We all have dreams and goals. Some of those dreams are big and some not so much. Are you on track to realize those dreams? Why not? I ask those two questions regularly when I am coaching. The most common answer I hear to the “on track” question is “kinda”. That is not an appropriate answer to a yes/no question. How can you be kinda on track? You are either on track or not on track. That means the real answer to the question is, No. In that case it is time to start digging to figure out what is keeping them from being on track. Often it comes to the fact that they are worried or scared of something that is in their path on the way to that dream.
When we are fearful or scared a natural response is to turn away or stop. In the case of reaching for your dreams or goals this is one of the last things you want to do. Instead we need to square our feet and identify what is that we fear. Is it the fear of failure? How about the fear of having to do the work that that will lead to your dreams? Or is it something completely different? The key is to know what you are fearful of and what’s keeping you from moving forward toward what you want. As soon as you understand what it is, the fear ceases to be as daunting as it once was because you can create a plan to get passed it.
It is important to remember when creating your plan to segment it out. You don’t have to create a detailed plan that takes you all way to the realization of your dreams and goals. Stealing from the movie What About Bob it is about the baby steps. Identify what you need to do today or this week to keep you moving forward. By keeping the chunk size small you can see the progress you are making.
Of course, there will be roadblocks on the path to what you want even with the best plan. When that happens, there is no need to worry. It is part of the process and in fact those blocks often become sources of pride once you have gotten past them. A key thought here is that you will get past them. It starts by having max belief in yourself and your capabilities knowing that you can break the problem down and find a way around it, over it, or through it. You may need to call in reinforcements at this point. Maybe a friend a teammate or a coach who can help. Realize even though it is your dream or goal you don’t have to do it alone. You can and should use the resources around you. When you have support it is hard to be scared because you can rely on that support to get you through.
Even with a plan and the support of those around that fear can occasionally creep back into the mind. Here are a couple of things that you should do to keep that from happening. Go see your success. Daily, take a trip in your mind. Take a couple of minutes each day to close your eyes or keep them open and travel to the future in your mind to the time you will have achieved your dream. See what you are going to see when you accomplish it, hear what you are going to hear from those around and what you are telling yourself. Really feel the feelings that you will have when you get there. Allow the energy from that moment seep into you. While you are there turn and look to the past and see how you persevered and overcame the issues and roadblocks that could have gotten in your way. As you do this you might even notice that those challenges weren’t as big as you might of thought. When you see your success daily it is pretty much impossible to be fearful of not getting to where you want to be.
Train yourself to focus on what you want. Most people spend an inordinate amount of time on making sure they stay away from what they don’t want or don’t want to do. Which makes me think of the saying “your energy flows to where your attention goes”. If you are focused on what you don’t want to happen and your energy is flowing to that of course fear and doubt can creep in. Make the decision that you are going to focus on the dream and the activities that will take you there. There will be detours on the road to your dream. When you stay focused on the goal instead of the block you will find your way through that detour.
Be fearless in the pursuit of your dreams and goals. Visit successfully achieving them daily. Take the energy from the visit and put it into play in the plan you have built to get you there. Believe in yourself and your ability. Believe in those around who will help you get there. When you do the fear will be nowhere to be found.
Remember your energy flows where your attention goes. Focus on what you want.
If you want additional information on how to let go of the fear or other negative emotions that are keeping you from reaching your goals reach out to me. As a Master Practitioner of NLP and Time Line Coaching® I have the experience, knowledge and tools to help. You can reach me by sending an email to kirk@maxbelief.com or give me a call at 515-499-6455.