It’s that time of the year again. Setting our sights on the year ahead, while knowing that it will be another year of managing various stresses of family, work, social life and personal goals. 

Here’s the big problem: most people do not actually achieve their goals or resolutions for the New Year.

The Pain Of Not Achieving Your Goals

What’s the impact of that in your life? Take careers as an example. At the start of their career, most people begin at the bottom with the same (low) earning level; but after 10 or 20 years, some are in the top 5%, bringing home up to fifty times more than their peers, despite having had the same start.

This shows us two very important things. Firstly, the cost of not hitting your goals again and again is not short-lived: it is painful in the long run. Secondly, and more importantly, there is a clear trajectory of growth that you need to experience to grow into your personal success.

Whether in career, business, or personal life, the difference is that the top people continually learn new skills and apply themselves more as they proceed. In their journey, every new skill or achievement unlocks results, achievement and fulfilment. It increases the value of their work and contribution, and it is what allows them to create not just more income but also an impact and joy in their lives.

The question is: how do you elevate your performance so you achieve your goals this year? How do you stay your course, and stay in motion towards your goals? From New Zealand’s top transformational coaches, Henare and Kate O’Brien, here are the five moves professional women need to make for a successful year!

Move 1: Set The Intent To Grow

To reach higher, we must first be bigger. We already have the potential in ourselves; what we need is to understand that if we’ve only ever reached a certain level in our finances, career, health or fitness so far, our goals lie beyond our current experience. So we must set the intent to grow, and understand that we need to go into uncharted territory and even when we feel the fear, to continue anyway.

The fear is a signal that we are heading for something bigger.

Two things can significantly help you in this space. The first is identifying specific skills that will help you achieve your goals so you can be focused on how you grow. The second is identifying specific teachers, coaches, mentors and partners to help you on the journey so you don’t go in blind, and you have someone to support you when you jump into the deep end.

Move 2: Prioritise Your Top 3

In any scenario, achieving goals is about taking consistent and massive action. The principle in this move is that a confused mind will never take action. So, think in 3s: top 3 goals, top 3 steps, top 3 items, because if you don’t have clarity in your goals and your steps, you will very quickly diffuse your motivation.

A seemingly painful process in deciding your priorities is the need to say ‘no’ or ‘later’ to other things tugging at you: your social life, random opportunities or even sleep.

However, once you are certain about your priorities and have made your decisions, it is like a heavy cloud has been lifted from you and you can go about with your life in peace.

Move 3: Do Things In The ‘Now’

A wise saying is “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today”. Once you have prioritised your goals and your action steps, you will know when you need to do things. Generally, things can be prioritised into daily, regular or ad hoc items.

Daily items are things that you practice every day, for example, yoga, daily calendaring or a daily post for your online brand.

Regular items could be, for example, weekly compiling of expenses or a weekly review.

Ad hoc items are those that come in irregularly.

In any case, once the time is now for an item, it is far more beneficial to do it today than to procrastinate. The effect of putting things off snowballs and can easily lead to creating an intimidating mountain; while small daily action is low in time, pain and commitment. Our tip: just schedule it into your calendar!

Move 4: Stay Motivated

This move is about aligning everything – your mind, body, soul, and environment – towards what you are aiming for. If you are moving against a powerful current, which takes you away from your goals, then it is much harder to stay motivated and you end up expending a lot more time, energy and emotions.

Staying motivated means you consistently remember why you set those goals and what it means to achieve them in your life. It means you have small moments of daily gratitude for the abundance that you already experience in your life, allowing space for even more.

It also means that you surround yourself with champions who push, support and guide you towards your goals. They can be your family, closest friends, peers, mentors, partners or teachers. Once you create this environment for motivation and achievement, even during your worst days, you will find yourself back up again.

Move 5: Celebrate

Most of the time, when people hit little milestones, they dismiss it and say ‘it’s not enough’. However, this sends a very detrimental message to your body, spirit and the universe: that no achievement will ever be enough for you. If losing 1kg out of your 10kg goal is ‘nothing’ or associated with a negative response, the mind codes that hitting the goal, which is ten times of it, will lead to ten times the negative response, and the mind and body shut down, never achieving it.

The next time you hit a small step, such as a weekly target, take the time to recognise it, whether by yourself or with your family unit or team and celebrate big! Let people know about that step, and create a massive momentum towards your goal, because your brain and heart will become addicted to the feeling of joy and celebration.

Inspiring action to achieve your goals will not only give you results in career or business, but you will also feel inspired in your life, with renewed vigour in your mind, heart and body.

Whether you want to lose weight, reignite the passion of your relationship, or achieve a personal or business milestone, these five moves will transform your year!