October Goals

I learned a lot from my September Goals, and I’m determined not to make the same mistakes again this month.

I have learned I need to take into account three things: Scheduling, desire and the events of the month.

This month I’m going to visit my family in New Zealand for my uncle’s wedding, so I will be busy traveling and not being on my own schedule, so it’s important to take that into account.

With that in mind, here are my October Goals:

1. I will easily create a training video opt-in for my website by October 15, 2019.

2. I will easily do 25 push ups in a row by October 30, 2019.

3. I will easily photograph 3 high resolution photoshoots for my blog by October 30, 2019. (Trying this again this month!)

4. I will easily create and upload 2 YouTube videos by October 30, 2019.

I have already blocked out the time in my calendar where I will work on these.

September Goals: Review

I was not expecting to say this, but I failed my September goals. However – they still progressed me forward. There’s a difference between failing because you didn’t take action, and failing because the action you took didn’t work. This month, the action I took didn’t work.

I want to evaluate what went wrong that meant I only completed a sixth of my September goals, and hopefully you can use this to your advantage too.

Here were my goals:

• I will easily do 15 push ups in a row by September 30, 2019.
  Yes, I completed this! I can now do 18 in a row.
  

• I will easily photograph 5 high resolution shoots for my blog posts that I am proud to share by September 30, 2019.
  I did two kind of half-hearted ones. I took action, but I realised the kind of action I took wasn’t right. What I will do next time: Plan dates into my calendar of days I will take photos, and with whom.
  

• I will easily put out one video a week on YouTube (4 videos) by September 30, 2019.
  I actually FILMED three videos. But I only put out one, because I didn’t make it a priority.
  What I will do next time: Schedule the exact DAYS the videos are going to go up on YouTube, and schedule non-negotiable time to work on them into my calendar.
  

• I will easily create a consistent weekly newsletter by September 30, 2019.
  This is a wish right now. I didn’t commit at all. I didn’t even take a STEP towards this. Ouch. It hurts saying that. Again, scheduling issue. What I will do next time: Schedule time into my calendar to work on this.
  

• I will easily read 2 personal development books by September 30, 2019.
  I actually did take action on this one. I’ve been reading the Napoleon Hill classic, Think and Grow Rich. I love reading it, and I did make time. I just way underestimated how much time I would need to dedicate to this. What I will do next time: Make a calculated plan of reading based on my actual reading speed.
  

• I will easily complete my quiz for my website by September 30, 2019.
  I actually decided against doing this one. It doesn’t align with what my plans are for my website. What I will do next time: Set goals that actually make sense to set.

I learned a lot about SMALL goal setting this month, including:

1. Scheduling is not a joke. Do it for even the small things you don’t think you need to do it for.

2. Set actions you actually want to take.

3. Take into account the other things happening in your life. September turned out to be one of my busiest months of the year, and I ended up working 80 hour weeks. I needed to look at my calendar when I set my goals. I will do that for my October goals, for sure (Coming at you tomorrow!)

Diy

New video coming at you soon! I wanted to share a couple of snaps I got, because I want to show what a mess my filming set up is. It used to really hold me back from filming. I actually ordered a tripod for my camera, but it didn’t arrive. So I ended up cellotaping my iPhone to a box of tea (which inside had a can of chickpeas to weigh it down) and using the front camera to record. And getting the correct height with some books and a water dispenser. Can you tell from the video snap? Not one bit. In the past, I’ve used a Weetbix box, DVDs, books, anything that will prop my phone or camera to the right height. And this isn’t my room. I borrowed it. I didn’t even brush my hair (which I admit was a mistake, looking at the footage). I used to worry so much about lighting, hair, makeup, the right equipment, etc. but it doesn’t even matter. My videos are currently getting a couple of hundred views, I don’t need a whole studio set up. But I let it stop me from filming for far too long.

Moral of the story: DON’T LET THE SMALL THINGS STOP YOU FROM ACHIEVING YOUR BIG DREAMS.

Impossible is the possible that hasn't been done yet

Tonight I was watching the most incredible documentary on Netflix called Heal. I had many takeaways, but the biggest one was that we often palm off spiritual healing as unscientific. In fact, we palm off anything we don’t understand as unscientific. But just because something is inexplicable now doesn’t mean it doesn’t have an explanation. For most of human history, we had no idea of the things we know today. We didn’t know the earth was round, how DNA works, or how to get to the moon. We know these things now.

