I am passionate about goals and goal-setting for the simple reason that if I didn’t set goals, I would have achieved little to nothing over the last 13 years.

Seriously.

People often wonder how I manage to get so much done from my life list.

The simple answer which is very short and sweet is that I set annual, monthly and weekly goals, and I work towards them.

That’s it – it’s not magic.

Do you know what is the number 1 reason most people don’t achieve their goals?

It’s not lack of motivation.

It’s not lack of willpower.

It’s not lack of planning ability.

It’s the inability to manage their time.

I get it.

How can you even think about writing your book/ going on a mission trip into Africa/ starting a home for pregnant teenaged girls  when you’re rushing around the whole day just putting out fires?

Almost impossible.

If you don’t set out to manage your time and life with purpose and intention, chances are you’re going to stumble through life and keep wondering, “where did that year go?”

At this time of year I love blog browsing and reading all the wonderful dreams people have about being more present, living more fully and impacting others around them.

Can you tell I read lots of inspirational blogs?!

The sad thing is that after a few months these same people think these Big Dreams are merely flights of fancy or that they were silly to think that they could actually do it.

It’s not silly.

It just takes some work.

My challenge to you

1.      Grab a piece of paper and jot down just 3 things you want to accomplish this year. Let’s keep our expectations low and take the pressure off.

2.      Choose the ONE most important thing to you right now.

3.      Create some time to work on just that one thing. I like to work with time blocks per week so that I don’t feel pressure on a daily basis. For example, you may say, “this week I’m going to spend two hours (which you can break down into 4 X 30-minute sessions) deciding on my next holiday and figuring out how long I want to stay there and how much it’s all going to cost”

4.      This is the most important step – schedule the time in your planner and mark it as sacred, in other words, keep the appointment!

If you have no idea where you’re going to find time to do the thinking let alone the doing, have a look at the organize your time system.

And if you want a customized plan just for you, book a Success Strategy Session with me. These sessions pay for themselves around the 20-minute mark with all the ideas you get and then it’s free sailing after that

Have you set the time aside to work on your goals?

Well, the new year is just over a week old.

By now you’ve probably set some goals, made some resolutions or decided on your theme or word for the year.

This year I’ve chosen the word COURAGE as my word for 2011.

It means I’m stepping out even when I’m terrified, taking action even when I don’t feel like I know how and connecting even if I may be hurt.

Have you chosen a word for the year? Share in the comments.

P.S. You can read about my words for 2009 and 2010 here

Spring in Johannesburg is absolutely beautiful.

The jacarandas bloom, the rains clear the smog and all is well with the world.

There’s a park I drive by on my way home from work.

At one point I turn left and then right into my street.

As I take that left turn I check the traffic coming from the other side and, when I turn my head, I gaze straight down a row of jacaranda trees in the park.

Picture it – a  row of beautiful purple trees.

There’s something about the orderliness of nature that appeals to me. That, and the purple.

I kept telling myself, “I should pull over and take some pics”.

But I didn’t.

Always in a hurry to get home to see the babies.

But one day I wasn’t in too much of a hurry.

I’d finally determined in my heart that “today was the day”, turned the corner, looked and the jacarandas were gone.

Normal, green trees where the purple flowers had been just a few weeks earlier.

I was dismayed!

I don’t know why I hadn’t noticed before that the jacarandas only have the purple flowers for a short time.

Next year I’ll be ready and I will stop and take TONS of pics.

Good thing though I took these ones in other locations.

And when we had our photoshoot, the jacarandas were in full bloom. Just look at the purple carpet – heaven!

Anyway, this is my challenge to you

Don’t wait and wait and wait to do something important to you – it may be too late.

This was a relatively small thing in the grand scheme of things but oh so often, we procrastinate and wait with the Big Things in life.

Don’t wait – life is too short.

• If you’ve always wanted to go to Italy, set a goal and start working towards it.
• If you’ve always wanted to write a book, set a goal and do it.
• If you want to get organised, set a goal and do it.

And if you don’t know how to make your Big Things happen, I’ll be happy to coach you.

Happy 2011, everybody.

