I watched a great little video this morning from Marie Forleo, interviewing Ned Hallowell on Marie TV. Ned is a “child and adult psychiatrist, a NY Times bestselling author, a world-renowned speaker, and a leading authority in the field of ADHD.”

In the video Marie and Ned discussed 5 tips for performing better, all of which are great, but in this blog post I’m going to focus just on the first one, because it’s something that I bang on about all the time.

Ready?

Here it is:

DEFINE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC GOALS

See here’s the thing; so often we are so head-down in the daily doing of our business that we don’t have any idea where we’re actually heading. We have never taken the time and devoted the headspace (see what I did there) to figuring out what we’re actually trying to achieve. If we’re striving for success in business then what does success look like? If we’re at Point A and we’re heading towards Point B, what does Point B look and feel like?

The clearer we can get with our goals the better we can prioritise our time and our resources towards actually getting to a position that we want to be in.

Unless you take the time and devote the headspace to figuring that out, you’ll be like a yacht in a storm without a helmsperson, sailing very fast but not going anywhere and feeling kind of battered in the process.

However, if I know that I want to sail from Auckland to Great Barrier I can plot a course that I know will get me there.

I’ve been in businesses before where I’ve found myself so caught up in getting things done, trying to please customers and staff (along with family and self) feeling so overwhelmed and not having a clue what I was working towards. I remember saying, on so many occasions, I just want some clarity around what I’m doing and what I’m trying to achieve, and then some help to figure out how to actually get there, what I need to do, who I need to be, in order for that to happen.

I needed help to figure all that out, and once I did, man, I was unstoppable (if I do say so myself). It made such a difference to how I ran my business and how I allocated my time.

The next part of Ned’s advice was:
“If you’re trying to figure out how to stay focused on your goals, break them down into 4 categories: no more than 3 short term goals to accomplish today, 3 medium term goals to accomplish in the next 2-4 weeks, 3 long term goals to meet in the next 6-12 months, and 3 lifetime goals to meet before you die.”

And this part is essential. This is essentially time management 101. Breaking down your big goals into smaller and smaller goals, even down to a daily level, is how you will achieve your goals. Prioritising your time and resources on a daily level towards what’s really important to you, and not, incidentally, what’s really important to someone else, will reap huge rewards.

So on a Monday morning I suggest you take a look at your week, prioritise what’s important, and make sure you prioritise the time towards accomplishing it. Look at today. What are the 3 things you can do today that will make the most impact towards achieving your goals?

If you need help figuring any of this out that’s what I’m here for. I help you figure out your business why, your Point B, and help you set milestones and action plans that will have you achieving your life and business goals.

Call me on 0800 HEADSPACE (432 377) to chat further or to book in a one-to-one, no-obligation, coffee chat.