And one day, I believe we will know what happens after death, how to cure cancer, and how to talk about politics on Facebook without being unfriended, and anything else that seems impossible at this moment.

Why is this relevant? Because it points to another way of saying the same thing:

Impossible Goals are is just the possible achievements that haven’t been done yet.

They haven’t been transferred in our minds from one side of the equation (impossible) to the other (certain). But eventually, they will.

The earth was round before we discovered it was round. The moon was landable before we landed on it. And not just a few years before, but the whole time – from the very beginning of time.

I’m kind of imagining it like we have the impossible on one side of a spectrum, possible in the middle, and certain on the other side. They aren’t separate, the only thing separating them is the way we look at them.

Your impossible goal is achievable before you actually do it. That’s what potential is.

It’s really just about moving the way you see it from one side of the spectrum to another. Ooh I think this is going to require another blog post for a more in-depth explanation.

What I learned from Snoop Blogg

“I want to thank me for believing in me.
I want to thank me for doing all this hard work.
I want to thank me for having no days off.
I want to thank me for never quitting.
I want to thank me for always being a giver and trying to give more than I receive.
I want to thank me for trying to do more right than wrong.
I want to thank me for always being me.”

The message here could be “Thank yourself.” And I think that is partly right. That was my initial reaction watching the video – that I should thank myself.

But my intuition tells me this is a much deeper learning lesson than just giving yourself credit for what you’ve done. It’s about becoming the kind of person who deserves that credit.

It’s about working your butt off until you’re in a position to say those things and actually mean them. So that you can truly stand over your Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and thank yourself seriously.

I thank myself now. But I know that there is so much further to go, and right now, I’m committed to doing the second part of the sentence so I can do the first part later – I’m doing the believing in me, I’m doing the hard work, I’m doing the having no days off, I’m doing the never quitting. So that in the future I can do the thanking.

93% Extrovert

This is my Myers-Briggs Personality Quiz result for how introverted or extroverted I am. Results are pretty clear!

Today I spent all day talking on the phone. Literally, all day. From 8:30am to 10pm. I coached my 1:1 High Performance clients, I coached my Group High Performance Coaching, I called a friend, and I was on the phone for my freelancing. I’m not even exaggerating, it was all day.

And at the beginning of today when I got ready for my day, I thought that would drain me. But after each call, I came away more buzzed and energized than I was when I got on the call. And the times when I did start to feel tired were when I was alone, prepping for the next call. I felt more tired on my lunch break than I did on working. Weird… Why didn’t 14 hours of calls drain me?

Oh yes, it’s because I’m an extrovert. And not just a bit – I’m 93% extroverted (if you want to know your percentage, take my favourite Myers-Briggs personality type quiz here!).

Someone once described it to me like this: Introversion is like a battery, extroversion is like a solar panel. Introverts need to charge up their battery alone, and their battery slowly “drains” in social situations. Extroverts feed off other people for their energy, and it depletes when they are alone.

Even though I’m sleepy and ready for bed after a long day, I still feel energized.

As a kid, people used to ask me where I would get all my energy from. I used to just say “You just make it! You just pull it out of thin air!” But now I know what was really happening – I wasn’t pulling it from thin air, I was pulling it from other people! Even today, if I’m alone for too long (maybe a day without talking to anyone), I lose my energy. I start to feel really exhausted and even in extreme cases, tend towards a depressed mood.

The message here: Set your day up around your energy. Do you need more time alone or time with others? How can you incorporate more of that?

I’m so I’m incredibly grateful that my day involves so much human connection and socializing because that lights me up.

Not about to become a Buddhist Nun meditating in solitude in a cave anytime soon.

(Also, I don’t think I’d suit the bald look, personally.)

Move Mountains

THIS STRUGGLE ISN’T EVEN ABOUT YOU. It’s about building your success story. It’s about inspiring others. You think your struggle is about you. But it’s really about your legacy. It’s about the lives you’re going to touch with the story. It’s about the people you don’t even know are watching you, who are being inspired. It’s about the impact you’re going to have on the world by overcoming this. It’s about taking every tiny, seemingly inconsequential choice and adding it up to achieve your mission.

Everything you’re struggling with – just remember it’s about something so much bigger than you.

You’ve been assigned this mountain to show others it can be moved - Mel Robbins.

Go and move it.

- Note to self.

How Bad do you want it?

When you set an impossible goal, you decide that you’ll do whatever it takes to reach it. It’s part of the deal.

And then there’s actually following through with it, which is a whole different story.

These last few weeks I’ve really been asking myself, how bad do I want it?

