Your POWERFUL goal should be demanding but without many seemingly impassible obstacles to work through. That could easily lead to demotivation and giving up on your goal.
The results you are seeking, and the process you follow, must be in alignment with your core values and belief systems. If not, you will experience internal conflict that could interfere with accomplishment of your goal.
4. ACTIONABLE
Any goal you set should be ACTIONABLE and lead to a comprehensive, consistent and in-depth ACTION PLAN. Major tasks, short-term goals and significant milestones required to achieve your goal should be included.
All daily tasks and activities must move goal accomplishment forward in some way. Every daily TO-DO list should include 1-2 contributing steps.
Current resources will need to be assessed to determine if improvements or additional resources are required. The ACTION PLAN will also define the key results areas that will be impacted by your goal.
Efficient and effective morning routines – at home and in the office — combined with daily tasks and activities completed – will make the difference between goal accomplishment and failure.
An ACTION PLAN should be flexible and adaptable to unexpected circumstances.
These are just some of factors to take into account when crafting an ACTION PLAN.
5. COMPELLING
We don’t usually consider if our goal is COMPELLING, exciting and interesting enough to pursue. It may be exhilarating at first but lack potential for long-term interest. An uninspiring goal will curtail perseverance through setbacks or roadblocks. A COMPELLING goal sustains motivation and keeps momentum going.
Keep the “BIG PICTURE” of your goal “top of mind”. It can help your goal remain COMPELLING over the long-term because you’ll continually reconnect with the goal’s initial excitement. Overlooking the “BIG PICTURE” can drag you down when faced with an unpleasant or boring task.
A COMPELLING goal should be challenging and aggressive enough to maintain interest in moving forward but not so frustrating that you are tempted to quit. Plan your strategies for staying motivated and excited during the “goal-getting” process beforehand. Take into account that unforeseen circumstances will occur. Some may set you back. Some will catapult you forward. Be prepared.
A strong support system will help you stay motivated and COMPELLED to accomplish your goal. Even a quick e-mail, text or telephone call to a friend can make a difference in your outlook. Spend the majority of your time with goal setters and goal getters and avoid naysayers.
6. TIMED
Your POWERFUL goal must have a precise start and end date to guide you to accomplishing it. “BY WHEN EXACTLY?” provides you and your team with a structural framework to lead you through the other steps in the I.M.P.A.C.T. approach.
Once the timeline is set, short-term goals can be identified, prioritized and milestones determined.
Think about this. If you were to merely answer an end date question with “by the end of next year” it’s ambiguous. Your answer could mean the end of October, the end of November, the end of December or the end of the fiscal year. This demonstrates why a precise timeline is important. It directly affects how tasks, activities, short-term goals and milestones get scheduled in the ACTION PLAN, and when they should be completed.
The process of achieving your goal will be a hands-on learning experience. I can say that without a doubt. It will create fulfillment or an emotional drain depending on your outlook about the process, your willingness to work and your perspective.
Approach goal setting, and the process, with enthusiasm, a positive attitude and an open mind.
My goal for you? Become a businesswoman who accomplishes her goals with knowledge gained and a sense of personal satisfaction.
Today’s actions are the seeds of tomorrow’s results.
~ Ellen McNeill
About Ellen
As a Mindset Expert Specializing in Goal Achievement and Motivation , Ellen McNeill, CEO of Mindset Coaching Institute LLC, works with women entrepreneurs to help them (1) finally achieve their goals, (2) maintain their motivation through setbacks and obstacles, (3) optimize their resources to achieve the greatest results possible and much, much more.
You may wonder, “Why get coaching on my mindset?” For one simple reason – your mindset is everything . Why does Ellen say that? Because everywhere you go, there you are. You bring your mindset, attitude, beliefs, viewpoints, agenda—everything—with you. Sometimes it works in your favor in your business. Sometimes it doesn’t.
That’s why working on your mindset is so important.
Ellen’s signature coaching program – The Mindset Factor – Mastering the Key to Your Ultimate Success – provides a comprehensive approach to help you as you work the steps to accomplish each milestone on your path towards your ultimate goal – achieving your vision.
Ellen’s credentials and more than 35 years of business experience, combined with her natural analytical skills and friendly results-oriented style, make her a valuable asset and resource for your business and your life. She specializes in helping Women Entrepreneurs achieve the tangible bottom line results they are looking for to grow their businesses and achieve the goals they truly desire.
Meeting her own goals to support and serve her clients in reaching the results they desire, Ellen has earned five distinct accreditations:
• Certified Mind Set Coach
• Certified Goal Setting Coach
• Certified Motivation Coach
• Certified Solution-Focused Coach
• Certified Life Coach
What do these five certifications mean to you? They mean that Ellen has received training that makes her well-rounded and capable of coaching you in all the critical areas that can help you achieve the business and lifestyle results that are important to you.
