Standing at the top of Mount Eiger in the stunning Swiss Alps after a 5 hour trail run to the top, I looked out to the incredible mountainous view, I turned to my husband said “This is why we do it.” He knew what I meant. This is why we work hard all year to push our body, mind and spirits to new limits and more importantly why we choose to lead a goal driven lifestyle, it is always worth it. We had literally ‘climbed a mountain’ but it was so much more than that.

What many people are not aware of is that by choosing to set goals and focus your days and weeks on achieving them, is a lifestyle commitment and for most a complete lifestyle transformation. You go from being part of the ‘ordinary’ and doing what is considered ‘normal’ in society to dedicating your time and energy to the steps you need to do in order to reach your goal, which means stepping out of the ‘ordinary’ and into some new, exciting and uncomfortable places! By setting goals as a way to improve your life, you learn a lot about yourself; your fears,  your beliefs, your values and your principles – you begin to see what you are truly capable of.

These 7 Actions are what it takes for you to be successful, to live a goal driven life and ‘climb your mountain’.

1. Stop wishing you could do something and start doing it.

Stepping out and completing my first training run was an act of ‘doing’ and stopped me ‘wishing’ I could run in Alps, it was the first step (of many!) to actually being able to do it.

2. Embrace what you fear and the unknown and use it to learn more about yourself.

I didn’t know what the race in Eiger was going to be like, not really, I had never been to Switzerland before! To overcome the fear of the unknown I learnt to trust the process and myself to do what was needed in order to complete it.

3. Choose long-term success over short term gratifications.

Short term gratification would have been being able to run a PB during my 10k and 21k training runs, however that would not have led me to long-term success for running 10 hours straight. The slow and tedious training runs had to take priority over the fast and endorphin filled runs to achieve long-term success.

4. Recognise your excuses and commit to stop using them.

Often we don’t even know we are using an excuse because we believe it to be true. Learn to recognise what is holding you back by taking the time out to reflect on your progress. I was using tiredness as my excuse to eat more!

5. Make more time and use your mornings.

All the successful people in my life use their mornings to their advantage. Those extra 2-3 hours are a great opportunity for training sessions, food preparation, reading and researching, catching-up with house work or even just time to yourself to collect your thoughts… This is you stepping out from the ‘normal’. Without these extra-hours I would not have succeeded with my goal.

6. Stop pleasing others and start pleasing yourself by taking yourself (and your goals) more seriously.

Anyone who does not live a goal-driven lifestyle will find it difficult to understand the lifestyle change and out of the ordinary commitments you have to make. Be kind to yourself and respect your decision by putting your needs first more often than not. I recommend letting the people you love know what you are doing and explain to them what this will require of you and the support needed from them.

7. Get motivated by others.

You may find it easier at first to ‘go it alone’ however to really succeed you need a strong support network around you. Look to others who have done what you want to do and see them as motivation and an opportunity to learn.

These 7 steps are recommendations however accountability is essential for long-term success. By tracking your progress, identifying and celebrating your milestones and most importantly checking in with yourself on a regular basis, you will maintain your motivation and keep excited about what you are doing – especially when times get tough. Keeping accountable will also help you to stay focused on you and prevent you from falling into the trap of comparing your ‘weaknesses’ to others ‘strengths’ – a huge de-motivator!

Find yourself a coach, trusted friend or family member to hold you accountable.  They will be the ones who cheer you on when you are at your lowest, help you see sense when you want to pack it all in and celebrate with you when you achieve your goal!

At this time of year many of us set New Years resolutions and most of us, stop working towards achieving them after the first couple of weeks. To really see a positive lifestyle,change in 2017, choose your ‘mountain to climb’ and set your goals to achieve it. Your mountain doesn’t need to be literally a mountain, make your goal personal to you, ask yourself what would help you learn more about yourself? What would push you to new boundaries? What would require hard-work and commitment?

Ready to set your goals for 2017 and hold yourself accountable?

Sign-up for my new class ‘Climb Your Mountain’. This relaxed, interactive and motivating class will provide you the time and the tools to start doing over wishing. Take the overwhelm out of setting goals and enjoy the process with a small intimate group of like-minded individuals. To join please email Heidi@heidijonescoaching.com for more details.