5 tips to get clarity on what you truly want and achieve your goal
Are you a new entrepreneur trying to plan your business goals and strategy to grow?
Or maybe you’re a seasoned entrepreneur and feel the need to get more clarity on your next steps and how to take your business to the next level?
So many people don’t reach their goals, because they define them and forget about them a few months later. They unconsciously drift away from their dreams, because they are not connected to their big why. Without this deep connection to what you truly want, it’s very difficult to really embrace your greater why and align your actions to it.
I’ve put together 5 tips for you to give you clarity on what you truly want and help you turn your goals into reality!
This blog article is a summary of the related podcast episode.
Click here to listen to the tips mentioned in this article.
I’m not going to tell you how to design your goals, or create an action plan to make them happen. These tips go much deeper than that. It’s deeper and more important.
It’s a question that should be very simple, but is surprisingly difficult for people to answer. It also goes to the core of who you are. It’s so important in fact that without it, it’s impossible to work in alignment with your lifestyle.
So here it is!
“What do you want?”
I’m curious to know if you can answer it. What do you want to achieve in your business this year and what do you really want it to look like in your life? What’s your vision?
Be honest with yourself too. I don’t mean a vague idea of what you want, but answer with truly clear language, sharp imagery and clarity in vision.
I’m also not talking about what you ‘should’ do, or what you have to do to reach a goal, but what do you WANT to do?
If you’re able to answer, I wholeheartedly congratulate you! This means you’re aligned, you know exactly what you want, and you are working towards a clear intention and vision. Therefore, you can now commit to defining and implementing your action plan.
However, if you found it hard to respond and you’re thinking I should know what I want, then stop right now. Know that most people struggle to answer that question.
And even if we have clarity, it’s so easy to get consumed by the day to day, to forget our bigger dreams and the reasons why we do what we do. Worst of all, when we lose sight of these things it holds us back.
Now is the time to pause and consider what you truly want. Consider it without the ‘buts’, the ‘ifs’, and all the other restraints you put in place. Really look within to hear your internal dialogue, the things you say to protect yourself.
We’re very good at telling ourselves all the reasons something might not work.
- “It’s not the right time because my family needs me”
- “It’s not the right time because I need to earn money”
- “It’s not the right time because I don’t have the skills right now”
- “It’s not the right time because my job is so demanding”
- “It’s not the right time because my kids are still small”
- “It’s not the right time because I don’t have the energy”
- “It’s not the right time because……….
These are the reasons our dreams get buried and we forget what we truly want. I truly believe that your business needs to be aligned and serve your big picture. Yes, all the reasons above are real, but what you might not realize is that it’s not an either/or choice. Your work and your lifestyle can thrive in tandem.
It’s so important to reevaluate what you want, see if it’s working in alignment with your lifestyle. If it’s not, then make some changes. It doesn’t have to be written in stone. What you want can change and evolve and that’s okay. But it’s important to have clarity on what you want, because that clarity puts you in the right mindset, the right intention and the right energy.
It also affects your commitment to your goals. If you’re doing what you think you ‘should’ do rather than what you ‘want’ to do, then suddenly you will find a disconnect and you won’t be able to show up to those goals. You’re likely to get triggered when things don’t go as planned, you’ll need to deal with uncomfortable emotions, deep seated resistance and increased stress.
But I’ve got you covered!
Here are my 5 tips to help you find and maintain clarity about what you WANT. These tips are also things that I’ve been practicing myself regularly and have really grown to love.
TIP 1: Silence the noise
We all live with a lot of noise in our heads. Your worries, your stresses, your shopping list, what you’re eating tonight, when you need to pick up your kids from school etc. It’s all there with the self-limiting beliefs, doubts or lack of confidence that you might have, or simply not enough time. It’s easy to focus on these thoughts and feelings and not ever take the time to tune in to what you really want.
But your soul knows what it wants.
You might not be able to verbalize it with all the noise going on, so it’s really important to take time to clear your head and listen. Give yourself time to tune in with who you really are and what you truly want.
When we take time to listen to our soul, what’s deep down inside of us, we start to hear things differently.
The first thing I recommend is to create a moment of silence. It’s important to really commit to this time with yourself. There are always things to do and it’s easy to let those take priority. However, this time of silence is magical and can really make things happen in your business.
Make sure no one disturbs you. Make sure there are no kids, no pets, no friends or colleagues around to disrupt you. Turn your email notifications off. Silence your phone. Do whatever you need to do to make sure this time with yourself works for you. If need be, go to another location where you know you won’t be disturbed.
