How to smash your most ambitious goals
My steps for enacting real change in your life, career & business
Achieving your dreams isn’t as simple as setting a goal and reaching it. There’s a lot of shiz in between that can prevent us from getting to where we want to be. Sometimes we don’t even know what’s holding us back. We’re just stuck in this perpetual cycle of wanting to change but not being able to.
So how do we get unstuck and stay on track to achieving our goals?
Change happens from the inside out.
Let me walk you through how to navigate the shiz between knowing something isn’t working for you and making successful changes.
Identifying barriers to forward momentum
We know when something isn’t working. We can feel it. But defining what needs to change isn’t as instinctual. It helps to dedicate some time to think about what’s holding you back and what action you can take to get to where you want to be. From poor communication in the workplace to struggling to get up in the morning, so many things can stand in our way. The good news is that often there’s something we can do about it.
Start small and leverage up
A fatal mistake in a lot of goal setting is making the goal too big. Now I’m all about ambition, but it’s better to chunk down ambitious goals into small sub-goals, so they seem more achievable. Being intimidated by goals is a sign that you’ll struggle to get very far with them. Taking it step by step is much easier for our minds to process because we believe we can complete each step after progressing from the previous one. Regular achievable goals are the fuel of forwarding momentum.
Dealing with the uncomfortableness of change
While there’s a practical element of goal setting, the emotional side can’t be ignored. The situation that we want to change brings up strong emotions like anger and frustration. The goal we want to achieve can also bring up complex emotions as we push ourselves further than ever before. Ignoring these emotions won’t help. Equipping ourselves to deal with them head-on will.
Identify the fact from fiction in your head
Often, these complex emotions are triggered by stories we tell ourselves about our situation, what we want to achieve, and ultimately our capabilities. We’ve all told ourselves we can’t do something. Some of us do it quite regularly. We put ourselves down, believing that we’re doomed to fail, and we’ll be humiliated.
But when you think about it, these stories have no basis. Look for evidence to back up the story, and the chances are that the only evidence you’ll find is flimsy. So instead of letting stories precipitate negative emotions, challenge them to find the truth.
Writing the real story
You have the power to write your own story. Once you’ve debunked the story you’ve been telling yourself about your goal, find all the evidence that supports the opposite. That you can do it. That you can succeed. That you can be proud of what you’ve achieved already. This evidence will help you counteract negative thoughts and strengthen positive affirmations and visualisation.
Take action
All this mental work prepares you to take positive and sustained action. As well as planning what you need to do to achieve your goal, plan what you need to do to keep you on track mentally. You’re much less likely to veer off track by having tools for testing times. Whatever the tool is, use it regularly, not as an emergency response.
The ultimate tool for testing times

This process of effecting change and sticking to goals can be implemented with my Flip the Thinking Tool, which is now available alongside a Morning Journal. It gives you structured guidance for working through frustrations, periods of being off track and crises of confidence. Working through your thoughts like this isn’t a one and done situation. You need to practice it regularly for the full effect and cognitive change. The Morning Journal and Flip the Thinking hybrid make it simple. Grab a copy and try it for yourself HERE!