In a recent post, I talked about three strategies you can implement to help you achieve the vision you have for yourself. But what happens when you hit a roadblock…what do you do? Below, I’ll talk about what keeps us from moving forward – and how to navigate to higher levels.

Be Honest With Yourself

One of the strategies I often recommend to help you achieve your goals is decluttering. This is a great first step you can take to create the space necessary to actually organize your goals, prioritize your life, and move forward with your vision.

Now it’s time to go deeper…Are you decluttering just because you think you should? If so, you’re more likely to give up because you’re not associating the practice with a tangible goal you have. Instead of going through the motions of this or any exercise simply because you think it might be effective, figure out why you’re doing it – try to tie it in with a goal you have.

For instance, if your friend finally convinces you to try yoga, ask yourself why you really want to do it. Will it help you reduce your stress levels and ultimately contribute to greater wellbeing? Is greater flexibility or a toned body a fitness goal you have?

Don’t do anything because someone thinks you should – or because you believe someone thinks you should – do it for you. You’re far more likely to succeed at achieving your goals when you know why you’re doing it – and that “why” has real meaning for you.

When the Unexpected Happens…

You’re moving right along, making great progress towards achieving your goal, when out of nowhere, the unexpected happens. Sound familiar? Most everyone is faced with this scenario, because change is perhaps the one constant in our world.

Things change; life happens. We can plan all we want, but sometimes, life throws us a curveball. It’s how we deal with it that counts. If you’ve been caught off guard, take a time out to become “present” again. This will allow you to give your full attention to the situation so that you can consider possible solutions.

In a Forbes article, author Paolina Milana recalls the sudden death of her sister and how she dealt with grief at the office. She says that death, especially when it’s unexpected, “has a way of wiping away the filters we’ve put on our lives and giving us a fresh perspective about where we are and where we may be headed.”

…Gain a Fresh Perspective

No matter who you are or where you’re at in your journey, you will face unexpected events that put a temporary stop on your plans. Some will be minor – a conflict at work, a squabble with your kids, trouble with your car.

Others will rock your world and leave you questioning the meaning and purpose behind life – the sudden death of a loved one, as Milana experienced, a serious illness, a tragic accident.

Instead of letting resentment, anger, or hate build up and take over, see the experience as an opportunity for learning and growth. Accept whatever it is that you’re feeling in the moment, but understand that like everything, it’s only temporary and will change.

Have an honest, supportive conversation with your mentor or even a trusted friend or colleague. Talk about your feelings and be open to a fresh perspective. The new perspective you gain might be better than you could have ever imagined, and what you once saw as a roadblock might prove to be one of the most transformative experiences you have.

If you want a quick weekly burst of inspiration that will inspire you to challenge yourself, gain a new perspective, and have some fun in the process, don’t miss out on my BOLD Move of the Week.  Just click here to get instant access.

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Sometimes the simplest tools can lead us to our biggest breakthroughs, and that’s why I’m sharing three of my favorite tips that I know can help you achieve the vision you have for yourself. Let’s get started!

Visualize Your Way to Success

If you have a pair of scissors, some old magazines, glue or tape, and some sort of poster board or canvas, you can make your own vision board. You don’t need to be a talented artist – you really don’t even need to be particularly creative – the purpose is to make your vision come alive through meaningful images.

You can cut out pictures, single words, entire quotes – anything that you can dream of! Choose images that really resonate with the goals you have. You can create multiple boards if you’re the type of person who loves organization – for instance, one board for your personal goals, another for business oriented ones.

To get the most out of this exercise, I recommend setting aside about an hour where you’ll be undisturbed. Remember, there is no right or wrong way to create your board – have fun with this!

A Secret Productivity Tool

Journaling is an excellent way to discover more about yourself – but did you know it can actually be a powerful productivity tool? In a Forbes.com article called The #1 Productivity Tool You Aren’t Using, author Dorie Clark cites Harvard Business School professor Teresa Amabile who says journaling is one of the top strategies for enhancing your professional performance over time.

