Learn 6 Key Factors That Enable Personal Growth & Achieve Your Goals

For those of you who remember Bananarama the 1980's British girl group, they famously sang...

"It ain't what you do it's the way that you do it - and that's what gets results."

Recent times have been more challenging that we every imagined possible but however it may seem right now, we are moving forward and that means, change and therefore, happiness and success are all possible.

Ask yourself:

What will you do to get that goal and how do you need to pivot to get there?

You are 42% more likely to achieve your goal if you write it down.

Here are six key elements to help you re-set and achieve your goals for coming twelve months and beyond.

1) People who set goals within their comfort zone are less likely to achieve them.

Why? Because there is nothing to drive you because you are already where you want to be. You might get small tweaks to your life but what you don't get is growth and personal growth fuels ongoing fulfilment which is why we advocate 'personal development as a life style' because it helps you push your boundaries and solve problems in a healthy and satisfying way.

2). The discomfort zone is where true change happens and goals are reached. 

If you want a better life/relationship/health then set goals in your discomfort zone. This is the way you create change and achieve results.  But you don't have to change EVERYTHING all at once.  That would be difficult to sustain.  Just like an athlete that's going from running a mile on a running track, to becoming a marathon runner, they need to train and extend BEYOND what they can already do. That takes learning, tweaks to a mindset that might be challenged more than every before, physical training, changes in lifestyle and more but with persistent application they create that change.  It's the same for everything we want.

3). Comfort is the mental equivalent to homeostasis you need discomfort for personal growth

Your brain is designed to keep you safe and in the life you have right now , whether your boundaries are good or bad, or working for you (or not), you and your brain KNOW how to deal with them, good or bad.   Therefore, your mind perceives it as a risk to step outside of that knowledge and pattern of managing what's needed in your daily life.  Your brain doesn't like risk, it will try and move you away from it, this is why you experience lack of confidence, discomfort, fear, uncertainty and doubt because your brain has sniffed out risk and doesn't want you to go there because it doesn't have all the answers about how to handle it.  This is a normal part of growth and we DO know how to handle it because if your brain had decided it was too much risk to get up and walk because you'll fall, you wouldn't be here now.  In that instance there was a greater need, to be able to feed yourself and run from threat.  Therefore, what is the BIG reason, the greater reason, the purpose, passion and desire that will keep you getting up and 'walking' towards your goal?

4) Are your goals and plans in the delusion zone? 

Watch out for setting your goal in the delusion zone (e.g. losing too much weight in too little time) because this can be destructive, leading to frustration, not hitting your goal and apathy.  Your brain will even tell you 'I told you so, I knew it was a risk.' .  Have the big idea or purpose but to get the change you need the steps on the ladder to get there.  Be aspirational but just dial it back from the delusion zone and up from the comfort zone. 

5) Reach Your Goal with...Steps - Strategy - Action 

You need a plan to get there just as you need an inner plan to get to the bus stop (yes, you do).  Where a lot of people fall down is losing sight of the strategy, working out the interim steps (and celebrating them) and taking action.  Have you ever talked about something and not taken action? Many have. 

Remember, it's a journey and this is where that celebration comes in.  Take note of and be grateful for how far you have come. If you don't achieve your goal in the first attempt, recognise how far and how different things are, what you've learnt, what you need to do differently and your results from when you started. You are getting somewhere successfully, you are just still on the journey. 

6) Who is the person you need to be to achieve your goals?

Your skills, capabilities and mindset have got you to where you are NOW.  If you wanted your computer to do something different such as design graphics, you'd get a new programme, learn it and use.   What is there new to upgrade to be the person and experience the life you want?  

Sometimes it's the echo of past experiences that we haven't let go, beliefs we hold about what is possible and who we are, habits that are 'happy with how things are thank you' but don't support where you're going in life, decisions you have made (or not) or perhaps how you perceive yourself and the things that are important to you.  

At Life Ladder we address all of these things in our 7-Step Subconscious Catalyst System and personal development membership, designed to help people tweak and upgrade to experience greater happiness and success on an on-going basis - after all, life is a journey and on journeys you tend to need to re-fuel and set new travel plans!

Remember - It ain't what you do...it's the way that you do it... and that's what gets results!

Find out more about Life Ladder's Personal Development Membership here