Setting Goals and Sticking to Them

Why do so many of us have difficulty setting goals and sticking to them?

It’s usually not because we want to fail or don’t care about those goals we’ve set for our business or ourselves. When we said we’d work together, treat our customers well and keep our area clean, we felt it was the right thing to do. And then when we don’t do what we said we would, the recriminations and the negative self-talk begins or we avoid the matter altogether.

What if your goal was so compelling you couldn’t stop smiling about it? Imagine being delighted with yourself and proud of your progress. How would it be to spend the next week celebrating your success in adopting a new behavior? What if your goal was so sticky in your mind that your efforts to achieve it just flowed effortlessly? The difference between these extremes could be called the Zone of Disappointment and te Zone of Delight.

When your experience falls short of your expectations, you dwell in the Zone of Disappointment. This is where you compare yourself to others and hear all the “shoulds” that crowd in: “I should work harder,” “You should smile more,” “I should be nicer to my boss/co-workers.” Rather than giving you power to change, the Zone of Disappointment zaps your energy and pulls you into a downward spiral of comparison and frustration. What a waste of valuable energy that becomes! You feel exhausted and unable to move forward as you spin ever downward. In this Zone, you are focused on correcting deficits, either real or imagined. (Honestly, they are mostly imagined but our imaginations are so powerful they feel very real.)

However, in the Zone of Delight, the focus shifts from what’s wrong to what will be great. Rather than a goal of being nice to customers, you set the goal of learning something valuable from everyone you meet. You would still be nice to customers, and you may also choose to work on improving your listening skills so you don’t miss an inspiring or enriching story. The focus is on how you want to feel and what will support you in having that feeling. The attention is on who you are being (i.e., enjoying work), rather than what you are doing (i.e., smiling at the patients more).

How can you guide your life through the frustrations of life that keep you from achieving your goals? Business coaching is a strong means of getting where you want with your business and with your personal life. For more information, contact Marti Benjamin at (775) 337-0661 or visit her website.

For more information about taking control of your life, you may want to review the articles and book references at the BE-Coaching website.

Marti Benjamin
www.mizbizwiz.com

Welcome to the World of Business Coaching

Every morning, the business "rainmakers" get out of bed knowing that if they don't make something happen that day, there's no money for them. They accept the risk of owning their own business or working without a steady salary; they know their rewards can be much greater than what they would get in working for someone else. They live by their wits and skills in a business world that can be unfriendly and isolating.

• Are you looking for new ways to tackle those business problems that eat up your precious time?
  
  
• Are you wasting potential--your own and that of your business?
  
  
• Are you dissatisfied with the life your business is giving you?
  

If you answered yes, a Business Coach may be the help you're looking for. A Business Coach is an experienced business executive and leader who has training in the coaching process and will help you set and achieve your business goals, overcome the obstacles that get in the way and plan for a successful, balanced life. Through a series of regular dialogue, you and your Business Coach will find new ways to see and work your business to produce the results that are important to you.

93% of those who receive coaching say they would recommend it to others.

Are you and your business ready to go to the next level?
To learn more about how Business Coaching could help you, read our client profiles and testimonials and then contact us.

"You've got to invest in yourself." Warren Buffet, Multibillionaire
in a speech at the University of Nevada, Reno in January 2006.

Marti Benjamin
www.mizbizwiz.com