Keeping a journal can help you record little victories you might otherwise overlook. And, you can “leverage the progress principle and allow yourself to get that boost from realizing you are making progress”, explains Amabile. You can also write down setbacks that happen in your life so that you can become more aware of how you might eliminate what’s stopping you from achieving the progress you want.

If journaling is new to you, I suggest starting small – give it a try for a month to determine if it’s a good fit for you. Try to journal at the same time each day to make a ritual out of the practice – the key is to remain consistent.

Create the Space You Need to Think

“Clutter gets in the way of being able to see the life you want.”

-Warren Talbot

If you think the only purpose of decluttering is to have a neater, more organized home (and maybe so your husband will stop nagging you to get rid of some of your shoes!), think again. Decluttering is a powerful tool you can use to create some space in your life to finally achieve the clarity you need to get your goals in order, and ultimately, achieve them.

In a Forbes.com article, author Laura Shin shares the story of Betsy and Warren Talbot, a couple who decided to spend the remainder of their lives travelling. It took them two years of selling before they actually embarked on their worldwide voyage. Now living their vision of a “dream life”, their journey inspired them to pen several books.

Warren Talbot explains that one of the steps they took to achieve their goal was decluttering. Clutter, says Warren, keeps us tied down and makes it that much more challenging to actually envision the life that we really want to achieve.

Here’s my tip to get the best results: Think simple, five-minute changes at a time. This way, you’re less likely to fall victim to the overwhelm that can easily happen. Set aside just 5 minutes a day and commit to taking a few steps toward decluttering – sort a portion of your closet, 1 or 2 drawers, a few files in your desk…

Want a quick, fresh burst of inspiration to point you in the right direction? Don’t miss out on my BOLD Move of the Week. You’ll get simple tips you can implement right away that will help you to step out of your comfort zone and become more of the woman you’re destined to be! Just click here to get instant access.

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No matter where you are on your journey to success and fulfillment, one thing is certain: we all need a little boost of inspiration from time to time. That’s why I’m sharing the stories of three powerful women leaders to help you stay focused and motivated to reach your own vision of success.

Choose Life & Meaning

With an estimated net worth exceeding $1 billion, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and “Lean In” author, was named in 2012 on Time’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Her book, “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead”, sold over one million copies by the fall of 2013 and has soared to the top of the bestseller lists since its launch.

Like any BOLD leader, Sandberg has faced criticism along the way, with one critic even suggesting she is “tone-deaf” to the struggles faced by average working women. But she addressed naysayers in her book when she said that she was “acutely aware” of the struggles women face and that she wanted to offer advice that “would have been useful long before I had heard of Google or Facebook”.

Sandberg married her second husband, Dave Goldberg, in 2004, and eventually had a son and a daughter. The couple often discussed being in a Shared Earning/Shared Parenting Marriage. Tragically, Goldberg passed away suddenly in May 2015 when the couple was on vacation.

Inspirational Quote: (In a Facebook post following the loss of her husband) “I think when tragedy occurs, it presents a choice. You can give in to the void, the emptiness that fills your heart…Or you can try to find meaning…When I can, I want to choose life and meaning.”

Get In a Bit Over Your Head

Marissa Mayer, Yahoo CEO and #36 on the Forbes list of America’s Self-Made Women (2015), is one of the highest-paid CEOs in the US. Born in 1975 in Wausau, Wisconsin, Mayer would eventually graduate from Stanford with an MS in Computer Science in 1999.

Mayer boasts brains and beauty…By 2009, the Illinois Institute of Technology granted Mayer an Honoris Causa Doctorate Degree in recognition of her work in the field of research. That same year, she was named by Glamour Magazine as one of the Women of the Year. Then in 2013, Mayer became the first CEO of a Fortune 500 company to be featured in a Vogue magazine spread!