I recommend sitting in silence for 2 hours. Ideally you want to do it in complete silence, but if you need to use music, then choose a meditation style track with no rhythm or voice. And just sit. No notes, no paper, no pen, don’t record anything. You can stretch your body if needed but don’t walk around or exercise. Stillness in every sense of the word. Just be…
Don’t do any less than 2 hours either. You need to give yourself long enough for your head to clear. At the beginning, your head will be racing with all the things you have to do that day, that week, things you need to remember, actions you haven’t taken yet, all the things you think you haven’t done well – all the thoughts that race around our heads every day. AND yes, this is exactly what happened to me when I did it.
Let the thoughts come and go. Allow them to exist, just acknowledge them and let them flow past. Don’t analyze them or focus on them, because you will become frustrated and end up creating more noise.
At some point you will start to hear deep inside what you truly want. You don’t even need to focus on what you want. It will just come. Let your soul guide you. Gift yourself this space of receiving. Also, don’t create a plan of what you want to achieve. Be passive and just receive.
Sit for 2 hours and see what happens.
If you’re feeling up to it, try 4 hours too. This can be even more powerful.
I’ve only ever heard amazing things from people who practice silence in this way. The two hours really were magical. I felt such a huge weight lifted and so much lightness came in. It was so powerful and I’m now excited to try it for 4 hours!So as a reminder, the simple rules are:
- Find a space where you won’t be disturbed
- No plans on what will happen in those 2 hours
- Commit the time to make it happen
It truly is a gift to yourself.
TIP 2: Write down your aspirations
Take a pen and paper and without overthinking it, write down what you aspire to.
As you sit to write, open your heart and mind. Take a deep breath to release any tensions, hold the pen lightly and allow the words to flow freely.
Ask yourself what is it that you are trying to build in your business? What is it that you want to experience in your life? How do you want to show up and be seen by your peers? What kind of results do you want to achieve for yourself, your clients, your loved ones? What activities do you want to do? What will make you truly happy?
Don’t get caught up in all the ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ and the reasons why something isn’t possible. Write as though you have a magic wand with no barriers. Let go of everything holding you back. Let your heart soar to your greatest desires for your business and your loved ones.
Really make sure that you write with as much freedom as you can. Allow yourself to dream big, to fantasize with no pressure of having to do what you’re writing.
And most importantly, make sure you write in the present tense! I can’t stress this enough. Fantasize about your ideal life and write about it as though it is happening right now.
Really embrace creating your ideal fantasy. I bet you can feel changes in your body as you start to embody your potential.
But it’s not just about writing…
TIP 3: Read your aspirations every day (1 to 3 times)
To really embody your written aspirations, it’s important to read them every day. Make sure you do it at least once, but ideally 3 times a day.
This exercise is important, because when you read these words, you remind yourself of what you want. More importantly though, you’re training your brain that it’s happened already. When your subconscious mind starts thinking that these things have already happened, suddenly without you even realizing, you will make the shifts. In your body, your mind, your actions, you naturally make decisions that lead you to do the right thing for your business.
There are a lot of studies out there which show how important it is for our subconscious mind to clearly visualize something for it to start happening. Writing in the present tense and reading it out loud is incredibly powerful. If you train your subconscious brain to see things as they are and as you want them to be, it will guide you without you even realizing. That’s amazing isn’t it?
BUT!
It only works if you commit to the routine of reading that statement every single day and it’s even better if you make it three times a day!
On its own, reading it won’t make it happen, but in the process, you train your brain to commit to the vision simply by reading it.
And it only takes 5 minutes. That’s not long when it’s for your greatest aspirations. And ask yourself, if you can’t commit to a 5 minute habit, how can you honestly say that you’re committed to the more complicated things in your business? And if you’re not committed to reading it, then you’re not committed to making that vision happen.
It’s about proving to yourself that you’re committed. For me, if I start to give up on my routines, it shows me that I’m losing that connection to my big why. Commitment is the keyword here. It always has been for me.
It’s more important to commit to your why than to just ‘work hard’.
The difference between ‘working hard’ and being committed is that when you’re committed, you’re committed to making it work for you. It’s much more in alignment with who you are and your wants. Working hard is much more directionless.
When you’re committed, you’re clear and smart about how to do things. You create a space where you block out the distractions of white noise that we all experience. It helps you to focus on your journey.
I’d love to hear how you go with this writing and reading exercise and how it has affected you. I’ve really seen some big shifts personally and I’d love for you to experience the same.
So I repeat – commit, commit, commit 3 times a day!
TIP 4: Pay attention to your thoughts
The moment we start to pay attention to our thoughts on our business journey and choose the ones that truly serve us, is the time that we see shifts. It’s what makes the difference between big leaders in the world – people who achieve big dreams and big revenues goals, big projects and those who don’t.
I’ve said this before, and want to highlight that the key to success is being in the right mindset, to have the right intention, and the right energy to show up in your business. However, before you even start doing anything about your business, your reality is in your head already. This is why it’s important to choose the thoughts that help you.
So how do you choose the best thoughts?
Firstly, pay attention to all the noise that I mentioned earlier, the stuff that is consciously or subconsciously working against you. I’m sure your head has a ton of self-talk happening that’s telling you why you can’t do something. You know the kinds of things; my kids are too small, my boss is too demanding, I’m tired, I don’t have what it takes, I don’t know how to do it, I’m not meant to be an entrepreneur, I’m not strong enough for this, I’m not good at this. They pile up don’t they?
All these thoughts that are filling your mind need to be inspected. Here’s how:
- Write them down
- For each thought redesign the story around it
- Write the thought that you choose instead; the one that makes it work for you.
For example, if you’re telling yourself that you haven’t got the skills to run your business, replace that thought with “I will figure out what I need to do to make it happen” or “here are 3 examples of past scenarios that show me that I actually do have the skills.” See how you exchange a self-defeating thought with a more positive active one?
I’ve had these thoughts myself and can remember times when I’ve told myself I couldn’t do something, but had evidence which showed that I’d successfully achieved it in the past. It’s crazy how we talk ourselves into these self-limiting thoughts, isn’t it?
Our mind constantly triggers us based on our past experiences, our childhood traumas and the beliefs we’ve been taught. But you can change this. Change it by choosing the thoughts you want to entertain.
So my fourth tip for you is to write ALL the thoughts you have. All the things that stop you from making what you want to happen, a reality. Next, replace the thought with the facts, and the thoughts that serve you better and the ones that will help you move forward. Repeat them every time you feel unhelpful self-limiting thoughts coming in. Notice that the thought is not true and replace it with what is actually true.
It’s like calling yourself out. I challenge you to make yourself accountable to your falsehoods which stop you from achieving your goals. We really are all capable of SO much more than we often allow ourselves to believe.
You know the phrase “abracadabra!” that magicians use to make magic happen? Well I discovered recently that it comes from an ancient Middle Eastern language known as Aramaic. The word means, ‘I create as I speak’ and that comes from the ancient belief that what we say we make true by saying it.
So you can see how when you start thinking and saying things to yourself, that your subconscious brain makes them happen. We believe what we tell ourselves! Our thoughts create our own reality.
In the past couple of years, I’ve spent hours studying the subconscious mind, studying psychology, plus a lot of coaching tools and other resources and everything boils down to this one simply fact:
Our thoughts are guiding all our actions and if we choose the right thoughts, we are guided by the right actions and show up with the right intentions and energy, regardless of anything that might come along the way.
So I recommend paying attention to the magic you’re creating and make sure you choose the sentences and thoughts that actually serve you well.
TIP 5: Practice gratitude and abundance instead of scarcity
Gratitude is something that is so basic, but such a powerful tool! Too often it is undervalued in the business world where there can be an emphasis on bigger, better, faster.
When you’re truly grateful for everything in your life, every single breath you take, for every single bite you eat, for every single interaction you have, or every single dime that comes into your bank account, that gratitude and energy brings abundance. It comes back to our thoughts.
When you already believe that you are abundant, successful and have everything you need, and you don’t come from a place of scarcity or fear, you open up to all opportunities; to everything! And the best thing? When you operate from gratitude, you’re not afraid of losing what you have.
The fear of losing and the fear of failing can be so destructive. When you are grateful for what you have you will always be fine and as you appreciate what you’ve got.
When things don’t go as planned or when faced with challenges, if you come from a place of gratitude, even in times of adversity, you will trust that everything will be ok at the end of the day.
Gratitude is a powerful tool to practice every single day. Health gurus talk a lot about gratitude and we hear so much about it. That’s because observing a daily routine of gratitude can revolutionize your life.
I really hope these 5 tips will help you to think deeply about what you truly want before you start planning your business and personal goals. It is a remarkable experience to investigate your internal state of mind.
I recently talked about my journey of this when I started to feel discomfort after being in business for 7 years. I could feel a shift happening inside of me, but couldn’t figure it out. This took me to really look within and ask what I truly want. These 5 tips have been borne out of what worked for me.
Listen to the episode of my journey
My energy has shifted so much. I feel so different and really hope the same happens for you. It’s amazing! Suddenly you believe that you can do anything and you have the clarity to know exactly what is the action plan you need.
So I invite you. If you want to turn your big why into action steps and don’t know how to, please reach out to me. You definitely don’t want to get stuck trying to figure out how to do it.
I’m here to support you and have so many different ways to help you to turn your goals into reality.
Schedule a discovery call with me.
I really believe in you! I hope for you to live up to your full potential, realize your full power, your dreams and make them become a reality!
I can’t wait to hear your success stories!