My prayer is that you will do Big, Juicy things in 2011 and start crossing things off your Life List.

You do have a Life List, don’t you?

P.S. The two good pics of my family are by Jeanette Verster

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – 2006

The week between Christmas and New Year is, hands down, my favourite time of the year.

I absolutely love it!

That’s because it’s the time I prepare my diary (calendar) but, most of all, it’s because I do my year-end review and goal-setting for the next year.

A colleague of mine paid me the biggest compliment recently (she doesn’t even know it!) when she told me that of everyone she knows, I’m the only one she’s ever met who is this intentional about my goals.

It’s because I firmly believe that if you drift through life, there will be tons of things left undone simply because of lack of intention.

I don’t want that to be me.

Anyway, back to the process…

Some of the year-end thinking can be done as you go about your life (in the shower, while driving, etc.) but there comes a point when you actually need to sit down with a gorgeous pen and notebook, or with your laptop, and make the time to write things down.

There’s tremendous power in creating a sacred space for your thoughts, dreams, intentions and goals.

Phuket, Thailand – 2006

It’s also the perfect time to start the new year with a clean slate – isn’t that so appealing?

I’ve booked out a half day tomorrow for exactly this purpose. If that’s not enough time (these things sometimes take a lot longer than you plan), I’ll take another two hours on Thursday, and if I need more, again on Friday.

Some of the things I’ll be thinking and writing about are:

• my biggest accomplishments this year
• things I definitely don’t want to repeat
• the things I need to let go of – commitments, relationships, emotions
• my word/ theme for next year
• what my definition of success for 2011 will look like
• and finally, the actual goal-setting

and so on

What about you? Have you created your sacred space yet for your 2011 goal-setting?Loch Lomond, Scotland – 2008

Would it surprise you that I’ve already started working on my goals for 2011?

I’m not ashamed to say I’m a passionate goal-getter.

I’m the type of person who’s happier taking charge of my life than letting life happen to me.

So I set and achieve goals. I would never have managed to travel as much as I have if I hadn’t consciously set those things as goals.

This is me at Victoria Station in London – I love this pic Dion took of me. What does it say to you?

Here’s how I do my goal-setting, very, very briefly:

1.       I think back over the year that’s been and write down what went well and what didn’t. This could take up to an hour or longer, depending on how the year went.

2.      I then look forward and think about what I want for the year ahead. I really spend time getting clear on my vision, fleshing it out fully. This is also when I think about my ONE word for the year.

3.      Then I take my goals form (in the Time Management Purpose Pack) and in each of the areas of my life, like Family, Health, Spiritual, Business, I write down 1 – 3 broad goals.

4.      I then check each of those goals and make sure they align with my One Word or theme and more importantly, that I’m excited by them and that they feel authentic with who I am. E.g. One of my values is Balance so if I have too many goals, I start to feel out of control and therefore, inauthentic with who I am. So if this happens, I go back to the drawing board to simplify some more.

5.      I also make sure that they are within my control. E.g. with my business, I can only control my actions. Yes, I do set the intention to have x clients bringing in y mo.ney but the things I can control is how much marketing to do, in which ways, how often, etc. I can’t actually control the clients’ behaviour and whether they choose to coach with me or not. Does this make sense?

6.      I then choose 3 – 5 goalsvto work on for the first 90 days, schedule the work and get to it.

7.      I like to add one or two quick wins to get started so that when I achieve those goals, I’m motivated to persevere with the harder ones.

I’ve had the privilege (because I do count it a privilege to work with the wonderful people who coach with me) to work with some women recently and we’ve already been touching on their goals for next year.

I wanted to do something spec.ial for all of you so I’m giving you a 33% disc.ount cou.pon off a 30-minute goal-setting session for the next 72 hours only. Use the disc.ount code GOALS in the shopping cart.

All that means is this – you have to book and pay for your Success Strategy Session by Sat 11^th 12pm EST/ 7pm South African time but the session can be scheduled all the way up to 31 January 2011.

That said, if there’s areally good reason why you can’t have your session by 31 Jan, tell me – we’ll work something out

Are you a goal setter? Have you started for next year? Tell me I’m not the only one!

