What kind of help do you need to achieve your goals?

Today I want to talk about your support group. Specifically, the group of people who are supporting you in achieving your goals. Or in some cases, your lack of a support group and what else you can do if you don’t have one.

You have friends, family, and co-workers who say that they support your goals but do you feel supported. How are they supporting you? What support do you need from them? Can they provide the support you actually need?

Let’s break this down a little more. By the end of this blog post, I want to help you answer this question:

“How can your support team best support you in achieving your goals?”

To walk through this, we first need to define your goals. I know I keep repeating this throughout my blog posts but I can’t stress enough how important it is to be able to define your goals. You need to understand what you want if you want to be successful. It can be a goal at work, a goal for school, or one of your life goals. Step 1: Write down your #1 goal for the next 90 days.

Next, you need to remind yourself why this goal is important to you. What are your values and will this goal support your values? Will it help you live a healthier lifestyle which will help you live longer and get to spend time with your grandchildren and great-grandchildren? How will you be able to help others if you achieve this goal? Will you have less stress if you achieve this goal? Will you get to earn more money to better provide for your family? Step 2: Write down the reasons that this goal is important to you. This will be what pushes you when you are tired, or when you feel frustrated and ready to quit.

What will your life look like once you achieve this goal? Will you get a promotion? Will you have a healthier diet? Will you run your first marathon? Will you be debt-free? How will this achievement improve your life? How will this achievement improve the lives of those around you? Step 3: Write down the ways your life will improve once you achieve this goal.

You’re doing great so far! You now have the 3 basics to getting started.

Next, you are going to overcome your challenges!

What challenges are you facing in your attempts to achieve this goal? Do you lack the focus and motivation to stick with your goal action plan? Do you lack a goal action plan? Do you need childcare for a few hours a week? Do you need your co-workers to do their fair share of the work? Do you want help cooking dinner a couple of nights each week? Help cleaning the house, doing laundry, any number of the household chores? Do you need to learn new skills? Do you not have the time for anything new? Is the issue that you don’t have the money you need to achieve your goal? Step 4: Make a list of everything that is stopping you from achieving your goal.

Got your list together? Ok, we’re getting there!

The next question is a 3-part question: Who can help you with your challenges and how? And what can you do differently? Who can provide a couple hours of childcare during the week or weekend? Maybe childcare exchange where you watch their kids for a couple hours one day and they watch yours for a couple hours another day? Can you buy a kitchen timer or download a free app and try the Pomodoro technique to stay focused while working on your goals? Can you ask your spouse to cook dinner a couple nights a week or pick a couple days a week where you get to order take out? Can you order your groceries online and then use the free time to work on your goals? Are you in a position to hire someone to deep clean your house every other week, so you can just focus on maintenance cleaning? What can you cut from your budget to find the money you need? Do you really need all those cable channels? Can you stop eating out so often? Can you pack your lunch for work every day? Can you make coffee at home instead of going to Starbucks every day? If you can’t cut anything from your budget, what can you do to earn money that you can put towards your goal? Where can you learn the skills you need? Online? At the local library? Or go back to school? If you are doing the work that your co-workers should be doing, just stop doing it. Make sure you talk to your supervisor or manager about the situation but stop sacrificing yourself because your co-workers don’t want to do their work. Sorry, I just don’t have the patience for that one. Step 5: List the people in your support group who can help you overcome your challenges and how? List the things that you can do differently to overcome your challenges.

Ok, let me stop here for a minute. Some of you reading this may not have a strong support group. I get it, and it’s okay. I know it sucks but it IS ok. I still want you to complete step 5 and list the people who can help you, even if they don’t believe in your goals or want to hear about your goals. Also, list other ways you can get help without asking someone else. Can you wake up an hour earlier or stay up an hour later? Can you work on your goals on your lunch break? Do you have a long commute? Can you listen to podcasts or course lessons during your commute? What about listening while cooking or cleaning? Have you tried looking for a Facebook group of other people with similar goals? They are a great source of motivation and inspiration. I have created a Facebook group to be a source of support and motivation. You can join us in Success Without Stress.

Ok, next.

You have now listed your top goal, your “why”, and you have looked ahead at the ways that your life will improve once you achieve your goal. Then you identified your challenges and the ways you will overcome those challenges, whether it is by changing your lifestyle or asking for help. Or some combination of the two.

Now I want you to consider how you will prioritize your additional resources (money, time, focus) to achieve your goals. If you decide to wake up an hour earlier during the week, will you use that time for self-care, taking online courses, exercising, etc? How will you use that extra 5 hours each week to achieve your goal? What can you accomplish with an extra 5 hours each week? Or now that you have reassessed your budget, how will you use that extra money to achieve your goal? Now, take this one step further and schedule it in your calendar. It can be your Google calendar, your wall calendar, or your cell phone calendar, but open your calendar and block the time you will need to focus on your goal. It can be that extra hour in the morning or schedule the time when you will deposit that money into your savings or investment account. Whatever you choose, make sure you schedule it ( and set a reminder). Step 6: List WHAT you will do with your newfound resources (money, time, focus) and schedule time for it in your calendar.

Now the rest is up to you. Go talk to your support team, look at the things that you can do differently, and start taking action on your goal plan. 

A support team is an absolutely wonderful thing. But are you using that support team to their fullest potential? How can they truly support you in your achievements? And, if you are your own support team, what can you do to better position yourself for success?

Now I want you to grab your journals and write down your answers. Here’s a recap:

Step 1: Write down your #1 goal for the next 90 days.

Step 2: Write down the reasons that this goal is important to you. This will be what pushes you when you are tired, or when you feel frustrated and ready to quit.

Step 3: Write down the ways your life will improve once you achieve this goal.

Step 4: Make a list of everything that is stopping you from achieving your goal.

Step 5: List the people in your support group who can help you overcome your challenges and how? List the things that you can do differently to overcome your challenges.

Step 6: List WHAT you will do with your newfound resources (money, time, focus) and schedule time for it in your calendar.