Ellen is well-known for having an uncanny ability to “see what’s invisible” to you as an entrepreneur. Discovering your “blind spots” will enable you, working with Ellen as your Mindset Coach, to identify opportunities that are slipping through your fingers. Revealing “blind spots” can also help you dissolve perceived roadblocks and obstacles with ease.
She was a motivational speaker for six years, speaking to business professionals across a broad spectrum of more than 20 different industries. She offered unique insights into stepping up productivity, systematizing goal setting and practicing effective time management.
Ellen Martorella (McNeill) is listed in the Yearbook of Experts, Authorities and Spokespersons, 12th Edition, as an expert on Productivity and Motivation and is a Member of the National Association of Experts, Writers & Speakers (2017).
Dubbed a “productivity guru” by the University of South Florida Small Business Development Center in Tampa, Florida, Ellen is a dynamic, thought-provoking speaker, published author and television personality.
She was also an instructor specializing in time management and organizational skills at St. Petersburg Junior College in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Ellen is very creative in her approach to life and business as evidenced by three U.S.
Patents she was issued on a product she designed, developed and brought to market.
To connect with Ellen:
• www.ellenmcneill.com
• www.linkedin.com/in/EllenMcNeill
• www.facebook.com/EllenMcNeillCoachingForWomenEntrepreneus
CHAPTER 9
STEP INTO WELLNESS AND PERSONAL GROWTH
BY JOE MORIARTY
THE HOOKING STUDY
In the fall of 2003, graduate students from Montana State University reached out to my school district looking for volunteers to participate in a pedometer study. Two questions formed the foundation of the study:
1. What is the average number of steps that a teacher takes in a typical day?
2. Do pedometers motivate people to exercise?
I was not surprised by the amount of movement that I logged during a da
y of teaching. In fact, I would have been disappointed had the data not shown that I was up moving and interacting with my students. For me, the personal epiphany was contained in the second question as I became enthralled with using a pedometer and monitoring my steps, mileage and caloric burn. Although I was always quite active and valued exercise, the pedometer did motivate me to literally take additional steps and bring my exercising to another level.
In a number of ways, choosing to become involved in this study has enriched my life and intensified my focus on health, wellness and personal growth. It looks like I may be “hooked” for life as I approach the fourteen year mark of step tracking. As the sophistication of the pedometers have changed, my physical goals and personal development have progressed as well. So, if you are READY for me to SET the stage to elaborate on that progression, then let’s GO!
MOVEMENT MONITORING
Movement, be it physical, psychological, emotional, spiritual, relational, financial, or a host of other important components in one’s life, is usually a good thing. The most basic of these, and as foundationally important as any, is physical movement. Physical movement is the most basic and perhaps easiest to monitor as well. The old “clip to the hip” pedometer has now been replaced with newer and greater technology that most people prefer to wear on their wrists. This technology is generally very enjoyable to use and connects to smart phones that track movement in steps, distance, calories, and active minutes. I love how the data is stored allowing the comparison of weeks, months and seasons. For years I had tracked my daily, monthly, and yearly step counts. Now it is even easier to look at the cumulative data to analyze patterns, set and meet goals, and to be acutely aware of my level of movement.
When I first began this lifestyle, I really didn’t have an accurate concept of just how much I was or wasn’t moving in a day. My tendency (as probably for most people) was to overestimate my level of activity. Monitoring my activity with a concentration on the number of steps that I take in a day, has provided an objective gauge that pushes me to reach minimum standards of physical activity while driving productivity in other areas of responsibility. For example, I know that by getting a minimum number of steps in an hour counters the dangers of sitting for too long. Reaching activity benchmarks promotes circulation, flexibility, mental alertness keeping me appropriately energized for the tasks at hand.
10K PLUS OR MINUS
The American Heart Association uses the popular metric of 10,000 steps a day as a guideline to improvement of health and wellness for the general population. This seemingly arbitrary number originated in Japan as part of a marketing campaign to sell pedometers, but the number caught on with collective support from the worldwide medical community. People attaining 10,000 steps a day have a significantly lower risk of developing heart disease, which still remains the number one killer of men and women in the United States.
Should a person really strive to reach this 10k level of activity? Isn’t it true that many people are simply not capable of reaching this plateau? I would answer both questions with a simple yes, believing in the merits of the number and knowing that there are a number of factors that influence that benchmark for individuals. 10k steps in a day would indicate a healthy level of activity for the majority of people (a number that most Americans fall woefully short in attaining). Yet this 10k benchmark may not be lofty enough for some, while for others it is simply physically out of reach or unrealistic. Let’s look at the latter situation and examine the sub-10k day.
Ralph Paffenbarger, the famous epidemiologist, researcher, and one of the early exercise pioneers, launched the landmark College Alumni Health Study in 1960. He studied the exercise habits of 52,000 men who had entered Harvard University or the University of Pennsylvania between 1916 and 1950. After following these men for twenty-six years, he concluded that those who exercised “vigorously” simply had a greater longevity.