But it was in 2012 when Mayer was appointed President and CEO of Yahoo! that she became widely recognized outside of the tech industry. She oversaw a major personnel policy change there that required all remote-working employees to convert to in-office roles.

Mayer has shown the world again and again that women can achieve some pretty remarkable goals – no matter what their age!

Inspirational Quote: “Get in a bit over your head. That’s how you grow and learn and stretch yourself.”

No Compromises

Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel has always been “a bit awkward” according to photographer Herlinde Koelbl, who has been photographing her since 1991. But, asserts Koelbl, her strength was perceptible from the very beginning.

One of Merkel’s biographers refers to her as “the Chancellor of Europe”, given that Germany is enjoying low unemployment and a resilient manufacturing base. A continuing monetary crisis of the euro zone has transformed Germany – Europe’s largest creditor nation – into a “regional superpower”.

When trying to explain her extraordinary success, many look everywhere – but to Merkel herself. Divorced and remarried with no kids, Merkel is a product of East Germany, and while she may not have the “typical qualities” of a politician, she has “made older and more powerful politicians, almost all of them men, pay a high price for underestimating her”, according to The New Yorker author George Packer in his article The Quiet German.

Inspirational Quote: “When it comes to human dignity, we cannot make compromises.”

These powerful women are from very different walks of life, but they have at least one thing in common – they’re willing to make BOLD moves.

If you need a short burst of inspiration, you don’t want to miss out on my BOLD Move of the Week. You’ll get simple tips you can implement right away that will help you to step out of your comfort zone and become more of the woman you’re destined to be! Just click here to get instant access.

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“A goal is a dream with a deadline.”

–Napoleon Hill

Have you been looking for ways to achieve newfound clarity and freedom in your business – and your life? If you have, one of the most important first steps you can take is to organize your goals.

As Forbes.com contributor Samantha Smith asserts, “Setting goals isn’t something you should do because it’s a new year. Goals should be continuously created as you think of them and revised quarterly if not after changes and other impactful moments.”

Let’s talk about why you need to organize your goals and what you can do to get started today.

Why Organize Your Goals?

If you’ve ever been in a disorganized, cluttered space, you might have found it a challenge to concentrate. Just as it’s tough to focus in disarray, the same can be said about your goals – if they lack organization and clarity, it can be near impossible to actually achieve them.

For instance, if your goal is to “eliminate stress and feel free again”, what does that really mean? It might translate into “I want to cut back on the number of hours I spend in the office so I can free up my time to be with my family more.” For you, it might mean something different, and that’s why it’s so important to be as specific as you can.

Once you figure out what it is that you want to achieve, it’s time to get your goals in order. For instance, is your goal a personal goal? Is it related to your career or business?

Don’t stop there – once you identify what area of your life your goal falls into, narrow down the category even more. Is it a goal related to your personal relationships…a financial goal you want to make happen in your business…a goal that is designed to increase your personal development?

Goal-Setting Mistakes to Watch Out For

In a Forbes.com article, author Ron Ashkenas talks about what he calls the “seven deadly sins of goal-setting” that leaders sometimes make. In truth, we all make these mistakes, so here are a few to watch out for:

1. The goal is unclear or distant. It’s hard to take a goal seriously – and even harder to actually work on achieving it – when we don’t define a time frame for completing it with measurable steps along the way to mark our progress. If you have a long-term goal that you want to complete within the next few years, you must organize the small steps along the way to give yourself the best chance at success.
2. There are too many goals to focus on. We all do this sometimes, especially at the beginning of the year when say we want to lose weight, run in a marathon, make more money, get more free time…you know how it goes. When we fill our plate with an overabundance of disorganized goals, the initial zest and motivation we feel to achieve them can quickly lead to frustration and overwhelm.
3. The goal isn’t authentic. Or, as Ashkenas says, “…the goal is just an exercise to convey the appearance of progress, but there’s no hope of achieving it.” When your goals aren’t aligned with who you really are – your core values – it’s a challenge to muster up the energy you need to organize them, and virtually impossible to ever actually achieve them.

