Goals Archives - Susan Choi

Seattle Stress Management Coach; Burnout and Adrenal Fatigue

It’s A Wrap!

2018 was an incredible year.

And let me be clear, 2018 was incredible not because of the goals or how much “good” came from it, but because it simply was.

You see, that is the beauty of who you are and the life you get to live.

You don’t need for certain things to happen for you or your life to be good.

You already ARE good. LIFE is already good.

Let that sink in a bit.

So as you step into another beautiful year, make goals because you want to, not because you have to in order to feel good about your life.

When you come from a place of already having enough, every thought, feeling, and action you take only comes from a bigger source that allows you to enjoy the journey while claiming your destination.

So what is it that you wish to achieve in 2019?

Imagine it already done.

How would you think, feel, and act as a result of already having achieved it?

THAT is how you want to carry yourself from the beginning.

Repeat to yourself: it is already done.

Happy New Year. May you find yourself with a clearer mind and heart so that you can see the good that already surrounds you.

In wellness,

Susan

How To Plan A Successful 2019 (without burnout)

Well, it’s that time of year! The time where we wind down, reflect on the past 11 months, and re-prioritize what we truly want out of life. To be honest, I’m not one to encourage resolutions. Instead, I aim for one, big, gigantic goal – without the stress and overwhelm of trying to meet it.

You might be thinking, “Well, that sounds counter intuitive”, but I’m going to explain exactly why it’s the best thing you can do for yourself if you truly want REAL results, without the stress and near burnout moments.

First, let me explain the goal. I want you to think real hard about a singular goal that seems impossible, but if you really achieved it, it might just feel as if you won the lottery. It could be the dream number on the scale, the partnership you always romanticized about, finally getting THE promotion at work, or perhaps it’s as simple as meditating every single day no matter what.

Remember, it has to be almost impossible for you to believe it could actually happen. Maybe even scare you a little. Ok… a lot.

Now, the purpose of dreaming big here is so that you understand you WILL fail.

You will fail multiple times trying to achieve this goal of yours. And if you think about, if you’re trying to achieve something you have never done before in your life… doesn’t it make sense you’d come across numerous, various obstacles because it’s new? Think about watching babies trying to walk. They need to fail multiple, even hundreds of times to finally reach a new level of strength, capability, and growth.

Who’s to say as adults we should never fail in order to reach our new edge?

With that said, I want you now to list every possible failure you could think of in trying to reach this big goal of yours. Let’s say your big goal is to meditate daily. A few failures you might come up with might include:

Getting sick
Waking up late
Needing to tend to the kids
Feeling too anxious to sit still
Being on vacation
Feeling as if you don’t need meditation that day
etc.

Listing out every failure you could possible think of serves a couple of purposes:

It removes the “unknown” when it comes to reaching your one, big goal. Now that you understand there will be failures, you can now properly prepare to mitigate against these possible risks.
It removes the stress and overwhelm of the fear of failure. Look, the point of creating one, BIG goal is to fail! Once you understand you likely won’t reach that goal (though I always like to leave room for the impossible!), you now have space for curiosity, playfulness, creativity, and possibility. Now, THAT is a much friendlier place for growth and miracles wouldn’t you say?

A couple of you might be thinking, why just one? Why not go for at least two, or even three?

I always respond with this: our human brains can only focus on one thing at a time. We must identify what area of our life we want to make the biggest impact on, and go ALL IN. This means making it our SINGULAR FOCUS and not wavering. This means, declaring a decision and committing to oneself for the next 365 days of 2019.

Because here’s the truth about it all, while we may not reach out one, big goal… we will achieve SO MUCH MORE as a byproduct of having gone for said goal.

Think of all of the new habits, new level of mindset and maturity, and every other way your life will be improved from this commitment.

So, with that said, a good goal wouldn’t be complete without quantifiable metrics. Plan each quarter accordingly. If it’s a weight goal, include the new weight you plan to reach by each quarter. If it’s a new career, plan exact outcomes you plan to reach for each quarter; this could be the number of interviews you plan to do by Q1, transition to the new role by Q2, etc.

Because I’m a visual person I decided to provide a free goal planner to anyone who wants to join me in this impossible goal planning for 2019. Here’s a preview of what it looks like;

Just enter your name and email and it will be sent to you right away! Click here to download it now.

What one, big goal are you dreaming of?

Regardless of how impossible it seems or what anyone says – nurture it. Dream big, fail hard, and start reaping the benefits because this I know for sure: no matter the outcome… you are already worth it.

In wellness,

Susan

Why You’re NOT Reaching Your Goals

I see a lot of people who set goals and not reach them…

Why?

It’s simple really, though it may be hard to grasp if you’re head isn’t screwed on right today 😉

Most often people set goals and don’t feel good about it (for long).

And what does not feeling good imply?

“I’m not worthy”

“This is impossible”

“Why bother”

“Is this even worth the trouble?”

And what do these following statements actually get you?

INACTION

INCOMPLETE ACTION

LESS CREATIVITY

NO MOTIVATION

And most importantly, you’ve already convinced your subconscious that there is SERIOUS lack in your life RIGHT NOW because you’re so focused on a future goal you can’t enjoy what’s actually going on in your life.

It’s no wonder we can’t reach our goals in a more faster and efficient way!

When we set goals the single most important thing you need is this:

NEW IDENTITY

What would a person that doesn’t stress about work or people think and feel like?

What would a person wanting to lose 8 pounds actually do day in and day out?

