It’s the Easter long weekend of April 2011 as I write this, and I’ve enjoyed playing ‘clippity clop’ with chocolate Easter eggs. It reminded me of an important aspect of goal achievement, and in this article I’m going to explain exactly why…
I’m a self confessed chocoholic. I have to ration the amount I eat each day or I would never stop.
Easter is a time for me to pile into a load of chocolate eggs, and this Easter is no different. When I open one up, if it come in 2 halves I can’t resist playing ‘clippity clop’.
So much so, that even if it *doesn’t* come in 2 halves I will try and break it evenly. That usually ends up with my thumbs going right through, but back to ‘clippity clop’.
This is simply tapping the 2 halves together to make them sound like horses hooves.
When I do it, it instantly takes me back to my childhood. Some people may say my childhood never ended(!), but I’m talking of, say, 35 years ago…
So, what does this have to do with goal achievement? Well, it’s to do with a vital aspect of the process, and that’s the mental aspect.
When we set out on goals, some of them are achieved easily, but some of them most certainly aren’t! There may be huge obstacles that we come across, and there will be times of huge frustration, wondering why we ever started.
You can substitute that feeling of frustration with one of fear, or simply stress overload – generally I’m talking about feelings which you would rather not be having!
My Easter egg story takes me right back all those years, and this is the point – you can have certain triggers which take your mind to another place, and it’s a valuable trick to use on your goal achievement journey.
It might be a song, or a film clip, it could be any number of things, but I’m sure right now you can think of something which takes you to a point in your past when you felt great!
Use that trigger, and take yourself back to that point – it will set off the feelings you had back then, and it can be a great remover of current frustrations.
It can give you some respite from your frustration or fear, and can help bring you back to the present with a refreshed mind.
The mental aspect of goal achievement is massive, it amazes me how often it is overlooked as part of the jigsaw when it’s so vital.
Of course there are other techniques you can use to overcome uneasy feelings, for example you should have some established affirmations you use. You shouldn’t overlook though, the value of plugging yourself in to some feelgood memories from your past.
Right, I’m off to open up some more chocolate eggs…
If you fancy reading some of the other goal achievement techniques I’ve used for over 25 years, check out my book Transform Your Life in 21 Days!
