progress you want!!

* Learning

How well are you learning from progress so far? How effectively are you using the feedback available?

If you score anything under 10 here, there are opportunities to tune your operation. There is scope for working smarter.

Ask : what is working well? What could be working better? What adjustments could you make?

****

Momentum is essential for reaching our goals. Sometimes it builds naturally; more frequently we have to help it along. Now you can use DETAIL as often as you need and enjoy your success.

Trevor helps people who want to be energised, motivated and fulfilled, especially in their working lives. If you would like to receive regular articles like this one or get a FREE copy of Trevor’s ‘Passport To Inspiration’ simply sign-up at
http://www.inspiration-at-work.co.uk

Article Source: Momentum And Goals – How To Build On An Inspired Start And Keep It Going

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I’ll Do It Later But Later Never Comes

  • Posted on July 1, 2009 at 10:12 pm

Has there ever been a time when you didn’t procrastinate? Probably not, if you’re really honest with yourself. For the most part, procrastination is something we all live with and it typically doesn’t seem to interfere too much with our daily lives.

But what about the times we procrastinate to such a degree that we become immobilized? Perhaps you may recall Shakespeare’s Hamlet who, when he discovered that his uncle had murdered his father, wanted revenge. Unresponsive to his initial best instinct, he hesitates. Tormented with doubt, rationalizations, love and hate for his mother (who marries his uncle), and a myriad of other excuses, he hesitates. Or does he? Is he biding his time, waiting for the right moment, or merely procrastinating? For Hamlet, this wasn’t a moral reason. Then why did he hesitate? Or did he? Let’s look at the possibilities, while apparently enduring his torment.

1. I must find the opportune time.
2. How would it affect my mother? (Those of you familiar with Freud’s Oedipal complex theory might insist: Of course, it would be logical!)
3. How would others in the royal court respond?
4. The timing must be right.
5. I abhor violence. (highly unlikely)
6. How do I make it look like an accident?

One other possibility would need to be examined. What if Hamlet never really hesitated? Perhaps he was merely contemplating various ways he could carry out the act. (But then the play would be too short). The question remains: Did he procrastinate at all?

You’re probably wondering why I used such an extreme example to illustrate an issue with which most of us have had to cope at various time in our lives. In my work with individuals however,
I’ve used the Hamlet example to help defuse the intensity of their own struggles with procrastination be they minor or major. While not always successful in their attempts, their willingness to confront the matter has often led to at least modest changes in their lives.

One of the more memorable participants in an ongoing “ Decisions Decisions” workshop that I conducted a short while ago was somewhat skeptical, at first, about her participation. Having had five years of psychoanalysis for symptoms of depression, anxiety, and low self esteem, which had some positive resolution, Rita nevertheless felt that her propensity towards procrastination had not been sufficiently addressed. Attractive, physically healthy and active for a woman of sixty years, she took an early retirement from a Federal government position with the intention of traveling and pursuing her interest in watercolors. Divorced at age fifty, following fifteen years of marriage, Rita had had several relationships which she considered superficial. During the course of the workshops, she was helped to realize by other group members that her procrastination regarding travel and painting was related to strongly felt financial obligations towards her twenty-five year old single son and fear of traveling. Despite her years in psychoanalysis, she continued to believe that a child’s needs were more important than the parent’s and felt guilty about spending “all that money on myself” for travel throughout the US, China and Europe.

The group was asked to answer several questions in an exercise entitled: What’s Hidden Behind Procrastination?

1. What are my excuses for not acting on my behalf?
2. What am I afraid of?
3. Do I feel I don’t deserve what life has to offer me?
4. Am I afraid of change?
5. Do I feel that things I wish to do take too much effort?
6. Do I feel guilty and selfish for wanting things for myself?
7. Do I have difficulty letting go of things?
8. What if, what I want doesn’t turn out the way I expected?

You can imagine the vitality the group took on in attempting to address these questions for themselves. Most interesting, however, was the group’s focus on Rita’s dilemma and her defensive attitude expressed in anger at first, but then changing, as the meetings progressed. Feeling “ganged up on” at times, Rita soon began to realize how she had been denying her very powerful need to make the most out of her life.

If you’re curious about whatever happened to Rita, a year later, following the end of the workshop months before, I was pleased to hear from another group member with whom Rita had become friends, that she had had received a postcard from her somewhere in China.

I have a suggestion for those of you struggling with procrastination over minor or major matters. Why not take each of the questions I presented above, and write down a few responses to all, or just a few of them. Don’t feel constrained. You may even devote a page or two for each of your responses. You’ll be amazed at your revelations.

Dr. Rollin is also the author of The Psychology of Communication Disorders in Individuals and Their families as well as Counseling Individuals with Communications Disorders. He has an active therapy practice in Sacramento, California and continues to offer his popular decision-making workshops. Visit his website at http://decisiondr.com.

Article Source: I’ll Do It Later But Later Never Comes

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