I was talking to a client recently who’s on our 90 Day Breakthrough programme, and I asked them which parts of the journal they love filling in, and which parts they struggle with.
This question tells me a lot about how they think, and helps me point them in a better direction.
One of the sections they struggled to fill in every day was “What could be an opportunity for you today or for the future?”
When I think about opportunities, I don’t just think about big stuff like new ventures to work on, or some kind of award to put myself up for.
I think about the goals I’ve set myself, and what little things I could do to help take me towards them.
It’s one of the big benefits of writing down your goals every day - it keeps your reticular activating system alert for opportunities, both large and small.
On my trip to Belgium recently, there was a big factor in opposition to my goal of getting fit enough to run a half marathon - too many calories from beer, chocolate and waffles!
Hence, I looked for opportunities to counteract this, so I wasn’t going in the complete opposite direction to my goal.
Luckily, my travelling companions were on board for lots of walking (that’s why we all agreed rucksacks were a better choice than suitcases).
We walked about 10 miles a day, including the three miles to the train station to kick start our trip.
Most of the walking was fairly leisurely when we were in Belgium, but on the way back to the UK, my son said “Do you fancy walking from St Pancras to Waterloo?”
Feeling a bit beer-bloated and sugar-soaked from the previous day's consumption, I jumped at that opportunity.
“Google says it’ll take 50 minutes” he said, “Only trouble is we have 40 minutes before our train goes. I reckon we’ll do it no problem, though…”
I totally trusted his judgement because he does lots of walking, but I also knew I’d have to get a wriggle on because he’s a bloody fast walker!
When we got to St Pancras, we set off at a right old stomp in the rain, frantically dodging people on the pavements, backpacks heavy with the chocolate gifts we were taking home.
We arrived at Waterloo station 33 minutes after we left St Pancras, rain-soaked, breathless and absolutely buzzing for having smashed our 40 minute target.
I was practically running around Waterloo Station with my shirt pulled over my head like I’d just scored in the World Cup.
For me, it was an absolutely brilliant way to end the holiday, because I’d smashed a little challenge.
To anyone else, we could have looked off our rockers power-walking across London in the rain rather than getting in a warm, dry taxi.
Your goals are very personal to you, and your opportunities to reach them might be weird and wonderful, but don’t worry what you look like to others.
It’s your life - live it your way - even if you look like a mad thing!