We set goals for ourselves with the best initiations in mind. We want to grow, reach new heights and become a better version of yourselves. However, despite our best intentions and our willingness to succeed, we often have to admit that we fall short of our own ambitions. This is where executive coaching comes in! In this article, we’ll explore three effective strategies used in executive coaching to help you reach your goals in the New Year, to stay motivated and make it your most successful one yet!

Your goals need to have a place to live

There are several strategies that executive coaches use to help their clients reach their goals. Today we will explore three strategies that will move the needle and bring you closer to where you want to go.

Lots of us have a lengthy list of desired outcomes; how long is yours? If you haven’t yet put it on paper, take a few minutes to get it down now.

This is the first essential step: The goals need to have a place to live – write them down now.

Goal setting is crucial, because without them, it’s hard to develop manageable steps and keep your attention on achieving real progress. What would you really like to accomplish this year? Then ask yourself, why? Why did this goal pop into your mind? Add context to each goal and gain a deeper understanding of why these goals matter so much – know why this goal is crucial to you. 

Don’t go at it alone – ask your spouse or friends what they hope to see for you this year. Also, discuss with them the goals you have in mind and elaborate why you think these goals are important. Keep in mind, becoming a better you and setting goals is not criticism, quite the contrary, it is there to unleash more of the good things that you are already driving. With these additional steps taken, you can develop manageable steps for success and stay focused so that real progress can be achieved.

Prioritize and allocate resources

Now you have a list of goals and you have a deeper understanding of why these goals are important to you. You need to finish one more thing before we talk about how to allocate resources to each goal: List them in order of importance! Which one is the most important and why? Which one is the least important? Stay focused on the time-frame you are working with. 

As many of you know, I love to sail and to adventure. So at one point in my life I would love to sail around the entire world. Although this goal is important to me and will remain on my list, it won’t be the top priority this year.

Let’s look at resources. Our days are already filled with work, family, friends and other activities, leaving us with very little room for extra tasks. Therefore, in order to succeed we have to be honest with ourselves, neither of us has 100% time to focus on their goals. That’s why we had to list our goals in order of priority. 

By prioritizing your goals, you ensure that you are allocating your limited resources to the most important objectives, maximizing your chances of success. It is imperative to maximize motivation and if motivation exists reaching your goals will come easier and be more fun. Investing too much time and effort in something that isn’t as important to you will result in wasted effort and less progress towards your top priorities, naturally decreasing motivation.

Smaller goals drive accountability

Here comes the magic: We often like to set ourselves big goals. The bigger the better. However, if you break a goal down into smaller and more achievable steps, you are more likely to succeed. This allows you to track your progress and hold yourself accountable. For example, if your goal is to lose 20 pounds, break it down into a goal of losing 2 pounds per week. Or, if your goal is to save $200k for a new project, break it down into saving $16.7k savings per month. This way, you’ll have your sights firmly set on the finish line!

If the goal is too big for this year, spread it over more years. $200k over 4yrs is $50k /year. Can you save $4.16k per month? Or $136 / day? If you want to save $10k / year this would result in saving less than $30/day. Next time you order dinner, have a coffee, think about your goals. Your goals are feasible and you can achieve them. 

To come back to my goal of sailing around the world, I must dissect it and set smaller goals that will lead to my big goal, which is to sail around the world. This year, one goal could be to gain more practice and participate in a few long distance sail races. Another goal could be to study potential sailing destinations and slowly develop a route.

Making smaller goals also allows you to celebrate your accomplishments along the way. Instead of waiting until you’ve reached your ultimate goal to feel proud of yourself, you can feel proud of each small accomplishment along the way. This will help keep you motivated and on track.

What’s next?

Watch my short 6mins Video below to learn more about how you can reach your goals with executive coaching. Keep in mind: Executive Coaching can help you with all of these items: goal setting, resource allocation, and breaking down the bigger goals into more manageable ones. If you’re looking to achieve your goals this year and you are still struggling, executive coaching may be the answer. Reach out today!