One of the many things I would love people to know is that it’s not easy to achieve success in life. Well, not for me anyway. If you read my Blog from last week https://www.kristylneho.com/post/transitional-phase-in-life-passionately-failing-towards-success - you will see the amount of effort I have put in to achieving particular goals and initiatives in life. I have not been one of those lucky people that have things happen for them easily; like those who do a few videos and boom, they go viral, they grow and become known. Not me, though. I am one of those who slowly grow and sometimes, at a slower than a snail pace that if you walked past me in a week, I’d likely look like I haven’t moved at all. There are also the kind of people who start an initiative and then someone immediately believes in their efforts. They get funding or, the right people to back them and boom, they are making moves. Not me. I have to go through the trenches and slug it out for decades and only just begin to make some noise.
When I look at my life, I realize that it's definitely not flat, it’s definitely not always clear and it’s definitely a journey of ups and downs. I set goals for myself so I know where I am headed, I know how to get there and I know when I need to get there. Over the years, I have been grateful to have learned how to not simply be a goal setter but be a goal achiever instead. That has definitely changed the way I achieve my goals and now, I can do more with less time.
We are now in April so I am looking at my goals for the next 3 months. I have been evaluating what I can do better to complete and achieve new goals moving forward. And recently, I have been reflecting on what I have done this year. It has been pretty good, so far. I started university, transitioned my sole trading business into a company, hired an amazing virtual assistant, secured a number of contracts, launched our first out of school Confident Me programme, nearly finished resources for our online programme, began designing and creating our Confident Mini Me Journal, finally started my Blog and currently preparing to put my new solo show 'Tangihanga' into a few festivals this year. When I write them down and look at them, I have to admit I have done really well. So checking in, observing and analyzing what I have been doing helps me identify whether I am going in the right direction. So this week, I thought I would talk about 3 things that help me stay on track when it gets hard.
Evaluate, Question and Research Daily
Sometimes, it's hard to know whether I am on track. It somehow feels like I am failing, or I am overwhelmed and that's when I question my capabilities. At times, it makes me look at my business when the money is slow coming in and wonder if I am doing the right thing. I then have to evaluate all the facts, look at the upcoming projects, the incoming contracts, reflect on how far we have come and remind myself of the long term goals and vision. I look at my page that I have been running for a while and wonder how to engage people to watch and read my content when there is rarely any engagement on some post. This makes me research and think about particular strategies I could use to grow my page. I look at the programmes we deliver and I think about how I can help children and youth learn faster and how to engage them to learn as much about themselves as they can. I think about what shows and content I can create and research what is trending and working. My mind is constantly thinking about how to improve, and how to serve on a bigger scale. That is definitely one of the biggest things that have helped me grow even if it is at a snail's pace.
Not Comparing Myself to Others
Comparing ourselves to others is definitely something a lot of people do and I have been guilty of doing this a lot. However, it is something that I have actively not been doing for nearly a year now. Where we are in life is exactly where we are meant to be. That is why we are where we are. Sometimes, I have looked at other businesses, pages, homes and felt bad about what I had. But it occurred to me that we don’t know the journey someone has taken to get to where they are or how long it took them. I guess it's human nature to measure ourselves against others but this can definitely have a cost if we dwell on what we don't have compared to others. All that will do is make us feel bad. Instead I'd rather use that time to focus on what I can do to become better versions of myself and achieve what I want in life. This definitely eliminates the pressure to be something other than myself.
Never Give Up
I say this all the time: NEVER GIVE UP on what you love. If you don’t want to struggle, then I suggest not to even begin because nothing we really want ever comes easy. Never give up especially if you are someone like me who hasn’t quite figured out the right way to do it so the road is a little rough. Or, if you're like me, when things don’t go viral and it's one post at a time, one video at a time where you may only engage one person. I know that it has been a slow road but I can definitely see growth. I have definitely had more opportunities as I grow. I have definitely improved what we do and how we do it. I know that as long as I never give up, I will be farther tomorrow than I am today.
Goals help us identify what we want in our lives. Having a plan whether it is done through the S.M.A.R.T acronym or in a way that works for you helps you know how to get there, when to get there and the steps to take to get there. With our goals, we should always be flexible. We may not achieve them at a pace we prefer but if we continue to work at it, we will eventually get there.
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