How bad do I want to build my dream life?

It would be so much easier to live a life in my comfort zone. But I don’t just want to live a comfortable life, I want to live an extraordinary life. 

So for the next few weeks, I’m working 80 hour weeks to crush my debt, so I can start getting hella serious about my goals that require cash to boost them.

There was a time not long ago I would never have uttered the word debt to my friends, let alone the entire world online! But committed to authenticity, and to me that means not holiday back parts of the truth.

I’m SO PUMPED to start putting 110% into my impossible goals, starting with my finances.

How serious are you about your dreams? Are you willing to not just say you’ll do whatever it takes, but actually do whatever it takes?

6 months of daily meditation: review

I don’t have a photo of me meditating because I’m almost always alone with my eyes closed (not ideal conditions for a photo!)

I’ve just hit 183 - the halfway mark to my goal of 365 days of meditating! Here’s a review:

1. It’s only in the last few weeks that I’ve really been pushing myself to meditate in the morning no matter what. It’s such a relief not to get into bed at 12:30 and think “ah! I forgot to meditate!” I’m trying to make morning meditation a non-negotiable.

2. Some days, I do a 30 minute guided meditation, and other days, it’s 5 minutes of deep, focused breathing. I’m not regimented about it - I do what I feel like, which keeps it enjoyable and fun, and not a chore. I think this is a major key to habit formation. Keeping it FUN (e.g. I could be running harder and faster, I could be doing more push up training, but I’m determined to keep them enjoyable and fun, so I just focus on keeping the habits).

3. I’m most surprised about this: I don’t think I’ve progressed in terms of being able to focus on my breath for longer. I’m equally as distracted as I was when I began. I’m not sure if this is because I’m not working on it very much (e.g. 5 or 10 mins a day compared to hours), or if I’m just not “doing it right” - an idea that I very much resist, as that’s not my aim of meditating (see point 4).

4. My aim is to feel good and enjoy it in the moment. This isn’t really about “getting to 365 days” as a goal - it’s about forming the habit of taking care of myself. I just love a challenge - it gets me more excited than “meditate every day” would. (I’ve tried that too, for the past 10 years, and failed miserably, so tip, if you’re struggling to form a habit, make it a challenge!).

5. I love guided meditations the most. Today I did an incredibly blissful 5 minute one.

6. It still doesn’t feel like a habit, because I’m doing it at different times of the day. However, I know from past experience that if I stopped, after a few days I would really notice and crave it.

7. When I’m anxious or stressed, I often think to meditate as a solution. It works!

8. I’m looking forward to the next 182 days - I’m so grateful I started this challenge.

My top 3 guided meditation recommendations:

• Calm Guided Meditation to Gain Abundance, Love & Happiness | Bob Proctor

• 5 Minute Stress Relief Guided Meditation | The Honest Guys

• Prosperity Guided Meditation | YouAreCreators

Do you have a meditation practice? Let me know about yours in the comments by clicking the blog title!

High Heels vs Trainers

Every time someone takes a photo of me, my instinct is, “Ooh, don’t get my gym shoes in!” And I thought about cropping them out of these photos. (Simple solution: don’t wear gym shoes everywhere you go.) But here’s the thing: I always thought my ideal self would wear high heels everywhere she went. But actually, when I think about my ideal self, she’s travelling, running, exercising, doing 100 push ups on the regular… my ideal self would be wearing trainers most of the time. That’s just the truth, no matter how much I used to picture my ideal self as Carrie Bradshaw (who spent $40,000 on shoes in 10 years), let’s face it, my ideal self is more like Michelle Obama. Michelle is real goals. I bet you, when Michelle is not in meetings, she’s in trainers. Crushing it. Not to meetings (currently: guilty), but mostly she would. I mean, what’s a High Performer if she can’t break into a full workout at a moments notice? But truly, I think it’s really important to recognise that our ideal selves morph over time, wich is totally okay. And that’s what’s happened to me – the old version of my ideal self has morphed. She’s upgraded. I’ve changed my aim. I still love heels, and I won’t stop wearing them. But I’m giving up my embarrassment about wearing gym shoes everywhere now.

This isn’t really about shoes. It’s about accepting that your ideal self can change over time. (When I was 14, my ideal self had flaming red hair and could ride a skateboard and speak Elvish. Yikes. It’s good that not only we change, but our ideal selves change too.

Have you checked in with the vision of your ideal self lately? Are you trying to embody an outdated version of her/him?