Stop Coasting!

Stop coasting!
 If you follow my blog, you'll know that I'm sharing some thoughts at the moment on breaking habits - habits that can really hold you back. Habit #2 is Stop Coasting ....

Be honest with yourself - could you achieve more if you were more organsied and had a bit more self-discipline? .... probably! Trouble is most people admit this but don't know how to address it.

So, if you're a 'coaster', my suggestion is that you take stock - you only live once.

This should help -

Approach the next 12 months differently. Really think about how you’re going to make the most of the time. There’s one sure fact – if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. Like money, you don’t get time back when it’s spent.

Sit down over the next couple of days and think about what you want to achieve next year. Set yourself some clear personal objectives. Combine work and personal life. Challenge yourself to write down things you've been meaning to do for a while. WRITE them down, don't ruminate over them. Once you’ve done that, work out a plan. This should be a personal plan for you, not for others. That’s not selfish, that’s clever. Your plan should set out the things you actually need to do to achieve your objectives.

Of course, other people might be involved, but it's your plan, not theirs. Approach your plan incrementally and don't try to achieve too much at once. Challenge yourself but be realistic with your deadlines. Work out what you need to do month by month, then week by week and even day by day to succeed.

You’ll need self-discipline and you’ll need to bottle your gremlin for this. Your gremlin is out to get you – he’s no good. He wants the worst for you. He loves ill-discipline and laziness. He'll do his best to hold you back, just like he used to. (I have my gremlin but I'm glad to say he's looking very bruised).

Try this and, day by day, you’ll find a better balance to your life. You’ll feel more positive, more confident and more satisfied.

Give it your best shot.

Achieve more ....

Mike

How strong is your urge?

How strong is your urge to be more Confident?

If you’re reading this particular blog post, you might well have read some of my others too … I hope you find them useful. Hopefully they’re making a difference for you. I do find though that sometimes its worth just taking stock every now and again! Some people do struggle to take the leap of faith required to get started … so -

Here’s something to mull over - If you really want to feel more confident and come across to people with more confidence, there are two questions you should ask yourself.

1. Do you really want to change?

2. Are you prepared to accept that you'll need to do some things differently from now on?

Be honest with yourself when you answer these questions. They could be the difference between success and failure on your road to increased self-confidence.

You might be slightly unsure, particular with regard to the second question - after all you don't yet know what the change involves. Don't worry about that for the moment - right now it's just important you realise that feeling and coming across more confidently will definitely mean doing some things differently. You'll need to accept that this might be difficult. You'll probably have to break some habits, possibly habits of a lifetime. No one ever finds this easy.

But don't get the wrong idea here. Don't start getting depressed! These comments are designed to prepare you for the challenge ahead. 'Challenge' is a very appropriate word for this. You should see your endeavours to build your confidence as exactly that - a challenge.

Try to think of your journey to greater confidence as a personal project; your 'Confidence Project'.

As with all projects it will only succeed if it is planned and prepared for thoroughly. The project needs to have a clear objective which is measurable - i.e. 'to achieve something by a certain date.' It helps to start thinking like this. For example - your strategic, long term objective is to build your self-confidence. You've probably already worked that out. But have your thought about how that new self-confidence is going to show itself? Have you thought about what you're going to do with it once you have it? If you haven't, you're missing a trick.

After all - it would be daft to pass your driving test with flying colours and then get in your car with no idea of where you're going!

You'll need to break down your strategic objective into smaller chunks. Each of these chunks should have its own more tactical goals. Accepting your personal confidence challenge becomes a lot easier if you take small steps at a time.

So, if you approach your Confidence Project on an incremental basis, the whole challenge will feel more manageable. This process will really help you to achieve your ultimate objective. Once you get the hang of it, you'll see how helpful the process is. It makes you act.

Mike