The Secret to Getting Great Results

Great results, is that what your efforts are leading to?

Setting goals is the easy part. Whether your goals are personal or professional goals, you know where you want to end up. Perhaps you want to be 10 pounds lighter, write that book, add a dozen clients, communicate more successfully with your spouse and/or co-workers, or start a podcast.

Whatever your goals are, are you getting the results you are after?

It’s mighty discouraging to chase a goal and not see progress or the results you were hoping for! That kind of an experience may even tempt you to give up, make excuses, or double down and push even harder!

A Tough Question

Are you putting your efforts into the actions that will ultimately get you where you want to be and the results you are after?

Or are you putting a ton of effort into activities that keep your schedule full, but aren’t translating into results?

There are some seemingly productive ways you may be occupying yourself that simply won’t ever lead to results you want.

Distractions are everywhere! Are they causing you to get off track?

Perhaps it’s your mindset or beliefs that’s keeping you from getting the traction you need to reach your goals.

And then there are other road blocks. Which of these may be hindering your progress?

• Procrastinating
• Perfectionism
• Endless analysis
• Lost – not sure what to do next
• Derailed by fear
• Fearing success
• Imposter syndrome
• Poor time management
• Lack of boundaries
• Distractions
• Lack of discipline
• Limiting beliefs or negative mindsets
• Disorganization – lacking clear processes and systems
• Multitasking or trying to accomplish too much
• Activities that make you feel productive, but aren’t getting you results

Once you know what’s hindering you, then you are able to take steps to deal with those pesky obstacles.

If you aren’t sure how to overcome what’s in your way, that’s the perfect opportunity to enlist the help of a coach. Someone who is able to help you sort through your own personal challenges that are preventing you from reaching your goals and getting results!

In my experience, investing more time and working harder might seem like the right solution, but that tends to work against you. Instead, consider what efforts will lead to maximum results. That may take some experimenting so pay attention…what gives you momentum and/or provides traction?

Endless distractions, fears, and poor habits, will be there. They may even seem like valid excuses. To successfully reach your goals and get those great results won’t happen unless you successfully lead YOU in a radically new way.

What’s the secret to getting the results you want?

1. Believe!

Believing you have what it takes is essential to getting great results. Lacking the confidence in your abilities or feeling unworthy of great results certainly impedes your progress.

Or sometimes it’s less about getting there, but doubting that you will be up to sustaining success once achieved. For others it’s fearing success itself.

Unless you believe that you are capable of reaching your goals with God’s help, the likelihood of you hitting your target is slim!

Whether your goals are within reach, or lofty and truly a stretch, it’s less about having believing in yourself and more about trusting in the One who loves you most and is able to make up for your lack. There’s no rule that says you have to reach your goals in your own strength. In fact, God prefers it when you depend on Him! He is ready, willing, and tickled to help you!

2. Focus

Attempting to reach 10 goals simultaneously dilutes your energy and divides your time in counterproductive ways, especially if your goals are significant goals. It’s far more productive to focus on one to three goals at any one time so that you are able to focus your efforts.

Focusing on fewer goals at one time also allows you to be more connected to your why: your motivation behind your goal or goals. The chances of you reaching a goal that you aren’t excited about or that isn’t compelling to you decreases in a major way.

What’s the “WHY” behind your goal? Why does it matter to you?

3. Break It Down

Whatever your goal is, breaking it down into smaller steps, specific actions, or milestones is critical. For example, if my goal is to write a book by the end of the year, I will need to:

–> First, determine the actions steps I need to take to complete the book.

• • • Create an outline
    • Complete chapters 1-6
      (each chapter would have its own completion date)
    • Review and edit the draft
    • Turn the manuscript over to an editor.

–> Second, create deadlines for each action step and add those deadlines to my calendar.

–> Third, carve out time to complete the actions steps. There are a variety of ways to go about this. Choose the method that works best for you which might be writing…

• • • 30 minutes a day
    • 2 hours on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays
    • 8 hours on Friday

The more you break the process down, the more energy you are able to apply to each step of the process.

4. Reflect

Goals require substantial effort and it’s not uncommon to go all out and diligently pursuing a goal. While focused effort is helpful as I’ve mentioned, it’s also extremely important to designate consistent times for reflecting and evaluating your progress and strategizing how you might improve or refine your process. That is something you might do daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly, depending on your goal.

Stepping back and considering how the process is going allows you to course correct and ensure that the steps you are taking to get nearer to your goal are actually working.

Reflecting also enables you to make adjustments and respond to unexpected events that might pop up along the way. Those little tweaks make a big difference!

5. Measure!

Now that you’ve determined your action steps and scheduled them, I’m going to let you in on secret: what you measure is what improves! While keeping track is more appealing to some personalities than it is to others, the simple act of tracking is helpful in notable ways including…

• • • Creating an incentive to be consistent and stay on track
    • Providing hard evidence that reveals whether or not you are following through with your action steps.
    • The effectiveness of your efforts when you measure specific data.

Here are just a few examples:

• • • In an effort to keep my life more balanced (a goal) I track the activities I engage in that make my heart happy; activities like connecting with a friend, working on a craft project, reading in the tub, or coloring in my adult coloring books. When these numbers are low, it’s a sign that I’m working too much.
    • Tracking the number of hours you spend writing your book, working out, organizing, or ______________.
    • Tracking how many servings of vegetables you eat each day, prospects you contacted, days you worked out 30 minutes, or ___________.

Just be sure you’re tracking what really matters and will yield the results you’re after. If you find that your results are still illusive, during your scheduled reflection time, consider how you might alter what you are measuring.

Remember, that tracking or measuring is a way to help you be more consistent at the efforts that will lead to results you are after; actions that allow you to work smarter, not harder.

Get Help!

Your goals are important to you and you don’t want to endlessly spin your wheels, you want results, and sometimes that means getting help!

If you find yourself floundering and unable to realize your goals, or you’re getting some results, but you want to speed up the process then enlist the help of a coach!

Are you certain that you have the potential for more and want to seriously tap into that potential, why not work with a coach?

Coaching uncovers your blind spots, limiting beliefs, helps you establish much needed boundaries, and they are able to help with strategy too so that you can move forward more efficiently and get the results you desire!

What’s keeping you from getting great results?

Originally posted on 8/14/18, this post has been updated and revised just for you!