A common difficulty  

Do you set goals, but find follow-through hard?

Maybe in the past you’ve put a lot of thought into your goals, written them down, thought you were clear about the changes you wanted to make, and what you wanted to achieve. And yet for some unknown reason, somewhere along the way your enthusiasm seems to wane and you start running out of steam. The determination that you possessed when you first commenced the journey seems to have turned into frustration and you wonder why you bothered setting those goals anyway. You think to yourself that it was such a pointless exercise. Has this ever happened to you?

Many people that set goals for themselves find it difficult to follow through and actually achieve them. If you are struggling in any way to stay committed to your goals, then you are probably searching for some insight into why!

• So, what stops you ?

Some of the most common internal obstacles that can get in the way of goal achievement for people can include …..

1. Fear of failure
2. Fear of success
3. Lack of self-belief and poor self-confidence
4. It all gets too hard, and the gain doesn’t seem worth the effort
5. Getting side-tracked and losing focus

You might like to have a look at Positive Thinking which offers some good tips to address some of these issues, as well as a great article on Building Self-Confidence

Another common reason can be that the goal you set yourself doesn’t turn out to be what you were really looking for in the first place. This can be because you hadn’t quite clarified within yourself the “need” that the goal would fulfil.

• A sense of purpose behind the goal is imperative

For example, imagine you set yourself a financial goal of increasing your savings by $5,000 over the next 6 months. So as part of your savings plan, you start working overtime, and also start cutting back on your discretionary spending. After 3 months, you find that you’re well on track to accomplishing your goal – having saved about half the amount of your target. But now you/re finding that the overtime is something you’re dreading, and you resent not being able to go out to dinner when you feel like it. In fact, you slip back into your old ways and no longer experience any desire or commitment to return to your savings plan.

This sort of story is reflective of someone who set a goal, but there was no purpose behind it. By that I mean, what were you going to actually do with the $5,000 that you saved. Put it towards obtaining a housing loan, or use it to fund an overseas trip. Without a driving purpose behind the savings goal, it was less likely that you could continue to persevere with sustained effort and sacrifice.

• In summary

Keep up the practice of setting yourself goals, and writing them down by all means. It is important to have a sense of direction. But also ask yourself “Why do I want to achieve this?” and seek to crystallise the deeper need that will be met by achieving the goal. In doing so, you may also find this opens up your thinking to other ways this need can be satisfied. You may recognise the initial goal you set yourself is but one means to accomplish what you really desire.

So what are some of the key dynamics for achieving peak performance? If you are seeking insights to help you achieve more in business or to guide you in your own personal development, there is much we can learn from sports psychology and the work that has been done in studying elite athletes and how they perform to their best.

Peak Performance Building Blocks

1. Vision and desire  : Peak performance typically begins.with a dream, a sense of what is possible, combined with a burning desire to move beyond  “good” and to achieve ”great”. This visualisation of “excellence” is so vivid, that peak performers say they feel they’ve lived it before it happens. And the deep desire to perform at the highest level is translated into specific performance goals, with clear milestones and timelines established
2. Regular measurement : Peak performers are hungry for performance feedback. They can be almost manic about tracking their progress and confirming that improvement is being made. Signs of improvement, no matter how small, become a source of motivation to keep striving, keep pushing, keep learning and keep moving forward.
3. Coaching and training : Peak performers train hard and they train frequently. They invest the time and the sweat into developing their craft. They will often be supported by a coach or mentor who helps them objectively review and reflect on their performance, and identify the distinctions and refinements that lead to ongoing incremental performance improvement. If you can identify a few “one percent” performance improvement opportunities in technique or execution, their cumulative impact can be enough to give you the edge over your competition
4. Mental toughness : Peak performers are characterised by a firm and steadfast belief in their own capability. In any field, there will always be times of disappointment, when goals have not quite been achieved, perhaps sometimes because other stuff has happened or we just find ourselves in a slump. Peak performers have the resilience and stamina to persevere. They do not hide, they do not blame when things go wrong - they just seek to learn from any set-back. The mental discipline of peak performers is also evident in the way in which they take control over their thinking. They challenge their internal fears and banish any demons of doubt, replacing them with positive affirmations of belief in their ability to succeed.

Achieving to your highest potential and becoming the best you can be will serve both yourself and will benefit others around you.

In the same way that your role models have inspired you in the past, your discipline, dedication and determination will become a source of inspiration and encouragement to others around you today. So hold your head high at all times, never lose sight of what is possible and recognise that you are probably right now setting an example for others who are watching you and will follow your lead.

By the way, sometimes motivation can wane – if you’re needing a boost, visit Self-Motivation Tips

So be the best you can be, and in doing so, you will inspire others and help to bring out the best in them! …….  Thanks for dropping by

And indeed you should spend time on preparing good, informative content. However, in this video clip, you are reminded that if you speak with confidence and authority, then your style can weigh more heavily upon the impression of your audience than the quality of your content.

The video clip describes a classic experiement conducted in the early 1970′s, in which an actor was introduced to an audience of psychiatrists as “Dr Fox, an expert in Games Theory”. He proceeded to deliver a lecture, which was subsequently rated very highly and favourably by his audience – and yet in reality, his content was gibberish. A bit scary really, that such an “intelligent” group could be fooled so easily!

I would never advocate that you don’t need to worry about your presentation content – but whether we like it or not, our presentation skills and our delivery style are at least as important as the content.

By the way, if you’re interested in gaining some great tips on how to deliver with confidence, have a look at Presentation Tips

Reflecting on whether you can do something better is of course a healthy process. But if you are seeing signs that your messages and ideas aren’t actually gaining traction with people, then you need to change some aspects of either the way  you are structuring or delivering your message.