Give yourself the greatest chance at success by organizing your goals first, making sure to watch out for these so-called “deadly sins” along the way!

A Blueprint for Greater Clarity

I want you to set aside some time to answer – and reflect upon – the five questions below:

1. As you think about all the goals you want to achieve, what are your top 3 for this year?
2. Why is it important for you to achieve these goals – in other words, what will it mean for your business and/or your life when you accomplish them?
3. What roadblocks do you see that have prevented or might prevent you from achieving these goals?
4. Now, think about the goals you’ve accomplished in the past. Write down some of your top achievements.
5. When you think about your previous successes, what did you learn – what did you do, specifically, to accomplish the goal?

The objective of this exercise is to help you deepen your insight – in your own words – about the goals you want to achieve.

True freedom in your business and in your life starts with a series of well-organized goals, so get started today on putting yours in order!

Would organizing your goals be a BOLD move for you? Practice making bold moves, plus get inspired with my weekly bold move of the week. Click here to get FREE access.

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Have You Rewarded Yourself Lately?

In honor of the celebration that many of us were part of this past weekend, I want to introduce a topic I have not written about very often: celebrating your success!   This can really boost your confidence while helping to keep you motivated on your journey…

Children are often rewarded with a certificate of achievement for good work at school. Parents reward them for doing a good job or for accomplishing some task, large or small. We celebrate their milestones like birthdays and graduations; we feel their enthusiasm as they conquer a fear or overcome an obstacle.

But as we enter adulthood, celebrating our achievements is an activity often lost to time, right along with crayons and coloring books.

Think about it: when was the last time you rewarded yourself by celebrating something you accomplished? As adults, we may still celebrate what we perceive as “major” accomplishments – a big promotion at work, a retirement, a notable award or other recognition.

In fact, even many of the big accomplishments get lost on our goal-setting mentalities: we succeed in achieving some goal- however big – we have set out for ourselves and what do we do? We proceed immediately with setting a new goal – without taking the time to acknowledge ourselves for having achieved the original one. No wonder many of us are often so dissatisfied.

When we miss out on celebrating the small successes that lead us on our journey to much loftier achievements, we also miss out on the amazing benefits – a big confidence boost and new motivation – that the practice offers.

Propel Forward by Reflecting Back

If you want to reap the benefits of all that you’ve accomplished, I have a simple strategy for you:

At the end of each day, reflect upon and write down what you’ve achieved. Try not to leave anything out. You might even consider creating a few sections – one for larger achievements, one for smaller ones – even separate out personal and business accomplishments if you wish.

The important part is to write it down. Over time, you’ll be able to use this as a visual tool to show just how far you’ve come.

More often than not, we’re our own worst enemies. It isn’t that other people fail to recognize all that we achieve – sometimes we ourselves are the culprits. We become so driven to push forward, we forget that taking time out in reflection is part of a truly effective strategy to really get ahead.

5 Fun Ways to Celebrate

Now, get out there and start celebrating all those accomplishments! Here are some fun ideas to get you started:

1. Get social about it! Tweet about your accomplishment or share with your friends on Facebook to let them in on the good news.
2. Schedule an outing with your friends. And if they’re really lucky, maybe you’ll treat them to lunch or dinner!
3. Sneak some time away to do something that you really love, but hardly ever have time to do – a favorite hobby, a weekend retreat…
4. Set milestones for larger goals, then plan to do something nice for yourself each time a milestone is reached – a new outfit, a spa day…the list is endless!
5. Celebrate – and motivate! Encourage a friend or someone you know to reach her own goals. Offer support and ideas to send her in the right direction.

If Celebrating You and Your Success sounds like it would be something very different or new for you to do – if it sounds like a BOLD move – then you should be receiving my Bold Move of the Week. Each week you will be inspired to take bold action in a simple, concrete way.  Celebrate yourself by signing up here for your Bold Move of the Week!

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