It is time to make your goals STRONG

It is time to make your goals STRONG!

Most people have heard about having SMART goals and targets, and I think it is time for you to make your goals STRONG.

Many time, I have worked with clients who have set goals and targets and they have even made them SMART and still they haven’t achieved them. They become disheartened and disillusioned, sound familiar?

There is another better way, which is why I have developed the STRONG goals framework

What is something that you would like to achieve?

Ideas could be;

ü  Run a marathon or other sporting challenge

ü  With an award for best young dentist or another prize-winning category

ü  Become a Patient Care Coordinator

ü  Run a clinic for people who don’t have access to routine dental care

ü  Overcome a physical, mental or emotional health situation

ü  Move to a new house or job

ü  Buy or set up your own practice

ü  Double your salary by providing high quality genuinely needed and indicated dentistry

ü  Loose weight

ü  Give up smoking

ü  Start to exercise regularly

ü  Whatever you choose.

Whatever you want the key is to make your goal STRONG and here is an introduction to how to do this.

S = Starting position

Be honest about where you are now. Don’t make the situation better than it is, worse than it is be truthful about your current situation. If you want to run a marathon and don’t own any trainers and can’t run more than 3 steps that is your starting position. If you want to run your own practice and don’t know anything thing about the 12 facet of running a successful practice, acknowledge it. If you want to be a PCO and your boss does not know what one is, and you have not had any training, name it.

What are the positive by-products of your current situation, and which of them do you want to retain?

No deletions, distortions or generalisations about the truth.

T= Target

What is that you want to achieve?

This is the area that I find most people spend insufficient time thinking about and getting clear and specific. Their goals are vague, and their outcomes are even vaguer. If you are determined to achieve your goals, there are some things you must consider and clarify;

ü  Why do you want to achieve this goal?

ü  How is achieving your goal going to serve you and others?

ü  What do you want, not what don’t you want?

ü  How will you know you have achieved your target, what will you and others, see, hear, think and feel?

ü  How long do you want to achieve this goal for?

ü  When do you want it, when don’t you want it?

ü  Who do you want it with, who don’t you want it with?

ü  What will be possible the unintended consequences of achieving your goal?

ü  How does this goal align with your beliefs, values and identity?

ü  How does your goal relate to your human needs, meta programmes and representational systems?

R- Resources

What do you already have and what do you need to support you in achieving your goal?

Things to consider

ü  Resourcefulness

ü  Time and diary organisation

ü  Money

ü  Motivation

ü  Role models

ü  Coaches

ü  Trainers

ü  Mentors

ü  Cheerleaders and motivators

ü  Accountability buddies

ü  Materials, kit and tools

ü  Motivational drive

ü  Reflection and rest

ü  Clear and specific action plan

The most common reasons why Patient Care Coordinators (PCO) don’t succeed are because they are not given an appointment book, a space in the practice or any training. They are given a job title and expected to get on with it. Sound familiar?

Practices fail because enthusiastic dentists believe that having clinical skills is sufficient and they don’t need to invest in learning business, leadership, and management skills.

People don’t maintain a desired weight  because they don’t have both towards and away from strategies.

What do you need to guarantee success?

O = Obstacles

Who and what don’t you need around you if you are going to achieve your dream?

Common obstacles are family and friends who will become energy vampires, because they want you to stay as you are. If you know anyone who has given up drink, drugs or other addictions you will know that success in these areas requires a radical change of friends and companions

Identifying potential obstacles to get over, under, through and beyond will help you identify resources that will serve you in your success.

Remember what does not serve you sabotages you. Again, time to reflect and be honest.

N = Next steps

Create your action plan, break it down in to small achievable steps, because any goal can be achieved if it is broken down into small enough steps

.

Write your plan down because “The discipline of writing something down is the first step to making it happen.”

Get an accountability buddy and a coach. Who was the last person you saw obtain a gold medal, championship shield or trophy of any kind who didn’t have a coach? A coach is key to your success and in the words of Usain Bolt “My coach is pushing me harder than ever to make sure I stay at a good level.”  Recruit one today and work with them hard and frequently.

G = Going

What do you need to do to keep going?  What will you want and need to support you when the journey to achieving your goal is getting to hard or too easy?

What will you use to start and maintain your progress over the forthcoming, days, months and years?

What can you and can’t you influence?

Who can help, support and encourage you when things are tough, and you are feeling vulnerable or want to give up?

How will you measure, acknowledge and celebrate you progress?

What are your mile-stones?

Are you ready to start to make you goals STRONG and achieve them?

If this article has raised any questions or you recognise you would like some coaching support or guidance contact us today, on 07989 757 884 or Jane@IODB.co.uk