The best part of being a coach is that you get to be a keeper of dreams. Clients come to you with their most precious dreams in the form of goals, and you get the privilege of helping them to turn these dreams into reality.
There are several potential pitfalls that I keep seeing in my practice, which, if not addressed, can prevent you from reaching your goals. Thus, the intention behind this article is to offer an obstacle check-list, with practical steps and tools to help you identify and overcome the ones that might be blocking you.
Read about each key below, and when you come across one that resonates or intrigues you, click on it to learn more and discover practical tools.
When I ask clients why they want to reach their goal, the initial and obvious reasons given are seldom the genuine ones. Once we start exploring, they usually uncover a deeper core need behind their goal. Not knowing why your goal really matters is a missed opportunity. Connecting to the core need underlying your goal is the driving force to reach it.
Before getting into the nitty-gritty of goal-reaching, I always invite clients to visualize their outcome as if it is happening now. The level of ease with which you are able to visualize your goal is a good indicator of where you are in your process. If you can easily visualize it, chances are that you are on the right track. If it is difficult to imagine a reality in which you have reached your goal, exploring the reasons why is a great way to discover what is blocking you.
The biggest obstacles to our dreams often hide within. All of us carry some unconscious limiting beliefs. Deeply rooted beliefs such as "Life is difficult (or unfair)", "I will never be good enough", "Money is dirty", "God is punishing" or "Love hurts" are bound to keep you stuck if you do not address them.
Another important barrier I frequently see with my clients is in the domain of fear. Many of us secretly fear rejection, failure, being hurt or humiliated, or that we will never be perfect or good enough. These can be present even in people who appear very confident and fearless on the outside.
5. Chunk it
We are told to dream big, but big dreams can feel overwhelming. I see clients risking to give up on their goals just because they appear to be unachievable. Breaking your big goal down into smaller sub-goals and actionable steps will allow you to achieve almost anything.
Too often I see clients ignoring the fact that someone has done it before them. There are so many incredible stories of people out there who we can learn from and be inspired by. There is no need to reinvent the wheel.
7. Embrace help
If you are a natural at asking for help or knowing when to delegate, know that most people aren’t. When clients believe that they must do everything on their own, failing to ask for help or to delegate when needed, they usually end up feeling frustrated and stuck, as their resources are not invested most wisely.
And finally, I notice that clients so often forget to celebrate their victories. When your goal is a long-term one, it is crucial that you celebrate the completion of each small milestone. Even if your business is still miles away from breaking even or you still lack qualifications to get that dream job, make sure that you acknowledge and celebrate the completion of each step that is getting you closer.
Disclaimer: The full version of this article has originally been posted on LinkedIn. To suit the blog format, it has been broken down into separate blog posts, expanding on each Key. See the original article here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/8-keys-unlock-even-most-daunting-goals-masha-marija-stefanovic/