What are your rules?

Ask Tonic’s Coach November 2018

What are your rules?

By Rod Macdonald, Certified Coach Practitioner and Tonic’s Resident Coach

Q: I know what I want to accomplish, and I know everything I need to accomplish it, but I still find myself sabotaging myself by wasting time doing silly things like watching hours of television, surfing the net, laundry, or anything except what I need to be doing.
-Ahmad

A: Ahmad, there may be a number of things going on, but you sound like the perfect candidate for hiring a coach. It may be that with a little accountability, you are more likely to stay on track. At the end of the day, even the world’s best coach won’t accomplish your goal for you, but that’s not what you want anyway. Let’s do a check on where you are at by first asking the following questions:

1. When was the last time you revisited your goals? You may believe you know what you want, but sometimes we get numb to our goals because they are too big or not as interesting to us anymore.

2. Is your goal compelling enough? You should almost get goose bumps when you think about your goal because it means so much to you. You should be able to “see” it, “feel” it, “ hear” it and experience it in other ways when imagining it.

3. Is your goal attainable? If your goal is too big, your subconscious may be sabotaging you to avoid disappointment. It may be better to break the big goal into smaller goals to make them easier to accomplish.

4. Do you have support? Whether it is for accountability or expertise, having a team of people on your side dedicated to helping you achieve your goal, will dramatically increase your success. This may include a coach, personal trainer, nutritionist, as well as friends and family members.

5. Do you have rules and a routine that supports your goal? Rules (such as not eating after 8pm or watching no more than 60 minutes of TV per day) help to create guardrails for you to stay on track. Routine (what you do and when you do it) is one of the most powerful tools you can employ because it schedules everything you need to do to achieve your goal.

6. Sometimes bigger things are going on, so if you feel you might be dealing with depression or anxiety, then talk to your family doctor to rule those things out.


Remember this is your goal, so you are the only one that can truly make it happen. If your goal still fires you up, make sure all the other pieces are in place and you will dramatically increase the likelihood of success.

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Combining over 30 years in the field of self-development, Rod is the CEO of the Certified Coaches Federation, one of the largest coach education companies in the world, and a speaker, coach and author. For more information on the Certified Coaches Federation, visit www.certifiedcoachesfederation.com 

Want to ask Tonic’s Coach a question? Send a brief email to rod@certifiedcoachesfederation.com describing your challenge in 50 words or less, and one question will be selected per issue.

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