January is the time of year when a lot of people set new year's resolutions... I must go the gym ...I must lose weight... I am going to change my job. Nothing wrong with this of course. The problem with this sort of goal setting is that we don't tell anyone else. Not really. If we told a coach these sort of things, they would hold you to these pledges. Your coach would also help you to break these goals down a bit.

There is an expression, 'don't eat the elephant all at once' (although no-one really knows why anyone would want to eat an elephant in the first place.) But the elephant is a big thing ...just like 'change my job' is. Too big to contemplate and therefore, we can become overwhelmed and probably won't do anything about it - life is busy.

So, what can be done?

'Little and often' is the motto. What can I do today that will take no more than 10 minutes and will work towards the elephant of a goal? What can I do the next day that takes 10 minutes towards my goal. This way, after a week, you would have concentrated on your goal for over an hour. Doesn't sound much does it? But you are still an hour nearer to your goal. Plus, you will feel more engaged and inspired as you are taking lots of mini actions every day rather than just storing it all up. Or putting it off. Or even worse, just feeling bad about it all. After a month, you would have done about 5 hours of concentrated effort towards your goal. It may not sound like much but it is action. In my experience, once the little things have become a habit, you will tend to actually do more than you said.

If a coachee says that they are going to do 5 hours a day towards the such and such goal, I say no. That is because if it was possible, then they would be something towards it already. As coaches, we are mindful to help you succeed in lots of small ways to gain momentum. Then, you will do more and more naturally. We do not want to set you up to fail or feel bad.

So, what can you do today?