Get Unstuck!! A True Story – Up Close and Personal!

Stuck – so very stuck!!

That is how Mark would describe himself 4 years ago when we began a mentoring relationship. As a 25 year old, he was in the midst of a significant transition point in his life. He was clear that some things needed to change; career, faith, relationships and more. Life felt so very challenging, discouraging and unclear.

Man stuck in car During one of our discussions, I asked him if he would like to connect and see if we could discover a path for him to follow, one that would help create the needed clarity in the key areas of his life.

To his credit, he was eager to do so.

Download Your Deliberate Goal Achiever Assessment

As you reflect on the steps below, (shared, with permission, through Mark’s story) envision a significant work or home goal that would be very meaningful for you to achieve.

Write it down!

In case you missed them, here are the first 2 blogs on Goal Achievement.

12 Steps To Be A Deliberate Goal Achiever!

Ensure your goals are deeply meaningful, connecting you to what is most important.
- One of the very first things we did together was to discover Mark’s passions and strengths in how God designed him. (At that time he was not a Christ follower.) He has a love for connection with people, for teaching and a deep curiosity for science and the body. He was excited, and filled with trepidation, as he embarked on the journey to becoming a personal fitness trainer.
Own your goals – no excuses – no victim thinking.
- This was a big shift for him as he looked to own his past decisions and the ones for his future. He needed to grab hold of the hard reality that no one else was going to do this work for him.
Write the goals down.
- Something happened in Mark’s conviction once he wrote the goal down. In his head there was too much to hold all at once; on paper things became clearer. He suddenly had mental capacity to focus on the right next step.

Create a clear plan with the needed level of detail so you can execute.
- The plan Mark created was laid out for the next 9 months. It was detailed at a level where he knew both week-by-week and month-by-month steps. He also knew the critical milestones needed to achieve the goal by the end of the year.
“Chunk down” big goals into small ones.
- It quickly became clear that small steps were going to be Mark’s friend. His sense of overwhelm was right around the corner if we failed to break the big goals into something he could do in the next day or week.
Make your goals “W-SMART”
- Mark’s big goal, and all the small steps (goals) needed for certification, had to fit the “W-SMART” frame. Together, we regularly walked through each step in the plan to ensure he was set up for success.
Acquire the knowledge and skills required to deliver on your goals.
- To become a certified personal trainer, he would require certain levels of knowledge and skill. One of the first steps was to connect with reputable trainers who could help inform him of requirements.
Visualize Achieving Your Goals.
- Mark’s mind was occupied with lots of “stinkin thinkin” – all the reasons why the goal wasn’t possible. He was tasked with imagining what it would feel like to be a successful personal trainer. While sitting together he would visualize actually working with a client, picturing a successful session. During that process, he was leveraging his God-given capacity to re-wire his brain. He began to operate with much more gratitude, focusing on what was possible as he did the work to achieve his goal.

Post pictures that will inspire you to keep doing the work needed.
- Mark found encouraging quotes and images which helped inspire him.
Tackle the obstacles that can block the progress to your goals.
- During the planning process Mark and I explored and anticipated what obstacles he would likely face. When he hit one of them we had already considered how he would press through.
Regularly review your progress towards your goals – revise as needed.
- Each week we would review his progress, ensure he remained connected to the “why” of the process, and worked through challenges as they presented themselves.
Make your goals public with trusted advisors who are committed to your success.
- Community is crucial for us to grow and achieve the goals most important to us. Our regular mentoring connection became significant in helping him stay the course to the end.

Fast forward to present day. Mark is now consistently one of the top trainers, in terms of sales and reviews, at a key fitness club in our city. As well…. He is now enjoying a rich and meaningful relationship with Christ.

Topping it off…..As of October 26^th, 2013, he became our son-in-law!!

My journey with Mark is a reflection of the personal work I must do to actually achieve the goals that I set. I am no different!!

How about you?

“Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and all the people.”

Luke 2:52

A Maverick Application:

Work through the assessment and identify opportunities to help ensure you achieve your 2016 goals.