Unlocking your potential, achieving your goals and someone else’s dream

I met some fab people on Thursday night at a business growth seminar that I was invited to by someone I’ve made friends with through social media.  Keith is the performance coach for the British Paralympic Team and he gave an amazing talk about how we internalise motivation.  He says that if we can’t imagine doing something, we’ll never get it done.  We have to actually see ourselves doing it to be able to achieve it.  So in theory, with a positive attitude and self-commitment, we can succeed at absolutely anything.

This form of visualisation technique has helped Paralympians win golds, and business people smash targets.  Keith’s view that we unlock our own potential is very similar to the principles of strategic business planning, something I’ve been involved with for a couple of years.  Setting goals is obviously important – with nothing to aim for we can’t hope to score! As you set each goal, think about these three questions…

• What is it?
• What does it really mean to you?
• Do you believe you can do it?

I’ve mentioned my favourite Henry Ford quote in a previous blog: “whether you believe you can or believe you can’t, you’re probably right.”  There’s no point setting a specific target if you don’t believe in it.  After the success of my first book, I set myself a goal to write my second (a social media guide for busy people) by Christmas.  But realistically, that’s not going to happen as my diary is full – so my writing time would clash with my sleeping time and that’s not good.  Although as Twitter friends may know, I am often awake at 3am!  Apparently, legend says that if you can’t sleep at night it’s because you’re awake in someone else’s dream.  So if I’m in your dream, please remind me to get on with the book.  Anyway, I’ve adjusted my goal to work within a more realistic timeframe, one that I do believe I can achieve.

The business growth evening was catered by a local firm and the food was delicious, but small.  I like canapés, but I really prefer a huge roast dinner.  This will undoubtedly surprise those of you who believe I survive on chocolate and cake – which I do, to a certain extent.  And I really have this week.

With three Albanian builders sanding down woodwork and re-plastering, my house has been covered in a sheet of dust for six days. No point going into the kitchen, unless it’s to make them their tea with four sugars and some home-baked muffins.  So to escape from the mess, I took some time out for tea at the V&A with cake lady.  Wandering around South Kensington at dusk was quite a treat. 

There’s nothing happier about winter than sitting with a whipped cream topped hot chocolate smothered in melting marshmallows, watching skaters twirling around an ice rink.  And what with the picturesque backdrop of the Natural History Museum against a starlit sky and piped Christmas music, all that was missing were a few white snowflakes. Perched on the edge of a cold stone wall and thinking about Freddie, this was very true: ‘There’s a kind of magic in the air, what a truly magnificent view… a breathtaking scene, with the dreams of the world in the palm of your hand.’ 

Turn your dreams into goals and make them real – only you can do it.  And if you’re not ready to follow your dreams, follow me: @WeekendWitch.