What Are Your Goals for August?

It is the last day of July - where has the year gone? I don't know about you, but I haven't yet achieved many of the goals I set for myself this year. I am not concerned about this for several reasons.

• There are still five months of the year left.
• I have achieved goals that I hadn't set! I have enjoyed this.
• Goals don't have to be set in stone. Sometimes better ideas and opportunities come along that mean the original goals take a back seat for a while or even get deleted. That is OK.

But I was wondering - what are your goals for August? 

I know that it is traditionally a holiday month, but it is still OK to have goals. They may be related to a holiday mindset, relaxing and making the most of the summer months. You might want to

• Leave work early (or on time) at least one day each week over the summer.
• Spend more time relaxing with friends and family.
• Eat more healthily.
• Spend more time out in the fresh air - maybe enjoying outdoor sports or just walking.
• Lose some weight.
• Sort out the garden - so you can enjoy spending time in it.
• Find time to read a few books that  you have been wanting to read for some time.

Or you may have work or life goals that you would like to achieve over the month.

Apart from relaxing and continuing to appreciate and enjoy the life I am creating, I want to post at least one short blog each day and take on one new client (as I now have space for one more).

It is possible to work anywhere in the world if you have a laptop. 

I enjoyed writing from abroad.

Whatever your goals, do you have a plan to achieve them?

Remember that writing out your goal using the 4 Ps - present tense, positive, personal and with passion - isn't enough. You need to have the steps you will need to take and a contingency plan for when life happens! 

So I am making a plan of what I may write about each day (though I will often ignore that and do my own thing, it will help to have a backup plan for when I am in a hurry or I lack inspiration). I am scheduling it into my diary and I have a plan to write some copy and save it on a memory stick for days when I leave home at half past six in the morning and return home after nine in the evening. A quick copy and paste job will ensure that I can relax knowing a post is still possible on busy days.

Traditionally people tend to relax and use the summer to develop new goals. Taking on a coach is often left until the autumn. Never mind. I m sure that there are several people out there who are ready to use their summer to 'get ahead of the game' with a coach. And while I am waiting, the space gives me more time to develop my plans and take action on my goals.

So what is your backup plan for your goals?

You know what they say

"If you fail to plan you plan to fail."

Please let me know what your goals are for August and also your action plans to achieve them.

Post them below so we can all support each other.

Heres to a happy and successful August. 😀

Overcoming Challenges by Sue Courtney

The Coaching Bit

Last week I suggested playing about with what you think you want in order to find out what you really want. However, a great many of my clients know very clearly what they want, they need me to coax out of them how they are going to achieve it.

Some clients come to me with a precise and immediate need, such as delivering a presentation with confidence. This was a new part of their job and was daunting. We developed a way forward and my client went on to deliver that presentation and future presentations with confidence because she had been able to develop a different mindset and so become a different person around this challenge.

The daunting prospect of presenting can be overcome with coaching.

Another client wanted to move to Spain, along with her family. They had all been learning the language and eating the food. The children even had traditional dresses to dress up in. The missing elements were the belief that it was possible for them and a plan to make it happen. I am happy to report that they have all been happily living in Spain for about nine years now. The girls are bilingual and parents are still happily living and working there.

There are other challenges that my clients have successfully overcome and dreams and goals that they have successfully achieved with coaching, from changing job (sometimes they decide to stay put, but that is OK too), creating a band, getting clarity on the way forward in life and setting up a business. I have even enabled a client to successfully and happily move forward into potential redundancy with so much style and flair that she was kept on and moved to another section, so impressed were her managers, with her positive attitude!

The one thing that they all have in common is that they had to decide what they wanted, make a committed decision to make the change needed and develop a plan of action – and then take the action required.

They all wanted to achieve something new and so they all had to move out of their comfort zone and take new actions and embrace new beliefs about themselves and what they were able to achieve. They had to reinvent themselves and become the person who had already achieved their goals.

So what are your goals? What do you need to believe about yourself and who do you need to become in order to achieve them?

Remember that to successfully achieve them you will have to change your mindset, make new choices and do things differently.

Your response to events will have to change in order for your outcomes to be different.

E + R = O

Remember

“If you always do what you’ve always done

You’ll always get what you’ve always got.”

If you need that listening ear I am here. Just email me at sue@successandimagecoach.co.uk  to share any challenges you may have stumbled upon. There is always a way to move forward.

The Styling Bit

Strawberry 


Remember you are a strawberry shape if you have a wide back and broad shoulders, a large bust, flat bottom, slim legs, and you carry weight around your tummy. 


•      Wear deep v-necks or wide scoop necklines to soften shoulders and draw the eye down the body. 


•      Wide slash necklines are also flattering. 


•      Wrap tops and dresses are flattering and enable a good fit. 


•      Draping cowl necklines also draw the eye down. 


•      Opt for tailored shirts but ensure buttons don’t bulge over cleavage. 


•      Choose tailored jackets or coats without belts for the most flattering shape. 


•      A trick to remember when buying dresses – buy dresses that fit your larger top half and have the lower, skirt section professionally altered to fit. 


•      A professionally fitted bra is essential to accentuate your waist and separate your bust. The bra will also improve the way clothes fit and hang on your body. 


•      Boot-cut or wide, straight jeans and trousers will balance proportions. 


•      Choose elegant high heels to make the most of shapely ankles.

Once you know your body shape it is absolutely vital to get rid of all the clothes that don’t enhance or flatter your particular shape. Don’t be tempted to put them in the back of the wardrobe – get rid of them. But please don’t throw them in the bin: donate them to a charity shop, so that someone else can have the opportunity to enjoy them. In this way, you clear space for flattering clothes that you know look good, and that you feel wonderful wearing. 


Top Tip 


Dress to flatter your body shape at all times.

(Excerpted from my soon to be published e-book “Success with Style: How to Create a Signature Look That Says You Mean Business”)