Get it Done in 2021!

A Model for Change

In the New Insights Life Coach Training and Certification Programme we present a simple model for change that we call The Change Cycle.

In it we explain that any meaningful change starts with unhappiness about the current situation.

Nothing too surprising there. After all, New Year resolutions are borne out of a desire for change caused by a frustration with the status quo.

For example, let’s say that during the period of downtime at the end of the year, I reflected on how my job had become all encompassing to the point where I no longer felt in control of my life, having become something of a slave to my employer.

That’s a typical state of unhappiness with the status quo!

The second stage in the cycle involves contemplating the action that needs to be taken – and this is the basis of your typical resolution.

In my hypothetical example, let’s say I resolve to start my own business, become my own boss and the master of my destiny.

This contemplation stage is the fun stage.

In my example, I start to imagine a life without commuting, enforced deadlines, office politics and an overbearing boss. My resolution takes shape in my mind as a way out of my current predicament and, as I relish a little relaxing time, unencumbered by the usual grinding routine, my imagination goes into overdrive!

The next two stages, however, are where the ‘rubber hits the road’, so to speak. They involve taking – and maintaining – action!

And this is exactly where most simple resolutions, like the example I shared above, come horribly unstuck.

 

A world apart

Imagining some attractive new scenario, while enjoying the luxury of a break from routine, is a world apart from taking the action necessary to bring it about, especially once life returns to ‘normal’ after the break.

Because taking substantial action and, in particular, maintaining that action, is often somewhat difficult and painful to do, the likely result is that the resolution stays just that – an unfulfilled resolution!

 

A different approach

So what is the solution to a potentially endless cycle of broken resolutions?

The answer is to take a different approach – one that couples carefully crafted intention with a meticulously thought out plan of action that ensures progress and maintains resolve.

 

How to get it done in 2021

If you’re after a significant change in your life and you want to get it done in 2021, you should forget about making simple resolutions. Instead you need to:

Develop your intention into a powerful written goal

You may have heard of SMART, an acronym that stands for Specific, Measured, Achievable, Realistic and Time Bound and one commonly used to help set effective goals.

Well SMART is a good start but at New Insights our experience shows that it’s not enough. That’s why we have added three very important attributes to test whether the goal is truly inspiring. (Ask a New Insights trained coach if you’re curious).

Come up with a robust plan of action

Any sufficiently challenging goal is likely, when contemplated in the ‘business as usual’ environment, to seem overwhelming and even scary. As a result, one’s instinct is to avoid taking action. Our old friend, procrastination, loves to feed on anxiety and doubt.

The solution is to ‘eat the elephant one bite at a time’. By focusing on each individual bite – and not on the whole elephant – you get to avoid terminal indigestion!

New Insights trained life coaches help their clients to break a big hairy goal down into smaller stepping stones, called milestones, and then focus their efforts on achieving the next milestone within a realistic time frame.

To do so, a client is expected to break each milestone down into a series of relatively small actions, which, when all completed, will automatically result in achievement of the relevant milestone.

This is a simple strategy but one that really works.

Take the actions!

This third and final step may seem like a statement of the obvious. But you will notice that by breaking the big hairy goal into manageable milestones and then further breaking each milestone into a series of action steps, we have largely removed the scare factor associated with taking action.

 

Masters of the art

New Insights trained coaches are masters of the art of keeping their clients committed to timely delivery of the small action steps agreed to as part of the plan.

Small achievements provide little boosts of inspiration and build momentum that ultimately ensures the big achievements.

By stringing a series of little achievements together, followed by the big achievements that are the natural outcome thereof, the client starts to become more aware of his or her truly amazing inner power, fortitude and ability.

Once a big hairy goal is achieved, the client’s preconceived notions of what is possible will expand dramatically, such that he or she is then ready to take on what would originally have been perceived as almost impossible, mega goals!

 

An invitation

Whatever major change you may wish to bring about this year, I invite you to contact a New Insights certified life coach and find out how much quicker and easier it will be, with their help, to get it done in 2021.

If you are already a New Insights certified life coach, why not amplify your capability to achieve your personal goals by hiring your own personal life coach. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.

And finally, if you believe you have it in you to help others to take their lives by the scruff of the neck, transcend the mediocre and achieve their dreams, why not join our amazing group of trainee life coaches and benefit from exposure to some really amazing tools, techniques and ideas.

In just one year you could be a totally changed person ready to embark on a brand new career helping others taste personal freedom, self confidence and amazing growth!