Do you wish you had more time to do the things you really want to do?

Does it seem like success and achievement are always just out of reach?

If you answered yes to either or both of these questions, this article is for you! I know, there are plenty of experts out there on the subject of ‘goal setting’. So I thought you might be interested in a bit of a different take on this subject.

What if you regularly set goals? i.e., write them down, plan the steps you will take to achieve them and yet still never quite get there. This can be very frustrating and de-motivating.

So, take some time here to ask some serious questions of yourself, outlined below. One of these questions may just be the “that’s me!”, which will lead to you realizing why your goals are always just out of reach.

Here are the questions……….

1.  Are you identifying goals that you really, truly own and have a desire to achieve - or are your goals someone-else’s idea of what you should be aiming for?

2.  Have you got clear goal posts along the way towards achieving your goals?

These posts are fundamental in providing you with a continuous pathway and direction. If you only ever feel you have succeeded when you actually achieve the goal you set, but you don’t reach it, well, you will never feel successful! Goal posts give you points of achievement along the way towards your main end goal.

3.  Do you make sure you have short-term plus long-term goals?

Sort of like in number 2. above, these short-term goals can act as your goal posts on the way to your main goal.

4.  Do you have another person you can use as a sounding board while you are working out and working towards your goals?

I have found this invaluable, especially when that someone is a pretty expert goal-setter themselves. They need to be able to listen, ask you questions that challenge you to question yourself - your motives for achieving the goals, making sure you identify the realistic steps you establish along the way to achieving your goals

Using someone else as a sounding board, whenever you set important, longer-term goals in particular, can help you get into the habit of asking yourself the why, what and how questions every time you sit down to set some goals. It becomes a habit - a useful habit as you decide the journey you want to take.

5. Do you really know what you want in life?

This is probably the most fundamental question for you, for any of us. We can all write down goals we think we want to achieve and tidily compartmentalize what and how we intend to reach them. But are they really what we want in life or is it just a process to go through because everyone says we should?

What do you really want? Who do you want to be? Where do you want to be next week? Next month? Next year? In the next five-ten years?

If you don’t know the answers to this key question, then this is the place you need to start. That’s not to say don’t set some goals still. But maybe do some work on this last point to help you realize your longer-term goals and make them meaningful for you.

Hopefully these questions - or at least one of them - have sparked your thinking about the goals you are setting and why they are seldom if ever reached.

I have found it a daily exercise now, to keep asking myself “what do I want?” “Why am I trying to achieve that end result?” If I don’t do this, life begins to feel aimless and really frustrating.

I apply all of the questions I have posed to you in this article, every time I set my goals. Maybe this will help you too.

 It is impossible to be inspired to achieve the things you want in life when you are forever just managing to cope with the challenges and demands you face everyday - they can seem relentless!

I know. I have spent many periods in my life when I felt frustrated with where I was at and that I didn’t seem to be getting where I wanted to go - in my career, my personal life, my financial position. I wanted so much and I wanted it now!

I also expected that my hundreds of ideas and goals could become reality whilst I fitted them in between and around my current lifestyle. I mean, surely it’s possible to change your career direction while still working full-time, completing a qualification, starting a new relationship, keeping in touch with family now geographically distanced………..does that sound familiar to you?

Maybe your scenario is a bit different from mine. But if you find yourself constantly frustrated with not achieving all those wonderful plans and visions you have for your life, then it’s time to consider doing something different to what you are currently doing (or not doing!).

You can feel motivated and powered up to get your life on track, only to be feeling unmotivated and wanting to give up those inspirations because you just don’t have the time, the energy or you’ve lost the inclination as things are moving far too slowly - and you can’t figure out why.

And that’s where my simple yet effective advice comes in.

Go back to the title of this article and look at the second part. What does it say? “Take some time, Find some space”. Definitely not rocket science but conversely, definitely an action we do not take regularly enough.

If you want to improve things for yourself, if you want to make some changes and feel inspired to create a positive, fulfilling life, then you need to factor into your current routine some reflection, planning and goal-setting. And, you need time and space to do this. Otherwise, believe me, you will very quickly lose that inspiration.

Referring back to my earlier example in this article, I felt inspired at all sorts of times and points in my life, but these times were always short-lived. I felt constantly that I wasn’t getting anywhere.

Now I use a number of different techniques to take that time and find some space, to reflect, plan, set my goals and consider any barriers or challenges I may need to prepare for. If you want to follow through on your inspirations, maybe some of these techniques will help you……..

• Scheduling. Use the time management principle of scheduling a block of time in your day or week which you will use solely for your planning and goal setting. By doing this, you train your brain to accept this as a valid use of your time. You also communicate to other people when you are not available

• Organise something to record your ideas and plans. This may be a journal, a diary or a simple exercise book. You may prefer to audiotape yourself. Although some people may disagree with me here, writing things down makes it far more likely that you will follow through with your ideas. Thoughts that pop up can disappear just as quickly, especially when those other tasks and responsibilities that are part of your day already take over your attention

• Keep recording your plans and goals in your journal or exercise book. Scribbling your ideas on bits of paper is just as much of a scattered approach. There is the potential for those bits of paper to get lost, thrown out, have no coherence or order - so your plans and goals become the same

• Finding some space means deciding where, when and how you can organise a place where you won’t be interrupted, where you can do what you want with that time available (and scheduled). It may mean getting right away from your current environment, driving to a spot where you can get plenty of fresh air. It may be your favourite sunny room at home, when no-one else is there. Wherever, choose your space carefully and consciously; it really does have a huge impact on your inspiration