The Tribune

By MICHELLE M MILLER

It was the great William Shakespeare who said, "Strong reasons make strong actions".

When it comes to setting goals that will take your life higher, do you have a compelling reason to take strong action?

As a life coach and therapist, many people come to my sessions because they are tired of the same old, same old. They claim that they desire to improve their life situations. Notice I said that they "claim to", because claiming but remaining is still a factor why many people start and stop; losing momentum to go the distance.

Real change takes commitment. This is especially true when it comes to habit-shifting, life-improving kinds of changes. Such changes demand a compelling reason. This means that you must have a deep-seated, motivating reason that moves you to not only start the journey but drives you step by step towards your goal.

Aha! Now this is where the rubber meets the road for many. Yes, they want to get to an improved outcome in their lives, but they are without a compelling reason to stay the course and go the distance.

A compelling reason is simply defined as something so inspiring - motivating and empowering that it literally moves you to keep moving yourself forward. Even in the midst of those inevitable challenges, this compelling reason impels you to stay in the game. How many times have you told yourself that you are going to stop doing this or that in order to change this or that?

For example, let's say you decide to stop eating sugar. Your reason may be because your doctor advised that it's negatively impacting your health. While you may actually find ways to stop consuming so much sugar, the reason for changing your habit comes from your doctor's advice, thus may not be compelling enough for you to maintain those changes.

However, if you made up your mind that you want to improve your health and well-being by being more disciplined about what you eat, not only because of what your doctor says but more so because you want to show up in the world as a healthy wholesome individual, this gives you a more invested reason.

This compelling reason has the emotive, inspirational qualities that enable you to make the shift and stay the course. You are motivated to climb into the driver's seat of your life. No longer are you driven by the fear of what the doctor said but instead you are compelled by your own desire and power to improve your life.

I believe it is much more compelling to set a goal that moves you to start to a new habit than to a goal to stop some old habit. The latter approach serves to keep you looking backwards. This can be depressing and places your valuable attention towards the rear view mirror of your life. On the flip side, when you set a goal to start a positive new habit, your full attention is focused towards the wide open windshield of your life. You are driven to move forward with optimism.

One of my favourite saying is, 'Don't worry about your weakness - focus on building your strength and your weakness will fade into the background'. Besides, if you already identify it as a weakness, unless you are aiming to change it, highlighting it for highlighting sake changes nothing.

Leader to leader, you are the driver of your life. Find a compelling reason within you to set goals that takes your life higher. Commit the focus your attention towards the wide open windshield of your life, rather than the rear view mirror. Finding your compelling reason will drive you to live an empowered life. Yes, you definitely can do it!

What do you think?

Please send your comments to coaching242@yahoo.com or 429-6770.

• Michelle M Miller is a certified life coach, communication and leadership expert. Visit www.talktomichellemiller.com or call 1-888-620-7894; mail can be sent to PO Box CB-13060.