I fell down the stairs at work last year when I was 16 weeks pregnant and since then, I’ve been taking the lift/ elevator.

That was 19 months ago.

Somehow I got in the habit of taking the lift and didn’t think anything of it.

During the last week of September, I suddenly realised there were only 3 months before the end of 2010.

Upping my exercise schedule is near impossible because of lack of babysitters so Dion and I have to take turns to go to gym at night while the babies are sleeping.

Because of this I thought “baby steps! what can I do to take advantage of every few minutes here and there?”

I decided that I’d have to exercise whenever a chance presented itself. Hopefully all the extra walking will evenutally count for an extra gym session over the course of a week.

So I’ve started climbing the stairs at work.

At least three flights up and three flights down every day.

Add to that running up and down stairs when I go to meetings and it’s all adding up, very slowly, but still, adding up.

The first couple of days were terrible. My knees protested as did my leg muscles.

Now, a month in, I’m almost to the top before I start feeling the strain.

I also want to add that I told EVERYONE how I’ve made a commitment to myself that I will only take the stairs. People are really supportive and some have even joined me in taking the stairs instead of taking the lift.

It reminds me how I tell clients to start with one small habit daily and build on that. It almost seems insignificant but it isn’t.

It’s like organising your entire home 15 minutes at a time.

It’s not about how much progress you’re making but about creating momentum.

This weekend, my question for you is this:

where can you start doing baby steps in your life? how can you start creating momentum in your life?

If you’re brave enough, I dare you to share in the comments. This could just be the accountability you need

I am an unashamed goal-setter.

Some people don’t like to call them goals so call them whatever you like. I like to think about them as things you want to be, do or achieve.

I’ve told you before that I’ve been setting and achieving goals for about 13 years now so I have just a little bit of experience in the area.

That said, I won’t lie to you – there does come a point during the year (around August usually) when you feel like throwing in the towel.

Don’t.

That’s usually when you’re about to get a breakthrough but only if you do these 3 things:

1. Look through your goals list and note down your achievements

Recognising your achievements makes you feel like a winner. Even if you only achieved part of a goal, you’re still streaks ahead of where you’d be if you didn’t do anything.

E.g. If you had on your list to get your entire home organized and you managed to do (only) two rooms, FANTASTIC! You rock!!!

2. Ask for the necessary help

This is a big one and oh-so-difficult for a lot of us women.

I’ll confess – I also hate asking for help. It helps get you out of the “I can do it all myself” mentality and best of all, it propels you forward.

I have a blogging goal on my list that I’ve made absolutely no headway on for 8 months so I’ve hired a blog coach. There is no shame in asking for help.

3. When you do start making progress, celebrate

I’m one of those people who talks to herself. Not in my mind, but out aloud. If I’ve done good work, I say to myself, “I did an awesome job today.” The first time my one colleague heard me, he couldn’t believe it.

But I don’t think there’s anything wrong – in fact, if you don’t pat yourself on the back, who will?

Doing these three things will start giving you momentum again and put you in a place of progress.

When you keep steadily on, you’ll be sure to reach your goals.

I would love to help you and be your cheerleader as you achieve your goals.

Your action steps

1. Be brave and choose just 3 things that you want to still accomplish this year
2. Book your Success Strategy Session now.
3. Tell yourself you’re awesome!

What if you took just ONE tiny step closer to your goals every single day?

Just one.

It sounds harder than it is.

Honestly.

Let’s say your goal is to write a book.

Many people have this on their “things to do before I die” lists so I know this resonates with a lot of you.

It’s on my list too

What is the absolute first step?

Decide what to write about. This step looks simple but you need to see if people would read it, if publishing houses would buy it, if there’s a market so it will actually sell.

So maybe the first two weeks is spent checking all that out.

The rest of the month might be outlining the whole book – what do you need to cover, how many chapters? Etc, etc.

And then comes the writing. If I were coaching you, I’d make you write at least 5 minutes a day because writers WRITE.

To some, that seems like nothing much but 5 mins a day is 35 mins a week which is over 2 hours a month, at the very least.

