Several of my clients have recently landed fantastic new jobs. As their coach, I’m beaming. But of course it’s the clients who did all the hard work. How did they reach their goals so triumphantly? Here are six approaches I’ve concluded are essential to manifesting change, whether getting a new job, overcoming a challenge or resetting a relationship.
- Have a Vision: Knowing what you want is the foundation for getting things. This seems so obvious, but in reality we often operate with too fuzzy a vision of where we’re going. It’s essential to get as clear as possible about what you hope to manifest in any situation so that you can shape a roadmap for getting there. As a coach, my job is to make sure that clients are as focused as they can be on where they want to go. The path itself may take time to map out, but only when the destination is clear can you begin planning how to get there.
- Embrace Networking: Networking has a lousy reputation, which is undeserved. People typically get freaked out by networking because they are not clear on why they’re reaching out in the first place. The key to successful networking is simple: Get sharp about what you want to ask someone to do for you before you reach out. Since most people will genuinely want to help you, it’s essential that you are clear on the support you need. Is it connections to others? Input on your idea? Insight into their company? Once you’ve thought through “why” you’re asking someone to give you their time, networking becomes much easier and a lot less scary. And I guarantee, it will be the primary way you get what you want.
- Be Willing To Be Vulnerable: Once you have a strategy for engaging with others, you have to be willing to be vulnerable. Asking for people’s time, opinions and judgment of you (or your ideas) takes a thick skin. Every conversation won’t be a slam dunk. But the more input you get – whether reinforcing or challenging – the better you’ll be able to tweak your strategy to get where you want to go.
- Allow Yourself To Narrow Options: Eliminating options is tough, but it’s essential for goal achievement. We can’t have everything we want, or get to be everything we want to be. Narrowing options is the key to focusing, and in our quest to get one thing we’re often required to let other things go. Time and again I’ve watched clients achieve something great because they were willing to release something else and apply themselves to a narrower field of options.
- Write Things Down: When we write our goals down, we increase the likelihood of achieving them. This is an approach that has science on its side: In a 2007 study at Dominican University of California, goal achievement increased by 42% among subjects who wrote down their goals versus those who did not. When coaching clients, I almost always assign homework, and I find that clients who take the time to commit their ideas to written form move faster and more effectively towards goal achievement. I’m a big fan of lists as well, and I encourage you to use them as a way of keeping yourself focused and accountable.
- Have An Accountability Partner: Along with writing things down, sharing your goals and commitments with others is a proven way to increase your likelihood of reaching them. Engaging a coach is one great way to insure accountability. You can also lean on friends, family and work colleagues to support your journey forward. The key is to socialize your goals, and to build your foundation of support in the process.
Six critical elements in any recipe for success. Try them, and you’ll be reaping the rewards before you know it!