Do you know where you are going?

Do you know where you are going?

“People with goals succeed because they know where they are going, it’s as simple as that.” Earl Nightingale

How many times have you looked back on different periods in your life with the benefit of hindsight and wondered what if I had taken that opportunity? What if I had been brave and taken a huge risk or made that really difficult decision? How different might it have all been?

I used to spend so much of my time aspiring to be like others and admiring their achievements until one day it changed for me. A number of things fell into place and most importantly I discovered the importance of goal setting and how vital it is to achieving exactly what you want. I have a number of people to thank for this, people who have coached me to think differently personally and in my career. However, Helen Yates, you were the person who initially sparked it all for me. Through your coaching you got me to think outside the box and strive for what I wanted to achieve – for this I will be eternally grateful.

Goals help you step out with your day-to-day mindset and think about the big picture and what you are looking to achieve in your life. Another key learn for me was when I discovered how interlinked personal life goals and career goals are. Fundamentally, to be achieving what you want to, you have to be motivated and focused in all elements of your life. This is where the second key change came for me. I reignited a passion for fitness I hadn’t had since secondary school. It started with the Race for Life 5K in 2009 inspired by some of the girls at work who run, and I haven’t looked back since. I will never be a fast runner but I love setting personal running targets, which help me stay focused.

Last September I set myself the goal of running a marathon in 2013, which I completed at Lochaber in April. Although my time was just under 5hrs 30 minutes, I am delighted to have achieved something, which a couple of years ago would have seemed impossible. I ran for a charity, Association of Young People with ME (AYME), as 12 years ago I suffered from ME, and there were days the pain was so bad that I couldn’t get out of bed never mind run! My bout of illness has been one of the driving factors behind my love of running and has helped me to keep perspective when things get tough. We are all struggling with different things on a daily basis, just some people hide it better than others. When things seem impossible never lose sight of your dreams by setting goals and putting the plans in place to help you achieve these.

My business  Brightside Planning is further testament to the importance of continuing to strive for what you want. A couple of years back I set the goal of setting up my own event planning business. With a lot of hard word, focus and planning I realised this dream in April of this year. The journey continues, as any new start up business knows the first 18 months are probably the toughest but through hard work, planning and ultimately focusing on my goals the business is growing and the remainder of 2013 is set to be a busy one.

We at Brightside Planning are sharing our passion for goal setting and targets with our client base. Every event or support service we offer is started with a conversation around what the client is trying to achieve in their business and we tailor the event or support accordingly. If the client does not have a specific objective in mind we help them create a vision for success. We love helping clients to realise their organisation goals, so much so that we insist tangible objectives are a compulsory part of the service we provide.  We will only support individuals and businesses if we know it will add value and targets are fundamental to demonstrating this. As we develop a customer service focused piece of work with a client we are looking specifically at tangible results in the sales revenue generated month on month as a result of the training. By helping staff to understand the importance of excellence in customer service and how to upsell the organisation is already seeing a shift in service levels and the way their staff support customers.

Whether it be personal, career or organisational goals, I encourage everyone to take some time out to be clear on your goals and putting in place a plan of action to achieve these. If you would like to discuss your goals further with me for the month of August I am offering a free 30-minute goal setting consultation. Please email Karran@brightsideplanning.co.uk for more information.

I will leave you with some wise words from Albert Einstein:

“If you want to be happy in life tie it to a goal, not people or things.”

Thanks for reading,

Karran Bonner

Plan Brighter