Hello everyone and happy 2009!
As some of you might know I was recently on television again this year to briefly talk about New Years resolutions and how to create a plan to stick to them. Now personally, as most of you would know from last year’s interview that I uploaded to my homepage, I do not actually set New Years resolutions. I believe in continuous goal-setting as opposed to creating a ‘wish-list’ on December 31st. However this year I was happy to discuss the coaching model that I use for goal identification and planning for my clients. It is called the G.R.O.W. model.
This is not just mine. Many coaches use it, or some variant of it. Here is what I use this acronym for and what I explained on CBC Newsworld national TV a couple days ago. I hope you enjoy it and find it useful for self-coaching and also for helping others around you take the next steps on the path to more success.
G – Goals. What are your new goals and how do they mesh with your current goals already in place? This is where you establish your vision of where you want to be in life. Are those goals SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-based) or as I mentioned in last year’s interview, are they BEST (believable, enthusiastic, specific and time-limited)?
R – Reality. What is your current reality? What is your environment like at work and at home? Where are you now, at the starting point, and why do you want or need to achieve these identified goals?
O – Opportunities. Some people use this letter for ‘obstacles’, but I prefer the more positive word ‘opportunities’. What have you tried before that helped or hurt your goal achievement? What opportunities can you take advantage of now, around you, to achieve your goals? Are there courses, books, workshops, seminars, coaches or mentors? Will work subsidize professional development training for you? If you do not ask you will not know what their policy or budget is.
W – Willingness. Again some other coaches use this letter to refer to the ‘wrap-up’ stage, which is fine, but I prefer to be a little more specific and call it ‘willingness’. This is the very important stage of figuring out your current motivation for each of your goals. Write them down, from all different areas (financial, health, professional, communicative, etc.) and then assign a number to each one, based on your motivation to achieve it, on a scale of 1-10. Anything less than a 7 will be difficult to achieve at this point. Use your momentum and focus on the top 2 or 3 goals that have an 8 or above answer. With your new priority list organize an action plan and get to work!
A little more advice was given during my interview that I cannot fit into this article so when CBC sends me the DVD (they promised!) I will upload it to give those of you interested a chance to see it.
By the way, a common question I get is “are you nervous when you are being interviewed live on television?” The answer is simply “yes, I am.” I just centre myself and stick to what I know best, and above all, I breathe! It seems to work out okay.
All the best to all of us for 2009!
P.S. – There is a giveaway Ebooklet called “How to Achieve Goals” that you can check out here to get advice and understanding on goals: http://stores.lulu.com/commcoach1 .
Thank you!