Achieving your Goals

Create Opportunities by Rearranging Your Schedule

McRae PattersonLeave a comment

During the course of the day there are so many things that we have to get done. Studies show that we spend 80% of our time doing other things and 20% of our time doing what we’re effective at producing. If you want to create more opportunities, you should aim to spend 80% of your time doing what you’re naturally gifted at producing.

Rearranging my schedule to spend more time geared towards my strengths has been difficult for me because something unexpected comes up demanding my attention. To overcome these challenges, I have to be intentional by tracking where my time is going, figure out what things I can cut out or cut back and create boundaries to protect this time.

Over the last few years, I’ve learned there may be several things I’m good at but I needed to determine what my best gift is. I have a gift for administration, event coordination, leadership, strategizing, and coaching. I was getting frustrated because I was putting my efforts into some of these gifts but I wasn’t getting any results so I invested my time into discovering that my best gifts are coaching and strategizing.

When I stopped dividing my energy into the other things that I was pretty good at and focused on what I’m the best at, I finally started making progress. So if you find that you’re putting the time in but not getting anywhere over a long period then I would suggest that you take the time to reflect and confirm that you’re putting your energy into your best gift. Then once you determine your best gift, rearrange your schedule to prioritize your time to develop it in order to create the opportunities you’ve been striving for.

Is Your Motivation Fear or Love

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I’m often asked why can’t I stay consistent when it gets difficult to keep working towards my goals? Well one thing that may be sabotaging you is the reason for your motivation. Fear based motivation does work but usually it’s effect is temporary. Love based motivation tends to have a long-term effect.

A common resolution is to stop smoking. Fear based motivation would be if I don’t stop smoking I may die of cancer. This fear can motivate you in the short term and you may stop smoking for several weeks but eventually the fear wears off and when something stressful happens that triggers a need for a cigarette, you give in to the temptation.

Love based motivation would be I want to stop smoking because I love myself enough to stop putting toxins into my body and I want to live a long healthy life because _______ (fill in the blank) ex. I want to see my grandchildren grow up. Because you have a specific reason that’s meaningful to you, it will keep you going when challenges arise.

Whenever you have any goal you’re working towards, you need to constantly keep the love motivation at the forefront of your mind. Write it down and keep it a place where you see it on a regular basis, like your refrigerator or bathroom mirror and repeat it several times a day out loud. If you meditate on this thought regularly, you will change your mindset and your actions will follow your thoughts.

Develop Consistency using the PERMA Model

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There are various reasons people have trouble maintaining consistency while pursuing their goals. Speaking for myself, when I’m doing activities that are tedious and uncomfortable, it’s hard to remain consistent, even if the task is beneficial to me in the long term. The process of change is challenging, if we could reap the rewards without putting in the work, everyone would be successful at achieving their goals.

For everyone who may be struggling to keep going through a difficult process here’s some advice that may help you. The PERMA Model was developed by psychologist, Martin Seligman. PERMA stands for (P) positive emotion, (E) engagement, (R) positive relationships, (M) meaning, and (A) accomplishment/achievement. So basically if you can incorporate some of these elements into what you’re doing to reach a goal, you’ll be more connected to your goal and more likely to remain consistent.

I’ll use the example from my previous post about losing weight since that’s one of the most common New Year’s resolutions. If I wanted to lose weight, I’d do a physical activity that I enjoy to generate (P-positive emotions). I like walking but in order create (E-engagement) I’d choose a scenic trail that has surroundings that interests me to look at while I’m walking. To add (R-positive relationships) I’d walk with a friend to have fun talking while we walk. I’d include (M-meaning) by entering a charity walk for a cause that I care about like breast cancer fundraising and to produce (A-accomplishment/achievement) I’d train for a challenging distance for me which would be a half- marathon.

You may not be able to add all 5 elements but the more you can incorporate these in your activities, the more fulfilling the process will be. The more (connected) emotionally invested you are to your goal, the less likely you are to quit.

Resolve to Be More Effective

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For this New Year, I would like to share a solution that can help you make more progress in your goals, so you won’t continue to have the same resolutions year after year. For a long time, I felt that I was like a hamster on a wheel, I was being productive and using a lot of energy but not getting anywhere. The old adage is true, you can make more progress working smarter not harder.

We can have specific goals but approach them the wrong way. One of the reasons people quit their resolution is because as they start the process, their approach doesn’t fit their strengths and it becomes too difficult to maintain an activity that magnifies their weaknesses.

For example, if I had a goal to lose weight and my approach is to run on a treadmill for 30 minutes, 4 times a week. Okay that goal is realistic for me to manage but plays on my weaknesses and not my strengths. I get bored with doing the same thing repetitively so after a while I would get tired of doing the same activity over and over again. Also, one of my top strengths is connectedness, so that means I enjoy doing things with other people.

If I want to set myself up to succeed, I would choose a physical activity that I enjoy that involves other people. For me that would be dancing which also would keep me interested because I can do a variety of moves. Self awareness is an essential key to success in many areas of life.

If you are interested in learning what your top strengths are so you can incorporate them into your goal setting and make more progress this year, I would recommend taking a strengths assessment like Strengths Finder, https://www.gallupstrengthscenter.com for $10. I normally don’t recommend products but since this one has drastically improved my productivity, I wanted to share it with you so you have the tools to be successful this year.

In the Zone, Finding your Sweet Spot.

McRae Patterson1 Comment

purpose pic

Before you begin networking to get connections, you should be sure you’ve discovered your true purpose. I often hear the question, “How can I be sure that I know what my purpose is?” Here’s some questions you can ask that can help you figure it out.

Passion- What are the things I love to do? The subjects that I’m interested in and engage me the most?

Mission- What’s a problem in the world that needs a solution? The topics that I become outraged or empathetic about?

Vocation- What are the potential careers in this field that I can be paid for?

Profession- What is my skill set? What do I naturally do well that other people may not? What things do other people give me compliments on? What things do I get satisfaction out of doing and energizes me while I’m doing them?

Finding the area where these questions intersect (the inner circle) is your true purpose. Once you start networking in this area, you will start to operate from your sweet spot, aligning yourself with your purpose.