And of course, some days just getting those 5 minutes done will be a miracle but other days, you’d spend 30 minutes or more easily writing.

That’s exactly what I mean when I say you can make big leaps with just a step a day.

People ask me how I get so many things done and it’s because I do exactly this.

Now I will confess I don’t always feel like writing or recording audio or _______ (fill in whatever you don’t like doing) but I do know that it will move me towards my goals.

So I have a rule.

EVERY WEEK, come hell or high water, I need to do AT LEAST one thing to move me towards my goals.

This helps me focus on outcomes even when I’m really busy. Busy with “stuff” means goals not achieved.

Think about one of your goals. Let’s say you want to go on a holiday to Ireland

Let’s break it down.

1. Decide exactly where in Ireland you want to visit.
2. Investigate prices of airfare, hotels, B&B’s, tourism, food, etc.
3. Check your savings account to see what you have available.
4. Based on the shortfall, decide on the amount of money you need to save every month.
5. Decide length of holiday and itinerary while there.
6. Book flights and check if you need a visa.
7. Book accommodation.
8. Book car rental/ decide on method of transport.
9. Pack your bags
10. Go!

Grab a piece of paper and write your own steps for your goal.

Your challenge this week is to take at least ONE step towards your goal this week.

Marcia Francois is a time management and business organising coach who helps small business owners break out of overwhelm, make the most of their time and get important projects done. Visit http://organiseyourbusiness.com/ for your free 7-part audio series, 7 tips for time-strapped business owners.

Today’s my birthday!

I’ve been working on a list called 36 things to do once I turn 36 (as I’m 36 today) and thought I’d share some of them with you.

I firmly believe that when we “write down the vision and make it plain” it focuses us and helps us go for those goals.

That and the fact that maybe some people will help you realise some of your goals

Without further ado, here is a portion of my list:

1. Go on a beach holiday with the babies.
2. Travel internationally with Dion.
3. Once they can both walk, book a photo shoot (I want cute pics of them walking!)
4. Do random acts of kindness
5. Meet up with 3 blog/ online friends
6. Get involved in some form of ministry again, maybe talks at church?
7. Complete my vision book (it’s now too big for a board so I’m doing a double spread per area of my life, like family, travel, work, business, etc.)
8. Learn to make a halfway decent blog header with photos in less than 30 minutes
9. Learn to let go
10. Get better with my skincare routine
11. Give an unexpected gift to someone every week
12. Lower my expectations of myself and of others
13. Have lunch with a friend once a month
14. Get my website redesigned
15. Live a simpler life

If you feel so inclined, I’d love you to leave me a comment and tell me one thing on your life list, or if you don’t have a life list, your to-do list will do

I am teaching myself to let go.

I recently read a fantastic book called Motherstyles (Janet Penley) and it correctly identified that for my Myers-Briggs personality style (ESTJ) one of my struggles is letting go.

The book talks specifically about parenting but I recognise it in so many areas of my life and this is something I feel that I need to do some self-coaching on.

But as with everything in life, I’m doing it in baby steps.

So first thing to let go of was an easy-ish one. My diary (planner).

I have a GORGEOUS deep red diary/ planner but I haven’t been using it regularly. The same thing happened last year – I thought it was the maternity leave/ baby thing but no. I forget to look in it half the time and then two weeks pass.

And what good is a diary if you don’t look at it?

No more.

So I let go.

• Even though it cost a bit of money.
• Even though I’d customised it perfectly.
• Even though it’s bee-yoo-ti-ful. Don’t you agree?

And so on.

I was thinking about WHY I’m not using the beautiful diary and I realised I really, really, REALLY love a week-at-a-glance diary – that’s how I plan my life and that’s what works best for me.

I had a spare week-at-a-glance diary I got on a sale so I hauled it out and I am so much happier.

I planned out the rest of the month and it’s been so EASY doing it like this!

Small steps, people.

Yes, I’m sad not using the other but I cheer myself up because I’m teaching myself to let go

What are you working on? Please tell me I’m not the only one with issues.

Resources: How to set and achieve your goals