A very short guide to becoming Peter

Wish to be afraid and act regardless

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing”- Walt Disney

Jessica became Project Manager last month. Robert learned to code in a week. Peter is running the marathon in October.

And here you are, sipping an Americano (how did it get cold so fast?), entering numbers in an Excel spreadsheet you are not even sure you want to understand.

Suddenly you ask yourself when was the last time you set yourself a goal and effectively committed to a plan. If only you could brave taking up such an arduous task and sticking to it like Peter did, or even gather the courage to attend that networking event everyone was talking about.

Taking up and designing your goals seems so necessary. Yet, we have to agree, a disconcerning process. Here, I will help you overcome your fears and encourage you to act in order to get started on designing your own goals and challenges

“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.” — Jim Rohn

But firstly, why should you even trouble yourself?

Life is more rewarding when you’re growing

Our learning zone exists right outside our comfort zone and feeling a twinge of fear when stepping into the learning zone is normal. However, a little fear is always good — it gets our adrenaline flowing and pushes us to act.

You build courage when you think of what’s possible

If you ground yourself in strengths that come from your past successes, you will gain confidence to move into action. This is when we can overcome the fear of failure.

It’s freeing to own your future

Listen to the positive voices that counsel you: the visionary who has big ideas for you, the mentor who has the experience to coach you, the coworker that sees your potential. Choose an ‘ownership mindset,’ when you own your actions, you cannot be a victim. Your freedom, your attitude, your own mind-set.

Have I convinced you yet?

If so, here are some tips that will help you design your own goals

Start by the end

List your goals for the short, medium and long term and write them down. Don’t forget to prioritise which goals are most important to you. The process of prioritising each goal can be taunting and we can recommend that you start from focussing on all the benefits gained from them. In this way, it will be easier to recognise which ones are most important to you.

Dream on, but stay realistic

Sometimes you may even find it hard to decide which objectives should make the cut. It is also true that we easily become carried away when reflecting upon professional or personal development. Try filtering your aims through the SMART acronym, as it perfectly fit to this instance:

• Specific: define a precise field you want to target.
• Measurable: whether your goal is on the short-term or on a longer term, so that you can see the progress in achieving it.
• Achievable: how the goal is going to be achieved and by whom.
• Realistic: the goal needs to fit into an area you feel comfortable with, in accordance with your experience.
• Time-related: we’re talking about deadlines here, do you want to achieve it by the end of the year, this month, this week? This will give you motivation to reach your deadlines on time.

Share or shout out your goals

There is a positive link between sharing goals and increase in motivation. It proves to yourself that you’re a doer, plus you never know who can help you achieve certain parts of the goal. Remember, your network will always be a crucial part of your plan.

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We ask every user on Talking Circles to list their top three goals and skills within the platform. We do this because this way, we know who within your company can help you and support you in achieving your goals based on their skills and vice versa. Peer mentorship is incredibly valuable in companies, it helps you build your own personal network of people who can coach you and mentor you to achieve your goals.

We’re looking for employees to help us shape our product, please email us or request a demo on our website and we will be in touch.

Be part of our startup success and request a demo today at talkingcircles.co.

By Mia Meroi, TC Marketing Team