At the end of the day, if you’re speaking to a group of people (whether it be staff, colleagues, clients or senior management), you’re success is not measured by what you’ve “covered”, it is measured by what those stakeholders actually remember and the subsequent actions they take.

This short cideo clip offers some great presentation tips on how to package your ideas so they have more memorability and influence when you are speaking to a group. See what you think

1. The Job Interview : how to prepare for, and how to present yourself confidently at the job interview. Now-days the employment market is so fiercely competitive, you need any edge that you can get. This page offers plenty of advice, including how to handle your nerves at the job interview. Unfortunately, it is a myth that the best person will win the job – the reality is you need to be able to sell yourself and understand how the interview game is played!
2. Management Skills : If you are either new to management, or simply wanting to polish your existing management skills, then this page offers a wealth of tips. For example, how to motivate staff, how to delegate effectively and some useful reminders on how to manage your time. The Management Skills page features video clips from some of the leading experts in the field of leadership development, who share some great advice for new and experienced managers.
3. Conflict : In any relationship, either at home or in the workplace, some degree of conflict is almost inevitable. One measure of our personal effectiveness and also our well-being, is whether we can learn to confidently deal with conflict situations – this page offers some practical advice. The page also refers to our new e-workbook, called “Seven Keys To Becoming More Assertive”. If you are concerned that too foten you are not speaking up, and you worry too much about avoiding conflict, then you would find this personal development Assertiveness e-workbook a very useful resource.
4. Motivation : This page offers many personal development ideas and inspirational messages, to assist you in remaining self-confident, positive and inspired – and also offers some guidance on how to overcome any fear or self-doubt that may be holding you back. The Motivation page contains video clips that will give you an immediate lift!
5. Stress : To retain a sense of well-being in our often hectic lives, we are reminded of the need for a healthy work-life balance. and to take time for relaxation. The Stress Management page also offers techniques that may assist you in re-discovering that feeling of inner calm  and peace.
6. Teams: If you are in any type of leadership role, then you need to be able to build teamwork and understand the dynamics of effective team decision-making. The Team Building page offers team-building tips and resources.

This site will continue to grow, and I hope you find that it offers you useful resources to support both your personal development and your professional development.

If you have just been appointed to a management role and are feeling some anxiety – then this short clip will reassure you that it is very common to be feeling that way.

Some great tips are offered for new managers, including the importance of getting to know each of your staff and learning about their skills and strengths ….

• Warren Buffet Speaks on Leadership Qualities

Who better to speak on what it takes to get ahead in business and how to advance your career within an organisation, than one of the world’s most enduringly successful businessman, Warren Buffet. In this brief clip he shares some thoughts on key qualities that set people apart as potential leaders .

• Seven Qualities of Effective Leaders

Brian Carroll has over twenty years of consulting experience in leadership and management development – in this clip he shares some thoughts on key qualities demonstrated by effective workplace leaders. The leadership qualities he identifies include an ability to listen with an open mind; enthusiasm and energy that inspire others; an ability to assess the capabilities of others and to delegate accordingly.

The company you work for might promote you to a supervisory or management role, and give you a suitable title  - but whether people in the workplace actually respect you and want to do their best work for you is much more about the personal leadership qualities that you display on a day to day basis. 

• Never underestimate what you can achieve

This short inspiring clip reminds us of the importance of having faith in our abilities. It features Paul Potts who competed in Britains Got Talent – and whose day job was that of a phone salesman, but whose dream was to sing opera. Despite his admission of a lack of confidence, he never gave up on his dream …. See how this somewhat shy and unassuming man “wowed” the audience in his first appearance on stage in front of thousands of people….

1. Imagination – a clear vision of the desired future and the capacity to communicate this to others and get them engaged in the journey
2. Passion – energy and the ability to enthuse others
3. Network – has intelligently built connections with key people, to be able to get things done
4. Willing to make decisions
5. Ability to “weather the storm” and endure criticism and tough times

• Trust You Have the Ability to Lead

In the following short clip, a series of inspirational quotes remind us that we all have within us the abilty to be great leaders…..

Instead of doing the work yourself, you are now having to get it completed by planning, organising and giving direction to other people for completion of those tasks. And as you will have discovered already, your people skills become so much more important.

Whereas in the past when you were a member of the team – and if you didn’t quite get along with a co-worker, you could often find a way to reduce your interaction with them - or simply work around them. Not so easy to do that as the leader of the workgroup, is it?

I have worked actively in the field of management development for some twenty-five years, and would offer a few brief tips

1. Be willing to ask for advice and guidance from more experienced managers, who seem to have their act together (ie. they are respected by their staff, and deliver good results)
2. Give yourself time to become familiar with the new role – don’t expect that you will wake up tomorrow and suddenly have discovered a formula for leadership confidence. To some degree, it is a time and experience thing – your confidence will grow as you gain more experience
3. As well as experience however, take some time to try and think about issues from the management perspective – which takes a longer term view and considers the “bigger-picture” of not just individual interests, but also those of the wider workgroup, department and company!
4. Always take some time to de-brief yourself after a critical incident and reflect upon whether you could handle it better next time – again consult more experienced managers if you’re not sure you’ve been able to extract the lesson from the experience.
5. Don’t lose sight of your strengths – that’s what brought you to the attention of more senior management, and why you won the job! Remaining mindful of your inherent strengths will support you in staying positive – which is imperative if you are going to have the energy and enthusiasm you need to succeed in the leadership role.

Have a look around at our pages here on Management Skills, Conflict Resolution and Stress Management in particular. There are plenty of tips  and videos that you will find useful as a new manager – and even for experienced managers who may be seeking some renewal!  And if you are located in Melbourne, Australia and are seeking a management skills course, visit Management Training Melbourne