Saturday 26 September 2020

GOALS, PLANNING, SCHEDULING & REVIEWING

 


Recently, I have started doing coaching and mentoring sessions with my teenage son. Goals, planning, scheduling and reviewing is what we are currently working on. So I thought that I'd share this with you, in the hope it will help you get organised and mean business.

We all have desires, dreams, aspirations, but unless you define it into a goal, whatever it is, it has a very slim chance of coming true.
The process of creating your goals is a commitment that you make, to your goal, to YOURSELF, to do the best you can to make this dream real and transform your life for the better. We all want that, right?!

Goals, Planning, Scheduling and Reviewing are the major steps to follow to achieve this. Obviously, depending on your goals, a certain amount of subcategories of steps will be added within each.


GOALS

Your GOALS are summarising and determining what you want to achieve.

Your GOALS can apply to any aspects of your life. Achieving your goals will influence the other aspects of your life, in a positive way for the most part.

When identifying your goals, ALWAYS be mindful of the possible influence on other parts of your life. Ideally, you want your goal to contribute in achieving BALANCE in your life.

IDENTIFYING YOUR GOALS: JOURNALING PROMPTS (DETECTIVE WORK)

What is lacking in my life?

How does it make me feel?

How do I want to feel?

What will make me feel this way?

What do I want to do?

What will it bring me once achieved?

Why do I want  this to happen?

What will it cost me to not achieve this goal?

This last question is a VITAL part of the process - for your goal to have a chance of being achieved, you must create an emotional attachment to it. This question will help you determine how much PAIN is attached to not achieving your goal. While this may seem counter-intuitive, this is what will give you the drive to carry on, even when obstacles appear.

IDENTIFYING YOUR GOALS: VISUALISATION AND INTEGRATION

  • You have achieved your goal. Describe all that you see: What are you doing? What is around you? Where are you? Who is with you? What do they do/say? What do you look like?
  • How does it feel to have achieved your goal? Stay with these feeling and integrate to your vision;
  • Write down what you saw and felt during the visualisation;
  • Write down how you feel about the experience. Did it help you define your goal more clearly? How? Include any questions, ideas that came up from the visualisation;
  • Write down your CLEAR GOAL and VISION, including your WHY : I want … because… 
Again these questions and visualisation focus on the positive emotions of achieving your goals, strengthening the emotional attachment we mentioned previously.

    MAKING YOUR GOALS “S.M.A.R.T.”:
      Using the SMART criteria below can help you define your goal in a way where you get the best chances of achieving it.


        IMPORTANT NOTES:
        • Your goal may include an external element that you CANNOT control. If you fail because of this element, get as much feedback as possible and try again, either by replicating in a different environment, or by REVIEWING. You can only PLAN, SCHEDULE and TAKE ACTION on WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL. On elements you CANNOT CONTROL, you can only desire and wish.
        • YOU DON’T HAVE TO HAVE IT ALL FIGURED OUT BEFORE YOU START—THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING YOU CAN DO TO MOVE YOURSELF FORWARD.
        • IT’S OK TO CHANGE YOUR GOAL IF IT NO LONGER SERVES YOU.
        Next step will be PLANNING.

        PLANNING & SCHEDULING


        PLANNING is the first step of the process of organising.
        You have a goal/goals you want to achieve and you need to PLAN to know what results you want and how to get there. So PLANNING deals with the WHAT and HOW.

        IF YOU DON’T PLAN FOR WHAT YOU WANT, YOU WON’T GET WHAT YOU DESIRE (Allie The Journey Junkie)

        STEPS OF PLANNING:
        • DEFINE CLEARLY what you want to happen—what does reaching your goal look like? (see GOALS for more info). Be as precise as possible. Method -> BRAINSTORM;
        • THINK of WHAT YOU NEED TO DO to get there—Method -> BRAINSTORM IDEAS of all the things you can do or get to help you;
        • PUT THEM IN A LOGICAL/ACHIEVABLE ORDER— what needs to happen first to start your project? What do you need to do next?
        • LOOK at EACH ACTION in your diagram and decide: What needs to happen at this stage? What do  you need for each? What individual tasks do you need to do? How can the action be broken down into smaller tasks (BABY STEPS)?
        • DRAFT YOUR PLAN—this will be your map on how to get there.
        • THINGS CAN CHANGE, YOU can change, resources available can change—don’t get too attached to the plan and be flexible. Review regularly to see what works, what doesn’t, what you need… 
        SCHEDULING deals the WHO and WHEN. Who needs to do this task and when does it need to be completed.
        Some tasks have determined due dates (work shifts, appointments, classes…) while others need to be determined (fun stuff you want to do, self care…).

