Have you noticed that the first quarter of 2018 has already passed us by?

Yep, Jan-March is done and dusted.  For those of us in Australia we have our quarterly BAS returns due at the end of April for the period to 30 March.

Exciting stuff am I right?

We all make plans around December/January.  We state we will have a better year. We express that things will be different.  We create plans, revisit plans, build to -do lists; make promises about what we will and won’t do…

Remember some of these gems from 1st Jan?

• I will implement that learning from last year
• I will spend more time with my Kids
• I will grow my practice
• I will get better at balance….

There is so much information available about goal setting, and how to do it.  The most popular methods still appear to be SMART goals.  I can see why these are still used – they are backed by research, and they are really easy to write and explain to someone else (say a client).

So how are you tracking after a review of Q1?

However, this is where so many of the clinicians I speak to tell me that Goal Setting doesn’t work.

We might look at our end of quarter P&L and feel like we have failed.  Or we look at our retention rates and feel like we have failed.  Compare ourselves to the awesome experiences everyone else is having on social media and feel like we have failed.

So how then does goal setting help if it is reinforcing this sense of failure and not being good enough?

Why it’s so difficult to reach your goals.

Goal setting is part art and part science.  It is part stats and facts and part gut feel.  Goals feel like that are so friggin’ hard to get “right”.

And by right, I mean – feel like you are meeting them.

Feel like they are helpful.  That they are signs of encouragement and progress.    All too often I am left feeling like a failure, like I’m not good enough and like I can’t do this supposedly easy thing called Goal setting.

Is it any wonder that we don’t like setting business and personal goals?

I’ve personally been confronted by this in 2018.  I have felt like I have been missing the mark in pretty much all facets of my life because I am not achieving my goals.   Is that the truth?  Well no, but it’s how I feel, and how I feel is important because it helps to inform my decision about what I will and won’t do.

Like most people I stay away from things that make me uncomfortable or cause me pain – and there are some weeks when looking at the numbers in my business will cause me PAIN.

Does that mean I should stop – hells no.  Does that mean my goals were wrong?  Or unrealistic?  Well Yes and No…

This is what I do know

1. It’s only the end of quarter 1, I still have 3 more quarters to go. Did I expect to hit my yearly goals in 3 months?
2. I can take time to review what’s been happening. What do I need to stop, change, introduce get rid of to help me achieve those goals?
3. Do the goals I have set actually lead to the things I want to experience? Is there another way I can experience my “goal”?

I have this conversation with myself and other clinicians time and again.  Goal setting does work. When the goals are aligned to the feelings we want to experience.

Let me give you an example.

Most clinicians tell me that they want to experience FREEDOM.  That is their goal.  Then they tell me that the way they want to do that is by growing their Private Practice.  OK that will lead to a sense of freedom, but at what cost?  I can assure you that at any stage of growth and transition you won’t feel FREE.  What you will feel is uncomfortable, scared, anxious, full of self-doubt, and at time quite cash and time poor.

Many many clinicians GIVE UP in the pursuit of freedom because they haven’t done the thinking and self-reflection to understand what they really mean when they say I want to be free.

FREE of what?

FREE to do what?

What keeps you feeling imprisoned or trapped?  That to me is the opposite of FREEDOM.

So then is the answer to this conundrum – how do I want to feel or experience my goals rather than the GOALS themselves?

Well I would suggest YES.

When I focus on how I want to feel as a result of my goals, then I know can experience that feeling everyday – both in the process of goal attainment, and in the achievement of a goal.

For example, I want to be able to do what I want when I want, with who I want, how I want – that is my definition of FREDOM.

To do that I need to

1. Have a business that generates income without me being in it.
2. Have income streams that are not reliant on me being available for delivery.
3. Ensure I am serving the people I am best positioned to serve.

Have I achieved this yet – NOPE.  Currently my business would fall over if I wasn’t in it, and there is no way on this earth it could support me in the lifestyle I am used to if I am not delivering.  However, we are taking ground to achieve #1 & #2 every day.

AND #3 I can experience every single day!

Can I encourage you to sop the Comparisonitis and stop the Shame of not achieving your goals.  How about we spend some time reflecting on what we have done and how much progress we have made in the past quarter.

Would you like something to help you do that?  Of course, you would 🙂

Well here you go, here’s Quarter 1 reflection worksheet just for you.

No email required, just a gift from me to you 😊