Leapfrog Over Your Obstacles | Tuesday Tip Week 11

In Week 8, we talked about creating a crystallized plan that supports goal achievement. When you build a structure around your goals, you can not only see your dreams in the background. It also makes it easier for you to find a logical starting point and map out your next steps. You can determine the things you can do today (and tomorrow) to feel like you have accomplished something in the short term.

But what happens when you hit a wall?

I attended a webinar of Dov Gordon, someone I consider to be one of the most brilliant minds in small business marketing. This webinar had a simple premise: you already have everything you need and you already know everything you need to know to achieve your goals.

That insight really struck me. I started thinking “how can I start using what I already have and what I’ve already done to get a step ahead in achieving my goals. Therein lies the beauty of strategy.

Strategy connects your goals with your day-to-day reality.

If you’re at a crossroads, identifying a priority strategy will get you unstuck.

I recently had a conversation with a friend and classmate who is at a crossroads in his academic journey. He shared a very insightful statement with me about switching graduate programs. He said, “I’m getting up in age, so I need to be smarter about how to utilize my masters studies.”

His self-analysis mirrors what I call your PERSONAL SUCCESS STRATEGY.

If I told you, “> you’re getting up in age, so you need to be smarter about how to utilize your time.” You would probably unsubscribe, after emailing me a few choice words. So I won’t say that. But I will say this.

You have a personal strategic advantage.  This advantage is made up of what is unique to you: your skills, abilities, training, knowledge, strengths and experiences.

Sure, other people have some of the same skills and knowledge. They may even share the same personal strengths and experiences. BUT you are unique in the way that all of those things converge and produce your specific outlook on the world. A unique perspective on how you seek to solve problems that other people miss. Many goals linger because these things are not considered at length. The good news is that you can apply this unique mix to your future goals to accelerate your progress.

The second half of that story is that it’s difficult to eke out your strategic advantage and apply it to your goals. It took me about 10 years of prep work and 18 months of intense application to pull it off. Not to mention scores of classes taken, webinars attended and books read, to piece it all together. And then applying the strategies to my business was another story (one that I’ll save for a future post). The point is it wasn’t quick or easy for me. It’s not a quick and easy process. However, I’ve made it easier for you with the Goal Accelerator. I’ve been able to condense the time frame to a fraction of what it took me to complete.

The majority of my clients are mid-career professionals and managers who find themselves at a work-life crossroads more often than not. My focus finding process gives them access to life focus outcomes usually somewhere around session 4. These life focus outcomes can give you the context for the goals you’ve set. They help you clarify your direction based on who you are and what you want.

All the fluff aside, you have three basic choices when it comes to barriers. You can keep hitting the wall. You can camp out around the barrier and hope it goes away. Or you can figure out a way around them. Defining critical factors needed to achieve success will propel you over those barriers. You will spend less time and get better results. Defining critical success factors to leap over barriers is the heart of strategy.

Coaching provides you with tools to surface your unique advantages and turn them into success strategies. Whether you apply those advantages to getting your dream job (which several of my clients have done) or starting a part-time business is up to you. If you’re encountering a barrier that you need help getting over, email me at t_anderson@teaiiano.com to schedule a strategy session.

Talk soon,

Thomas

Thomas E. Anderson, II is a vision development coach who enjoys motivating and equipping individuals to pursue personal, professional and organizational goals that lead to a more fulfilling life. He specializes in life focus, vision development and goal acceleration.