        STEPS OF SCHEDULING:
        • WRITE DOWN all the tasks you need to do (including events. appointments…). Include the determined due dates. For large tasks, break them down into smaller tasks;
        • PRIORITISE YOUR TASKS—look at each task and decide in which categories they fall into:



        URGENT: needs to be done as soon as possible
        NOT URGENT: can be done at a later time
        IMPORTANT: must do tasks (work, relaxing time, self care…)
        NOT IMPORTANT: nice to do tasks
        • WRITE IN YOUR CALENDAR/PLANNER the MUST BE DONE TASKS with due dates -> decide on due dates for the other MUST BE DONE tasks and include in the planner ->  include the other tasks with due dates -> look at the rest of your tasks, put them in order of priority (some tasks may need to be done in a sequence order) -> include them in your planner in days you can fit them in.
        SCHEDULING TIPS:
        • WORK WITH REALITY: to avoid stress/overwhelm, NEVER over-schedule. There is so much you can do in a day;
        • Some tasks take longer than others. Some days you might be able to fit in 3 or more tasks, and some days you will only have time for just one;
        • PLAN and SCHEDULE to make sure your tasks are ORGANISED, not primarily to focus on the outcome;
        • TAKE INTO ACCOUNT HOW YOU FEEL: some days you might be full of energy and can accomplish a lot, while others you might be tired or ill and your energy to DO will be limited;
        • SCHEDULE BREATHING ROOM to cover for emergencies;
        • If a NON URGENT task has not been completed on your chosen due date, RESCHEDULE IT if it is still needed (see REVIEWING)
        • FOCUS ON YOUR DETERMINED DUE DATES tasks;
        • DON’T STRESS about planning and scheduling. It’s simple. JUST FOLLOW THE STEPS.
        • When tasks are cancelled, FREE the space in your calendar (cross out/delete)
        TOOLS YOU CAN USE TO PLAN/SCHEDULE:
        • Notebook and pens
        • Diary/planner
        • A bullet journal (already set up or make your own)
        • The calendar app on your phone
        • Outlook calendar app if you have a Hotmail/outlook email address
        • A project management app: Trello, Asana...


        REVIEWING


        REVIEWING is ESSENTIAL during the whole process of working towards your goal, and even on a day-to-day management of your regular tasks and activities.

        REMEMBER: the completed goal/project is your guiding light, NOT the plan. Your plan is only one possible path to the completed goal.

        CHANGES will happen: resources you need may no longer be available, you may come across a new resource you want to try or include in your plan, you might need more time to complete a task and need to reschedule, or you may want your goal to be different because it is no longer relevant.

        REVIEWING enables you to keep track on how well you are progressing towards your goal completion, what is needed when you’re stuck, what step is best next, re-evaluating your tasks and resources…

        REVIEWING will help you revisit your plan. For this to be efficient, you need to REMAIN FLEXIBLE. Change what is needed, not the whole thing!
        When reviewing, BE AS HONEST AS POSSIBLE— use the Review/Plan worksheet to help you. You can download it here. This worksheet is only one of many ways to review and re-plan. Change it to make it work for you.
        • You can only start REVIEWING once you have planned and scheduled your first step. PLAN and SCHEDULE FIRST;
        • What did you achieve?: why? It can give you useful insight on skills, resources that you can use again;
        • What did I start and not finish?: why did I not finish it? What do you need to be able to finish it? What can you do to finish it?
        • What did I not do?: why? What was in the way of you starting it? Is this task still relevant? Was it cancelled? Why?
        • What did I learn this week from the process?: it is important to reflect as it will help you review and re-plan more efficiently, and you will be more likely to do the task successfully. What kind of techniques did I use? What kind of tasks did I do? What kind of tasks did I find easy/enjoyable/challenging? What can I do or do I need to make it easier/more fun?
        • What worked well?: what happened? Why did it work so well? What did I do/resources did I use that helped?
        • What did not work so well?: why? What did I learn from the “failure”? What can I do to make it work? Can I make it work? If not, what else can I do/use?
        • What do I need to review next week?: what tasks do I need to reschedule? What needs to be changed? What else can I try that will help with my tasks? (refer back to your answers from What worked well? And What did not work so well?)
        • What resources or extra learning do I need?: it can also be help/support from someone else. If one of your answers to What did not work so well?, What did I start and not finish? or What did I not do? Is because I don’t know how to do it, this is where you would write it down.
        • Going to this review weekly, for example, is a good way to plan your next week so you can always be working towards your goals.
        In the worksheet’s PLAN section:
        • What are my goals for next week?: what you want to work on. List them and number them. You can write each goal in a different colour if it helps;
        • What actions/tasks do I need to do for each goal?: detail your baby steps. You can use different colours for each goal;
        • What is my intention/focus for the week?: “I want to finish all my homework”, “stay focused”, “finish”, “research”, “try new ways”, “avoid distractions”, “reflect”, “organisation”, “catch up”,  “pace myself”, “learn how to get unstuck”,  “prioritise”, “reschedule”, “review plan and re-organise”, “feel motivated/good/rested/ energised?proud/satisfied…”
        • What resources/learning will I need?: it can be the same as the ones in your REVIEW section, but not necessarily. You can also be resources to help what you want to focus on.
          In the REVIEW section,  the HOW DO I FEEL ABOUT IT? Column is important as it will help you beat any resistance or fear you may have with this task.

