Setting Effective Goals #6 - Go TEAM!

Together Everyone Achieves More

I know it's a bit cheesy, but I've always loved that acronym for teamwork that says Together Everyone Achieves More, because, in my experience, it's totally true. Not one of my goals for 2013 will be achieved without some sort of input and/or help from others and I expect yours are the same.

In practical terms, some people have the knowledge, experience, skills, connections or resources you'll need to achieve your goal, but you'll also need occasional helpings of positivity, perspective, listening, insight and motivation to feed your progress.

When drafting your goals, identify the people who will support you, and in what ways. Plan for how and when you will involve them - will it be a regular arrangement? Should you tip them off, or just contact them when you need them? It also helps to put some thought into who your "energy vampires" are - those who drag you down with negativity and cynicism. You probably won't be able to avoid them totally, so it'll help to identify some ways to deal with them.  Oprah's website has an article on this, as does Personal Excellence - both have some great tips.

In an interesting book called 'Will it make the boat go faster?', the author talks about keeping your 'bullshit filter' switched on all the time and not 'talking bollox to Basil', which (for reasons known only to the author!) means not getting into those moaning and bitching sessions that get you nowhere. Try to discipline yourself to stay positive and to stay around those people who will get you closer to your goals.

So, to boil it down, make sure that you identify your heroes and when you'll need them, your coping strategy for the moaners and vampires and make sure your inner soundtrack is always set to 'I am awesome and I can do this, with a bit of help along the way' instead of 'This is hard and I don't think I can do it'.