A LIFE COACH TALKS ABOUT HOW TO REACH THAT ELUSIVE GOAL
Does it seem that successful people somehow manage to get on with every aspect of life and make the most of everything? Do they like everything they do – and importantly, how do they manage doing the things they DON’T like doing?
From successful business people, sports stars and luminaries in the entertainment world to friends, family members or work colleagues who are content with their lives, is it possible that they enjoy doing the things that you don’t like doing? Of course not, but it’s their ability to give up short-term pleasure for long-term gain that makes them successful.
Their goal motivates them. For successful people, their goal is compelling enough to keep them doing the things that they may not like doing. And that’s the big difference. Many of us can’t maintain our focus on our goals . We lose sight of the goal – and because we aren’t making it important enough on a continuous basis, we’re setting ourselves up for failure.
This opinion comes from a leading life coach in Perth, Australia, Jennifer Atkins who has a long history of helping clients achieve positive and lasting changes to their lifestyles and to their lives. She says that when people reach the point that doing the things they don’t like outweigh the reasons for doing them, then they’re likely to give up. Take someone who wants to lose weight for example, if making changes to their eating habits becomes too difficult, it’s because they’ve let the hard things become more important that their ultimate goal..
Easy to say on paper – but how difficult is it to actually do?!. Many people lead very busy lives, with loads of distractions and everyday stresses that make it hard to maintain focus. And that’s where life coaching can save someone from failure.
The job of a life coach is to keep their clients on track. They will work together with their clients in a trusting, transparent manner to identify the desired outcomes and work out a journey for achieving those outcomes. ”In order to stay on track, people have to continually focus on how important achieving the goal is to them,” Jennifer says. “They need to really think about how their lives will change when they reach their goal.”
Many of us have tried our own life-changing process at some stage – many of us have tried more than once!. Armed with the latest diet or DVD, a presentation pack from the motivational talk, the gym membership or the new pair of running shoes…we’ve started off with great gusto and commitment and excitement – only to falter and slump after a while.
A sports star who is successful often has to give up tempting foods, recreational time and holidays to get where they want to be. They make a habit of doing things they don’t like doing because the goal is so important. A stay-at-home mum who once had a high-flying career may not like domesticity, but she’s prepared to make a habit of doing the chores with the right attitude because she wants to be fulfilled in her new role. If weight loss is your goal, then it has to continually be more important than that toasted sandwich or piece of cake. A life coach can help you keep on track.
A personal or executive coach knows how important the goal is. Atkins says the goal gives the person the strength and the momentum. So whatever your goal – from weightloss to a career change, relationship matters to attitude shifts – working with a personal life coach or executive coach could just be the difference between success and failure.