How many times have you set a professional goal for yourself or your business?

Perhaps it was to call on a certain number of prospects per day; to earn a certain amount of money per week / month / year; and / or get a promotion or reach a desired level of responsibility within in your company?

For most of us, we can’t even remember the number of times we’ve done this!

Here’s the big question…have you reached those goals? If you did achieve them, did you continue advancing in the professional direction you wanted?

If you didn’t achieve your business goals — or feel professionally stalled — what’s stopping you?

In working with clients who have set professional goals and didn’t achieve them, we sometimes discover there are external factors involved — for example, they didn’t have the necessary financial resources or didn’t have sufficient technical skills.

But usually far more important than external factors and perceived material limitations are internal factors that prevent people from realizing professional goals: fear of success; fear of failure and sometimes just fear of the unknown.

I’m sure you are asking yourself, why would someone fear success? In actuality, there are a multitude of reasons why people fear success.

Some fear success for quite simple reasons. For example, we have learned in working with clients that for many it is nothing more or less than success will mean that they will then have to SHOW UP, BE SEEN! That by itself can be scary — a form of fear of the unknown where change, even positive desired change, is viewed with negative unconscious feelings and emotions.

What about fear of failing to accomplish
a professional goal?

As in the example above, our behaviors — even a in professional settings — are often guided by our feelings.

Our unconscious mind is always trying to protect us from feeling bad — has what we term in NLP, a positive intention for us.

The unconscious mind recognizes that if we try to accomplish a goal and then fail we will feel REALLY bad about ourselves, so our mind suggests we don’t even try — so we don’t run the risk of failing and therefore feeling bad.

So, what’s the solution?

Setting goals is certainly not trivial — and various NLP processes have proven to be very helpful tools that have helped countless people to set and refine professional goals — but goal setting is really the easy part.

The hard part is the steps involved in re-training your brain to have a more positive relationship with professional goals and clearing away internal roadblocks to success.

Once clients have decided on their professional goal or goals, we always suggest that they start with “baby steps”. It is important to decide each day what is one thing you can do that day to get you closer to one or more of your goals.

We use proven NLP tools to help clients begin by defining easier tasks that they can accomplish in a short period of time and — when they accomplish it, celebrate!

Celebration is important because our brain likes those good FEELINGS we get when we acknowledge success, and good feelings related to professional accomplishment are part of the NLP re-programming of your mind to view professional challenges as opportunities. Give yourself a High Five!

As our clients achieve greater professional success we continue to nurture their self-confidence; help guide a continuous re-examination of their professional goal-sets; help them monitor their progress and celebrate their successes; and intervene when the inevitable small bumps in this self-healing road are encountered.

We encourage you to consider how NLP can help you set and achieve professional and business goals. We’re here to help.

Phyllis LeFevre is a certified NLP Life Coach and Wellness Practitioner based near Raleigh / Durham, North Carolina, who develops individualized programs for permanent lifestyle change. Her company, Inspire Momentum NLP, works with clients in a one-on-one setting designing customized coaching programs that will ensure success. You can contact her at (801) 244 8333 or phyllis@inspiremomentum.com