Do you have some pie in the sky………?

Last month I spent a day working with an organization helping staff to set goals and putting steps in place to achieving them. Having worked with a number of companies and individuals, more often than not there are always people who have a ‘big’ goal which they quickly dismiss as ‘pie in the sky’.

Many goals are fairly easy to achieve, and the achievement comes pretty much down to the below:

• Be clear on the outcome (what is the goal specifically)
• Identify what needs to change in order to achieve the desired outcome
• Plan out steps you need to put in place
• Maintain and stick to  the plan
• Check-in and make adjustments where / if required (buddy up with someone, so you can check in with each other on your achievements and help maintain motivation)

Often it is that simple and with a little bit of guidance and someone to check in with, people will achieve their goal(s). It never fails to amaze me, and the people I’ve worked with, how consistent small changes make a big impact.

There is a process for setting goals which I will leave for another time, but given many people have some additional ‘spare’ time at the moment and  are thinking of making long term changes to their lives, I think it is a great time to set some goals and move towards achieving them.

Moving towards getting that ‘pie the sky’

A great technique particularly for the ‘pie in the sky’ (big) goals is to put the desired goal on your timeline in the future, as if it has been achieved, and then look back and notice what things you had to put in place / changes you had to make to achieve your goal.

This is great to do in a group or with a friend as you can then be challenged about what you need to do in order to achieve the goal and if you are really willing to put in the time, commitment, sacrifices etc. in order to get the ‘pie’. They can also make notes as you explore options and ideas.

A really effective way is to physically move from present to future which will help with identifying steps you need to put in place.

• Get some pieces of paper and place them in a line on the floor : present, 2 months, 4 months……………1 year, 2 years……….
• Start at the present and step to each time zone looking forwards and back asking what have I done to get here / what do I need to get to the next step?
• Stand to the side of the timeline and look across all the time zones – what do you notice? What can you do to move forwards / get to your destination in a smarter, quicker way?

I guarantee if you follow the above you will get some benefits, likely achieve your goal(s) & even some positives you haven’t even thought of yet. 

And the best part is there’s loads of ‘pie in the sky’ it’s just deciding which ones you want!