What do you hope to achieve or change?

"This is the key to life: the ability to reflect, the ability to know yourself, the ability to pause for a second before reacting automatically." - Deepak Chopra

This article is part of the Inspiration & Ideas series. Find the list of posts here and the video playlist here.

If you’d prefer, you can watch the video here.

Have you ever been halfway through a big project, only to look up and wonder what on earth has happened? ‘This doesn’t look anything like I thought it would.’

It’s so easy to get distracted by other people or commitments and responsibilities, and to lose track of what you were supposed to be doing.

I enjoy the part of my work with charities and social enterprises where I help them to identify their aim or mission and then the objectives or activities that will get them there.

But even with a detailed business plan in place, it’s all too easy to be pulled wildly off track by the demands of other people and their agendas.

What I’ve found to be helpful is that instead of setting a big goal and just leaving it there at some undisclosed point in the future, I instead set a broader vision – sometimes that’s an image, like my crafted wooden desk overlooking the sea, from where I can write all day without distraction, and sometimes it’s more tangible, like an income goal or a country to visit before a big birthday.

Then, as I take what I believe to the logical steps towards reaching that goal, I pause regularly to check in, and ask, what exactly am I trying to achieve here?

My clients often have huge goals – things that to most of us would feel impossible; to find a cure for a rare type of cancer, to create a type of school that’s never been tried before, to eradicate homelessness in a city centre, to provide food and clothing for an increasing number of low-income families.

Having a defined mission for yourself, your work or your organisation is essential to know what you’re working towards. But to stay on track in a noisy world, set a reminder to ask yourself:

What am I actually trying to achieve here?

I’d love to know what positive change you’re working towards.

Let me know in this short questionnaire.

Rachel x