First published 4 January 2024

The Makings of a Beautiful Plan

My plan for yesterday was to spend the day planning… this did not go quite to plan!  I woke up with a dreadful headache and decided that the best thing for me was to go back to sleep!  So I did!

The challenge now is to catch up on the planning now that I am back to work and fully open!  And on that note… Happy New Year 🥳

I did attend a planning workshop on the 1st of Jan – even though I was determined to take a proper break – it was worth it though and I thought I would share some learnings with you.

I don’t fully buy in to New Year’s resolutions and since I read the 12 week Year with book club last year, I have been working in 12 week chunks rather than planning for a whole 52 weeks at a time.  This feels like the pressure has come way off and with the accountability calls I now do, I am seeing real tangible progress.

Back to the workshop, the host shared some really interesting stats.  A 4 step process to becoming a person who achieves the goals they set:

1. Set the goals/vision for what you want to achieve.  If you do just this, the likelihood of you succeeding is 10%
2. Make a conscious commitment to realise the goals/vision.  This means stating that I am going to achieve this (and then state what ‘this’ is) rather than saying things like I am going to ‘try’ to do x.  Adding step 2 in will bring your likelihood to succeed up to 25%
3. Tell someone! Commit to someone that you trust, someone who won’t judge your goals and who will support you.  This addition to the mix will get you to 65%

And finally, set up an accountability appointment with your person in step 3 – it could be weekly, monthly, quarterly – whatever works for you – but you have to be honest and report back where you are at and be clear on any re-planning etc.  If you do all 4 of these, the likelihood you will succeed rockets up to 95%

To add to those 4 steps above, I would strongly suggest you track what you want to achieve.  Whether that’s a series of post it notes or an excel spreadsheet – do what works for you.  

If it’s easy enough to do, write/print the high level goals and have them somewhere you can see them.  Then refresh them regularly – otherwise you may find yourself becoming blind to the sticky note/poster over time.

If you aren’t sure what you want to achieve, first decide on the time period – is it a year or like me is it 12 weeks?  Once you know your time period, take a few minutes to imagine what you want to achieve and how you will feel when you get there.  Is it a weight related goal?  A relationship goal? A money goal? A housework/renovation goal? A career goal?  A health/fitness/mental wellbeing goal? Or something completely different?

Visualise or imagine what it will feel like when you succeed.  What will you/the change look like?  What will be different?  What will have disappeared? What will now be very present?  Bring in all your senses and notice everything.

Once you have the end goal in mind and really clear, the next thing to do is bridge the gap between what you have and what you want to achieve.  This can be tricky, but with a bit of focus, producing clear steps to get from here to there will make all the difference.  And don’t forget to keep re-evaluating – if you go off course you can then quickly change your heading to bring you back, if you don’t re-evaluate, you could easily miss your target.

If you need any support with any of this I am here.  Whether it’s the initial working out what you want to achieve – we can go on a hypnosis journey for you to really tune in on what you want, or if it’s the support and accountability you need – I have options for coaching, mentoring or accountability sessions (and I am in early planning stages to bring together a group accountability programme – if this is of interest do let me know!).

What ever you do, I do encourage you to look at what you want for the year ahead.  If there is something you want to change, or do more of, or stop doing – anything is possible with the right support – so grab a pen and some paper (or the notes app on your phone) and start dreaming about what/where you want to be come this time next year.

If you are struggling to find a person for step 3 above, drop me a line and tell me what you are aiming for and I’ll check in with you in a few months to see how you are getting on!