Maintain Momentum to Achieve your Business Goals

Have you ever had a goal in mind, and it starts off being so very inspiring? And so incredibly powerful that your motivation to work towards it is through the roof?

But then life wears us down, and challenges and oppositions remain, our perseverance towards these goals wanes, and weakens, and begins to lose energy.

This article aims to look at how to maintain that momentum, that drive and passion and motivation, to see your goal through to the end. The approach I’ve taken is the same as what I do in my coaching programs – to use alignment, structure, and mindset, which will provide you with peace, confidence, and power.

Is the action plan towards your goal achievable in bite size pieces?

With so many pressures, from so many sources, we have become very good at filtering which actions get done, and which ones get pushed back. By necessity, we have been conditioned to take the path of least resistance. The easiest and least challenging actions. So, in understanding this, a big task will be avoided, or at best, approached with a negative mindset of how much effort it’s going to take. We prefer to do the little jobs that don’t require too much effort or concentration. 

As we understand this, we don’t need to change it. We simply use it to our advantage. If we know that we will accomplish 10 little simple tasks before we take on a big monster of a job, then all we need to do is break that big job up into 10, 50, even 100 little actions. We still get that satisfaction of ticking off our to-do list, and at the same time, we are inching towards our big goal, and we’re able to maintain a far more consistent level of momentum.

That goal can be divided into 3 main areas. Identify what those areas are, and then, one at a time, look at each area, and divide it up into 3 smaller categories. Then look at each category, and break it down into 3 smaller steps. Now take each step, and break it down into 3 small, simple, and easily achievable tasks. Think in terms of being able to achieve it in 10-20 minutes. If you look at the whole job, it can be quite overwhelming. But we’re not doing that, we’re looking at one little task at a time. Once that task, step, category and area is complete, then we move onto the next.

How often do you review your goals, and has anything changed?

We set ourselves a big goal, and we may even make great progress towards achieving it. But in that process, and during the time it’s taken to make that progress, things may change. Perhaps there’s been a shift in dynamics? Changed circumstances in your job, business, family, home, health, or your personal identity. Suddenly, that goal that you’ve been so determined to achieve doesn’t really seem that relevant any more.

To maintain good momentum in a goal, it’s important to frequently review – not just your progress towards it – but how the end result will sit in your life once it’s achieved. At each review you could consider things like:

• Does the idea of achieving this goal still LIGHT me up?
• Can I see how achieving this goal will significantly benefit me in an area that’s really important?
• Will this goal solve a problem I’m currently dealing with? 
• On a scale of 1-10, how big is the problem?
• Does this goal inspire me, encourage me, and drive me on towards being the kind of person I want to be?

If you start getting lukewarm answers to these questions, I want you to know that it’s perfectly acceptable to change your goal. When you started, it was really important for a few key reasons, so if those reasons change, you no longer have a responsibility to that goal.

Take this opportunity to re-evaluate what is REALLY important to you, that will bring you peace and joy. Something that really does light you up and make you feel good. Identify how you can morph your old goal to be more suited to your new direction.

How do you manage the resistance and overcome the challenges?

In every worthy endeavour, there will always be resistance. Sometimes, the more resistance we get to a particular goal, the more sure we can be of its importance. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy.

So, if we are so certain that there will be resistance, why wouldn’t you prepare for that at the start, when you’re mapping out how you will achieve this goal?

There are external factors that you have no control over, for sure. But the majority of the resistance is all within our own head.

The psychology that exists around personal development, making changes, breaking and creating habits and so on is really fascinating. Our brains are wired to protect us, and sometimes it gets a little over-zealous. It will throw up defenses and emotional blocks that are trying to protect us because of past experience, or a fear of change, when in fact if we allow these defenses and blocks to remain, it will prevent us from growth, expansion, and moving forward in our lives. The varying severity of this problem is unique to each person, but the process to overcome these blocks can be fairly universal. 

To rewire those subconscious pathways, and in turn maintain a consistent momentum towards our goal, you can consciously tell yourself how – in great detail – this goal will significantly benefit you in the areas that are really important to you.

For example, if the thing that gives me the most satisfaction is to feel a sense belonging in my family or community, then I can write a list of all the different ways that achieving my goal will give me a significant increase in that feeling of belonging. Once this connection is made, and strengthened and reinforced, you should find that – almost automatically – those mental blocks and defenses are gone, or greatly reduced. Then your conscious mind that controls your logic and actions can get on with the job with much less resistance.

Can you really see yourself achieving this goal?

A key element of achieving a goal, especially a really big goal, is the ability to really clearly visualise this goal as already being achieved. It’s a powerful tool that we have, and is the thing that has been the defining element to some of the greatest accomplishments in world history. What will this power enable you to do?

Close your eyes. Picture yourself, looking through your own eyes, and looking all around you, visualising the goal you are striving for, already accomplished. Take note of the small little details, pay attention to the sounds you will hear, and the things you will feel. See it, hear it, feel it, then write it down, record an audio file of you describing this moment out loud, then read and listen and take time to visualise this goal over and over again. As you do this consistently, the universe may just conspire in your favour to make it happen.