Flexibility Rules in Achieving Your BIG Goals

One thing that stops people from achieving big goals is their belief that it isn’t possible or achievable.  It comes from that notion that we are meant to have “SMART” goals: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound.  It’s rubbish so don’t pay attention to it any more.

You have all the resources you need to achieve your goals – however big and hairy they are.  The key is to be flexible enough to switch resources when one of them isn’t working.

Your resources can include a lot of different things.

• Your mindset or state is a resource – if you have the NLP skill to change your state at any given moment, this flexibility will grant you stress free success.
• Your skills & strengths are resources – I’m a good driver, other people are good singers, some people have multiple skills coming out of their wazoo but normally those are the ones who are already fabulously successful.  Whatever your strengths are, use them.  You are already good at them so this shouldn’t be a problem.  Just make sure you know when to switch from something your good at (and comfortable with) to something that makes you uncomfortable.  Be flexible.
• Your problems or weaknesses can be resources – addiction can be a Godsend to someone who needs to focus in another area of their lives.  Speaking too fast and putting your foot in your mouth can be a vital asset if used in the right place.  No matter what your issues are, there’s a place and a time where those “not so great” attributes of yourself can and will be very beneficial.
•  Your environment and the people in it are resources – I remember my sales coach asking me to make a list of all the corporate C-Suite executives I knew.  I told him I didn’t know any.  He then reminded me that he met a bunch of them at my last party.  “Don’t you ride Harley’s with these guys?” he asked.  I guess I did know some people.  We often forget about those in our circles that also have resources that can help us.  And if you are like me, the challenge is asking for the help.  This is the point I made just before this one – work on your weaknesses and then use your friend’s resources.  They always can say no.  It’s okay if they do.  At least you tried.
• Perfect strangers are resources- I know it may sound odd but perfect strangers can be fabulous resources.  Sometimes it’s the people we don’t even know that push us to achieve things we never would.  Take my friend Cindy as an example.  She went skiing and was placed in a skiing lesson one level above where her current skill set was.  She fell a lot.  She spent a lot of time digging her way out of the snow.  She also spent a lot of time cursing the others in her group (in her mind) for not waiting for her, for not understanding that she wasn’t at that level yet, and for pushing her to do things she couldn’t do.  By the end of the day, Cindy had mastered the run and raised her bar in skiing like she had never done before.  She attributes her success to the perfect strangers that pushed her out of her comfort zone.  They didn’t do a thing, it was all in her mind, but I think you get how perfect strangers might help you too.
•  Your enemies or things you hate are resources – for some of us, there’s nothing like a good fight to motivate us to get stuff done.  If my competitor is succeeding, it drives me to do better.  If people aren’t being fair, it drives me to right the wrong.  There’s nothing more exhilarating to me then to win a war against someone or something that didn’t even know there was a war going on.  Crazy I know but really motivating.
• Your assets are resources – assets can include money, a roof over your head, food in your mouth, your car, your healthy mind and body, and just about anything else tangible or even intangible that you consider to be an asset.

When you write your goals (you do write goals, don’t you?) make sure you identify what resources you may need to use to achieve that goal.  Or better yet, make a running list of all your resources and keep it on your smart phone.  Add to it when you acquire a new skill or remember a new connection.  Review this list when you get stuck on achieving your goals and choose a resource that will help get you past the barrier.

Here’s to building a better you!