My oh my, it’s almost the end of the second full week of yet another year! As each year passes, I find myself sounding more and more like my parents than the 29 year-old-minded woman who lives inside this more mature body. When I say, “Time seems to be flying by, and as I get older, the years seem to go by more quickly”, I AM sounding like my parents. It feels like just a few months ago that I was setting goals for 2015.
Perhaps, as we get older (hopefully wiser), we realize how important it is to think about our future, what we want to do in our careers, and what we want to accomplish in life. Depending on your rearing and circumstances, however, the concept of goal setting might not have been introduced to you until you were a teenager, a young adult, or maybe even later in life, as in my case.
Although I was always told to do my best at school and at work, I didn’t really learn about personal and professional goal setting until I went into business for myself 10 years ago. It might seem odd to you that I didn’t really have a plan for my life until I left my corporate job, but that is truly the case. Thankfully, I did do well in school and in my corporate career, but it seemed the goals that I achieved were more those of my parents or my bosses (not so much mine).
About a year after I left the corporate world, I hired my first coach, Teresa Pool. She helped me make a big shift in the way I thought about my future. Where I had been afraid to think about how successful I wanted to be or what I wanted to do, she provided the support and challenge to help me think bigger.
It wasn’t even so much about making more money as it was about breaking through mental barriers that prevented me from going farther than I thought I could. I was afraid of failing and of being embarrassed. She helped me to set goals for myself that were bigger than I thought possible, and she provided just the right nudge to keep me chipping away towards achieving them.
Teresa is one of a handful of coaches I have hired over the years to help me stretch. Each time I invested in a coach, I worked hard, and I grew both personally and professionally. Perhaps even more important, when I worked with the right coach (yes, it’s important to feel a connection with them), I had a partner to hold me accountable, to challenge me, and to provide support, particularly when I lost focus or interest. Thus, I was/am not alone. Yes! Other great coaches with whom I’ve worked include Kantis Simmons, Jonathan Sprinkles, and Sue Pistone.
If you are struggling or challenged as you think about what you want to achieve this year or how you are going to do it, consider investing in yourself by working with a coach who specializes in an area in which you want to improve. There are all kinds of coaches to help you become more successful in whatever way you want to grow: leadership, sales, business strategy, speaking and presentation skills, marketing. social media, and overall success coaches.
“A coach is someone who tells you what you don’t want to hear, who has you see what you don’t want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be.”
Tom Landry
Setting goals is one thing – putting in the time, energy, and effort required to achieve them is another. Working with a coach with whom you “click” is the key to helping you reach your goals. To your success!
“Investing in yourself is the best thing you can do.”
Warren Buffett