Written by: Sonya Furlong, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
It’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of taking professional strides while forgetting the foundation of a successful life - self-development. While self-care is a hot topic, I’m bringing a new meaning to that idea, turning it into a productive and necessary practice that will help you unlock your potential and achieve every goal you set for yourself.
Here’s how…
Pay attention to your personal development
Entrepreneur, author, and motivational speaker, Jim Rohn, once said:
“Your level of success will seldom exceed your level of personal development”.
So many of us get caught up in reaching a destination or an idea of success that we often forget that it is what we invest in our own mindset and personal growth that will get us to the level of success we desire.
It’s in the daily habits and small changes we make when working towards our goals that we unlock truly meaningful change, so it makes sense to pay attention to your personal development and allow your progress to better serve your goals.
If you want a more successful life, whether that be in your career, your family life, your relationships or health, you need to put effort into learning more about yourself and strengthening your self-awareness.
Ask yourself, what are your good and bad habits? What limitations do you face, and how can you overcome them? Perhaps you tend to self-sabotage or allow communication blunders to derail your progress. It could be defensiveness that gets in your way, financial restraints or an inability to handle the pressure.
Recognising your downfalls and putting in the work to fine-tune your life skills, can dramatically change your thinking, empower your self-belief, unlock your ability to set and achieve your goals and lead you to a more successful life.
Be clear on your goals
There are five main principles of success. We'll get to the rest another time, but for now, all you need to focus on is the first one, know your outcome.
It seems like an obvious part of goal setting; however, too many people make grand statements or generalisations and end up getting distracted or demotivated by a lack of clear direction on the road to success.
Being clear and concise about your goals and the outcomes you want to achieve helps you set actionable steps that will not only see you make progress but maintain your positive new habits long-term.
When it comes to making your goals clear, there are several activities you can do:
Write down your goals as SMART goals:
Specific – what exactly do you want?
Measurable – what is the tangible evidence that you have achieved it?
Attainable – you want it to be a stretch by still realistic and achievable.
Reward – how will you celebrate when you have achieved this goal?
Time-based – give an exact date by when you want to achieve this goal.
Put these goals somewhere you can see them every day, whether in a list that goes on the fridge or reminders in your phone. These statements will help keep you focused on moving forward in the right direction to the outcomes you want, allow you to assess how productive your goals are, truly understand why you want to achieve them, and how you’re going to do that.
Read these goals aloud every day, it keeps them real and fresh in your mind and builds the habit to focus on what you want (and not on what you don’t want!).
Enlisting a mentor or professional's help is also a great way of setting clear goals and staying accountable. Just like you’d seek the help of a personal trainer to get you through your gym routine, someone to guide you through your journey of self-development and goal setting is a worthwhile investment.
Set strong boundaries
There’s a fine line between the admirable traits of selflessness and compassion and allowing people to take advantage of you. In many cases, we're guilty of doing it to ourselves by being too appeasing, always apologising for things we say or do, or putting other peoples' needs above our own.
Without strong boundaries in place, you’ll quickly find that you don't allow yourself space or time you need to work on your goals and find success.
When you do set yourself some personal and emotional boundaries, you’ll be able to stand up for yourself, be vocal about what you need and enable others to help you along the way. You’re still able to act with compassion and show respect, but ensure you’re always showing that level of respect to yourself first.
Prioritise self-compassion
Beyond setting strong boundaries for yourself and those around you, it’s important to practice the art of self-compassion and give yourself the support you need to succeed.
A significant aspect of self-compassion is trusting your gut and following your intuition. It’s about being in touch with yourself to trust that you know what to say yes to, what to say no to, when you need a break or to change your course.
It’s also about being easy on yourself and trusting the process. We can all be guilty of wanting everything right now, so it takes a great amount of patience to be able to consistently take action without getting frustrated that we’re not as advanced as we want.
As long as you’ve set SMART goals, are putting the time in to work on yourself, as well as reflect on and celebrate your progress, you should trust that success will be the natural result of your efforts.
Want to learn more from Sonya? Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin or visit her website.
Sonya Furlong, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Sonya Furlong, based in Sydney Australia, is a Certified Trainer of NLP and Matrix Therapies, Life Coach, Therapist, Meditation Teacher, and Devotional Singer. After battling depression as a teenager Sonya discovered meditation and it literally saved her life. In her late 20s she was introduced to personal development and using the principles of success she learnt through her studies, went on to a successful career in the film industry, culminating in winning the Australian Academy Award. Sonya wanted to use her powers to help humanity and dedicated her life to the study and teaching of personal and professional development. Sonya believes everyone can live a happier, more fulfilling life, no matter what has happened to them in the past. Sonya runs the Centre for Life Therapies, an online wellness hub that offers transformational healing through trainings, group coaching, and private sessions.