Paffenbarger defined “vigorous” as jogging or walking briskly for 20 miles per week. To put that distance into context, a person who is putting in 10,000 steps a day is likely getting in excess of 35 miles per week (although the steps may be not all categorized as vigorous miles). His conclusion is not surprising to the exercise enthusiasts of the world.
What I find more interesting and encouraging to people of all abilities is depicted in the following graph.
An inactive person, depicted here as getting around 2,000 steps a day, is high on the mortality axis. As one drops down the initially steep curve, the mortality rate drops at a significant rate. The first 2,000 (from 2,000 to 4,000) step increase dramatically influences the mortality rate.
Moving from 4,000 to 6,000 is still a rather steep influence in reducing the mortality rate. This is great news for the sub 10k people. According to Paffenbarger graphic, 6,000 is better than simply a step in the right direction. Moving from 2000 to 6000 has an exponential benefit that is both impressive and attainable for most. Every step in fact does count, with those first four to six thousand being incredibly important.
Although the 10,000 steps in a day goal is a universally acceptable benchmark and serves as a general guideline, literally half of that figure has significant benefits and is an adequate goal for many. Again, every step really does count. Setting a goal is still a very personal decision that is subject to adjustment based on numerous considerations. Those considerations would include general positive feelings of wellness, energy level, conditioning for specific activities, weight loss, blood pressure, and the alleviation of stress. Simple movement has a cathartic effect that addresses several of the aforementioned considerations.
When I began this process, I was enamored with the goal of 10,000 steps a day. My school district had several walking programs and contests between schools. The winning school would get to house the coveted traveling shoe trophy which ended up being an honor for the committed participants. I tried to exceed the 10k mark during those contests. I felt a special accomplishment whenever I would double the mark and would star those 20k days in my exercise log. For many years I was averaging around 12,000 steps a day (yes, there were and are days that are substantially lower than the 10K mark) and feeling quite good about my activity.
But as my metabolism changed without a parallel change in my eating habits, I literally felt the need to step up my game. The 20k mark has become my personal benchmark, and for the past four years I have been averaging (not just reaching the mark occasionally) that standard. Once again, the goal is a personal one that works for me, and my plan is to continue to reach for this level of activity for as long as my body allows.
I subscribe to the age old philosophy that you will “rust out before you wear out.”
CONQUERING IMOGENE
Thanks to the encouragement of my good friend, Sparky Stelling, I signed up for my first trail run/walk in the fall of 2016. The Imogene Pass run covers just over 17 miles, has thousands of feet in vertical change, and takes the participants up over an elevation of 13,000 feet. The first 10 miles of the race is uphill and I found it almost impossible or certainly inefficient for me to run much of that first 10 miles. Thus, I refer to the challenge as a run/walk. My friend Mark (Sparky) had been working on me for years to join him on this race, and so I finally caved and signed up in early June. I trained quite hard during the entire summer running more than I ever had in my life, so a large proportion of my 20,000 daily steps during that time frame were of a running nature.
My thoughts were going in a multitude of directions during the week just prior to the race. I questioned if I had trained enough. I questioned if I had over-trained since I had been experiencing some knee swelling and the hints of Achilles tendinitis rearing its ugly head once again. The fear of injury coupled with a concern about not making the periodic cut off times were negative thoughts that were not serving me well. I actually began to enjoy the mental gymnastics and internal battle that was taking place, giving a big edge to the side of convincing myself that I was going to attack this challenge and perfor
m in respectable fashion.
Years of simple step monitoring and placing such a high value on walking had given me a great foundation in getting READY for this excursion. I had now SET the challenge by taking the registration plunge and engaging in a higher level of summer training. It was time to GO and do this thing. I beat my goal (and now have a new one), was injury free, and was exhilarated by the experience to an almost un-describable level of elation.
BEYOND STEP MONITORING – HEALTHY REMINDERS
I have learned to use my fitness tracker for more than just a step, mileage, or calorie monitor. Every time that I look at my wrist to get a number read out, I try to use the device as a reminding apparatus. Checking my steps is also an opportunity to check in with other areas of my life. It’s a reminder for me to simply smile. My pedometer becomes a gratitude-meter reminding me to acknowledge my multitude of blessings and all of the resources that I am so fortunate to have in my life. Each time I check the meter is a chance for me to take pause, focus positively and enthusiastically, and then continue with my steps – literally and figuratively.
THE HEALTH, WELLNESS, AND GROWTH JOURNEY
As the Chinese say, “The Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Just get stepping. Set a step or distance goal and get going.
Your goal may be 5,000 steps (very appropriate for many as previously discussed) or 2 or 3 times that amount. Set yourself up for success by choosing a goal that is somewhere between attainable and unfailing.
Stephen Guise, author of the book, Mini Habits, set a goal of one push-up a day as a part of his new conditioning regime. He knew that he could always do at least one push-up upon getting ready, setting himself on the floor in position, and simply getting started. One push-up would always transform into dozens as his mini habit became a greater quantity habit.
Ready, Set, Go! (Special Edition) Page 8
