Too busy to goal plan? Try these tips to get on track.

We all have the best intentions when it comes to goal planning.

We work out what is important to us and create the plan on how to achieve it.

Our plans often consist of breaking it down into steps and putting timeframes around them, then we set off in the pursuit of achievement.

The question is, during busy times when we are distracted, tired, or unwell and have a mountain of conflicting priorities is this enough to help keep us on track with our goals?

In addition to your planning, did you know you can support your sub-conscious mind to develop habits that allow you to stay focused on your goals, and help automate your daily actions and decision making, without the large time commitments.

Underpinned by Positive Psychology, here are three tips to support you to stay on track, all starting with the letter V, to help make it more memorable to action.  

 1.     Visual Symbols

 What do the things around you say about you and your goals?

Do they tell a story of what you’re focusing on, and do they reflect what is important to you?

Visual symbols are everyday items that can be extremely influential in supporting you to achieve your goals. They act as a visual affirmation, reminding you of what your goals are, plus increase your focus and energy in the areas of importance to you. 

Symbols include items such as your phone, apps, photos, your belongings, clothes, your past achievements, including certificates and trophies. By seeing them daily you train your habits toward your desires.

 So, if your goal is to learn a new musical instrument, consider what visual symbols you can surround yourself with. Perhaps placing the instrument where you can see it every day, a quote or picture of a musician you admire, music sheets on the coffee table and a weekly schedule printed with your practice times highlighted.

Or your goal is financial and you’re saving for a holiday. Visual symbols might include photos of previous holidays, reminding you that you value travel and adventure.

A map of your destination, travel guides and books, a visual savings goal or money jar labelled holiday funds, or an affirmation on your phone screen saver.

Ok, now it’s your turn…

What visual symbols can you surround yourself to support you in achieving your goals?

2.     Vision Board

Have you seen or created a vision board before? It’s a practice widely used in the professional community and is often described as a collage, drawing or visual representation of our vision and goals for the next 12 months.

A vision board can be a creative and aspirational tool, increasing optimism and encourages us to self-reflect on what is important to attract and action  what is aligned with our values, dreams, and goals.

You can create physical or digital boards, using inspiring and motivating words, affirmations and images that represent your vision and goals across the different areas of your life.

Neuroscientist Dr Tara Swart, explains that vision boards prime your brain to recognise opportunity, "looking at images on a vision board primes the brain to grasp opportunities that may otherwise gone unnoticed. That’s because the brain has a process called ‘value-tagging’ which imprints important things onto your subconscious and filters out unnecessary information.”

“The brain assigns a higher ‘value’ to images than written words on a ‘to-do’ list, “says Swart, “and the more you look at those images, the more those images move up in importance.” [1]

So, what are you waiting for, what will your vision board for the new year be? Keep it in daily sight, so your sub-conscious can take in the information, perhaps sitting proudly next other visual symbols like certificates, a wall calendar or photos of past goals achieved.

3)     Visualisation

Visualisation is the process of purposefully using your imagination to visualise what you want in the future.

Research has shown that the same brain regions are stimulated when you visualise an action as to when you in reality perform it.  A new neural pathway is created generating memories or learned behaviours that primes our body to act in a way consistent to what we imagined.  This all occurs without performing the physical action, yet it achieves a similar result, because the brain sees little difference between something happening and a strongly imagined vision of it.

Through painting a picture in your mind of what you want to achieve, your brain will respond with much deeper focus and concentration. This makes visualisation a valuable tool to help you achieve your goals.

Visualisation has been used by rehabilitation specialists, sports coaches, musicians, keynote speakers, students, entrepreneurs, and psychologists, to name just a few and can be practiced anytime of day, but best done when there are no distractions.

In the world of distractions and busy schedules, we suggest trying 5 mins to set your intentions for the day, or 5 minutes as you prepare to go to sleep. 

Here are a few examples to help you get started:

 -       Visualise yourself in the future, having achieved your goal. What does it look and feel like?

-        Visualise yourself using the habit daily, required to achieve your goal

-        Visualise your day/ week ahead being successful

-        Visualise how you want to respond in a challenging or difficult situation. 

So, which one of the 3 V’s will you implement to support your goal planning efforts.

Want to explore these tools and more, check out our Thrive@Life and Thrive@Work programs and be supported with your own coach to create the life you want to live.

[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/22/visualization-that-helps-executives-succeed-neuroscientist-tara-swart.html