          As you may know, I have a daily journaling practice and this is where I explore how my goals evolve, what I need, how I feel on a daily basis. It is, for me, an integral part of the process because, in my view, you can only see what you can achieve and what the next step needs to be when you are fully aware of your state of mind, as well as energy level available to you on that day. Only then can you measure what the next step should be. You can't expect yourself to climb Mount Everest as your next step if, today, all you feel you can achieve is walk up the road next to your house and back. Overdoing it will kill your motivation, and, most likely, your dream.

          COURSES AND CLASSES THAT HAVE HELPED ME GREATLY ON THIS JOURNEY

          • Jennibellie, Creative Goal Journaling - and many other of her classes will help on different aspects;
          • Creative Dream Incubator - let's be honest, all her classes!! This is an all access subscription, but you can pay monthly with cancel any time option. So, if you wanted, you could just try it for a month.
          I sincerely hope this overview would have helped you defined your dreams into goals and give you the motivation, knowledge and support that you need to achieve them.

          HAPPY DREAM CHASING AND GOAL GETTING! x

          Monday 14 September 2020

          Inspirational Quote Monday

           


          This quote holds a special place in my heart. Even before consciously practicing gratitude, I have always loved this quote - it feels so right, doesn’t it? ❤️❤️❤️

          Saturday 12 September 2020

          Wisdom Cards

           


          For this article, I've made a couple of videos for you to show you my wisdom cards and my process for making them.

          Wisdom cards (or inspiration/guidance/help/truth cards, whatever name you want to call them) are a little bit like the index cards you use for making your revision for exams and tests at school. In many ways, it works the same. The wisdom cards remind you of what is important in the "exam" of our daily life. We are often put to the test, confronting challenges and blocks, and these cards are here to help you know (or refresh your memory, because your inner wisdom already knows, after all, you've made the cards) what to do.

          They are one of your many tools in your survival kit, but such an important tool. They are what I call your maps to your true north.

          In the first video, I go through my cards and explain a bit more where they come from and what they are to me, what themes I like to focus on. You can watch the first video by clicking on the image below (you will be directed to Youtube. The video is on my artsy channel, Christelle's Art Factory)


          In my second video, I walk you through the process of making the cards. Although the video is 40-ish minutes long, I talk a lot (haha!) so it wouldn't take you that long to make your own cards. I also offer some suggestions for other ways to make your cards. (Just click on the image below to watch the second video on Youtube)




          Mentioned in the videos

          • Melody Ross, The Walk and Soul Book classes (currently unavailable)
          • Christelle's Art Factory Youtube channel HERE
          • my Soul Book videos playlist on Youtube HERE
          • book Writing Down Your Soul by Janet Conner
          • Insight Timer app teacher Giovanni Dienstmann
          • small bottle of white gesso Ranger Dina Wakley 1 fl oz/ 29 ml available on Amazon
          • Docraft Artiste multi purpose paints / Americana craft paints - both available on Amazon
          • Sharpie markers

          Your Wisdom Cards are gift you give yourself to never forget what is important to you and that you always have all the tools you need to face challenges and find your happy in this life.

          I hope this process inspires you to make and use your own.

          Enjoy xxx