What would a person who wants to be happy be thinking about?

It all comes down to identity…

What I see a lot of people do instead is keep their current identity and will power their way to the next level. And that’s a whole lotta WORK!!!

So set your mind straight first.

Think and feel from your future self.

Don’t waste your time and precious energy trying to white knuckle your way there…

Because trust me, there is a much simpler, faster way to reach your goal, and I’ll be cheering you on from the side lines.

In wellness,

Susan

The Proof Is In The Pudding!! Scientific Proof You’re NOT Meant To Enjoy The Destination!

How many of us want to speed up the journey so we can sit on a beach and enjoy what we finally got in our life?

Well, I have news for you folks… there is scientific proof as to WHY we are truly meant to enjoy the journey.

Yes… but I’m going to pump you up in this video below so it’s actually fun!

So, what did you think?

Doesn’t life make a little more sense now?

Let me know in the comments of the video how you’re ready to crush your goals.

In wellness,

Susan

Adrenal Fatigue Life Coach - Coaching you to FEEL better

How To Set A Goal In 4 Easy Steps

One of my absolute favorite ways to goal setting is in 4 easy steps. I don’t like to over complicate things and find that when I follow this simple formula, I make it very clear and actionable to my brain to reach my goal.

The first step to any goal setting exercise is to – SET THE GOAL!

What is it that you want to focus on? Try to keep your sentence simple and straightforward without adding any additional goals interspersed. For example, a clear goal would be: I want to learn to meditate.

A not so clear goal would be: I want to learn to meditate the various forms of meditation and master one of them.

While there’s nothing wrong with mastering meditation what makes it difficult for your brain is that suddenly there is more than one goal for it to focus on. Pick one and commit before moving on to the next goal.

The second step to setting a goal is to focus on your desired feeling.

Take some time here to visualize yourself once you’ve achieved your goal. Where are you specifically? What does your face look like? How do you feel in your body? What are you saying? Who is with you?

Take yourself to that moment and FEEL what it would feel like to achieve this goal.

What I love about this exercise is that you’re already feeling what you initially wanted to feel. Think about it, what drives every human being to DO something is because they want to FEEL something. I often tell people to feel it first and sometimes, not all the time but sometimes, the client may realize it wasn’t so much the goal they were after more than it was the FEELING. Pretty awesome.

So next it’s pretty simple, we need to set actionable steps to get to your goal! If we’re using the “learn to meditate” example above a few actionable steps might be:

Research local meditation centers in the area
Visit one meditation center each week
Pick one and go weekly
Meditate 10 minutes a night before bed

A word of caution: learning the difference between PASSIVE action and straight ACTION is key.

Passive action is when it feels like you’re taking a lot of action but there’s no outcome to prove it. For example, learning about meditation is not the same as visiting a meditation center or actually meditating.

Next is my second favorite about goal setting. It’s setting CONSTRAINTS.

Constraints are limitations or restrictions you set yourself so that you can stay laser focused on the goal. One constraint can be, no social media or blue light activity after 9pm. Another constraint might be, commit to ONE form of meditation.

Constraints help us to keep the blinders on so that we aren’t constantly distracted by the next shiny, tempting object.

Last but not least, I always like to end the goal setting session by asking this final question: How will I know I achieved my goal?

This does one of two things.

First, it allows you to understand the direct result you’re looking for and forces you to be specific. That way, you don’t end up setting one goal, and have it be a never ending goal…

Second, it provides a way for your brain to receive a dopamine hit once you’ve achieved your goal. If you don’t get specific about the goal, how will you know you ever reached it? Small, short wins are the key to keeping yourself motivated and excited about every step you take.

So there you have it dear souls! Goal setting in 4 simple steps.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

Mid-Year Check In

Ok guys, summer is officially HERE. Wow does time fly!

As I mentioned in the last post, I wanted to take some time to do a mid-year check in with our goals.

How are you doing so far? Be honest here and truly reflect on what you had aimed for this year. In your assessment ask yourself:

What actionable steps have I taken toward each goal
Am I where I want to be at this point in the year?
Am I on track?
Have I been holding myself back and can I trace it back to a particular thought?
If so, what fears or irrational thoughts have I been entertaining?

Remember, our thoughts play the biggest role in how we go about our dreams and our own personal development. Now is a great time to see how your thoughts have been affecting your goals.

What are you choosing to believe? How are you directing your thoughts to serve you?

Put your brain to work! Come up with 5 new solutions for your goals that you can put your creative brain to work on. Here’s an example:

Instead of having thoughts such as, “I don’t think I’ll ever ask for that raise”
Try thinking thought such as:
- “How can I creatively think of solutions to this problem?”
- “I know I am capable, I am just working through the fear”
- “I haven’t asked yet, but I will and I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be”
- “Dealing with the unknown might seem scary, but this is challenging and exciting at the same time”
- “If I’m open enough, I’m sure I will find other people or resources that can help encourage me”

The thought options are limitless! And can you see how re-framing your thought can suddenly change your entire perspective and shift your energy toward proclivity?

I promise it will be worth your time. Do the thought work and put your powerful brain toward positive use!

In wellness,

Susan

Susan is a Life Coach based in Seattle, WA. Her main focus is to coach people build a strong emotional container so that we can experience the fullness of life coming from a place of deep confidence. Susan also coaches clients looking to heal adrenal fatigue by using a mental meta-model aimed at breaking down old mental patterns and behaviors so that we can finally tap into our own personal power.

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash