Just for today....

When we set ourselves goals, they often tend to be the big ones - you know, run a marathon, write a novel, set up a business. Big goals, big plans, intensive strategies. We set off, all engines blazing, full of enthusiasm, a to-do list as long as our arm typed and copied to the laptop, mobile phone, PDA (and possibly taped to the fridge) and we've made sure we've told our closest friends as well so they know we're serious, we mean business.

And then somewhere along the line, the enthusiasm cools. Usually after the first month or so it all starts to feel like hard work. You hit a stumbling block, and another, and then another and your goals and dreams starts to look a bit too... ambitious. Or even just plain stupid?

There are two things I usually do with clients who've hit that wall, when they're just so overwhelmed by how much they perceive they have to do that they become paralysed and stuck.

The first is to to tap into the feelings they had when they first imagined their goal/dream/game plan. When I say "tap into" I mean to experience the feeling fully - emotionally, mentally and physically. When we feel excited, we don't just experience it in our brains - we feel it in our bodies. Our heart beats a little faster, our blood pumps around our body quicker, we feel pumped up as the adrenaline reaches the parts of ourselves other hormones just don't reach.

Sometimes just taking a minute to recreate the feelings of excitement about a new goal can be enough to kickstart you into action, to overcome the paralysis and get moving again.

The other technique I use is something I call "Just for today"... It's about breaking your big goals down into something very small and manageable. Just as horses are blinkered as they're led to the starting line so they're not frightened by the other horses and the course in front of them, this is a method of narrowing your vision to the next 24 hours.

So, make a list. Just for today I am going to take my vitamins. Just for today I am going to eat 5 pieces of fruit and vegetables. Just for today I am going to spend two hours on my presentation. Just for today I am going to set aside an hour to do my accounts.

Forget about tomorrow and the next day and the week and month ahead. Action takes part in the present. Conversely, the mistakes of tomorrow generally have root in something we did or didn't do today. Generally, small goals we set ourselves to accomplish in the day are achievable, they're realistic and specific - and the chances of achieving them are high.

When we achieve these small goals there's a positive feedback loop - we feel good about ourselves and that "feel good factor" triggers momentum, we feel a bit more enthusiastic and energetic about getting on with our stuff.

Repeat the "just for today" exercise every day until the feeling of being overwhelmed gets squashed and you start to feel more comfortable looking at longer-range goals. It's another trick you can pull out of your bag when you start to feel you're losing sight of what's important to you.

Best wishes,

Dawn