Tag Archives: Coaching

Your Free 2011 Goal Creation Map Template

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At this time of year many people start thinking about goal setting, New Year’s resolutions, and what they’d like to achieve over the next 12 months.

Despite this well-intentioned approach, you might think that ‘goal setting’ would be neglected once people get back to work and become busy again.

It seems not, because among this blog’s most viewed posts each month is one I published three years ago on New Year’s Day.

It’s titled: “Your Free 2008 Goal Creation Map Template”

I still use this template for creating and setting goals in the main areas of my life and see no reason to change a format that works well – everything’s summarized on one page.

Reviewing the guidelines in that post (and you should also read those if you plan to use the same template I’ve linked to again below), the only thing I’d add is that there are now lots of mind mapping applications to choose from.

For example, in addition to commercial tools such as ‘Mind Genius’ , I also like the free open source program, FreeMind.

Your Free 2011 Goal Creation Map Template

And so, that makes releasing this year’s goal setting template a simple job.
I’ll just link to that same pdf file!
(Click on the map icon below to open it or ‘right-click’ it to save on your desktop.)
goals-template

Update: Goal Creation in 2012

This is a March 2012 update to remind readers that the 2011 goal creation maps template works just fine for this year… and most likely, for many more years to come.

Here’a short video all about ‘how to set and create incredible yet reachable goals on a one page mind map.‘ The process is straightforward but does require some time to think, and then to ‘tweak’ the map.

(Please note that the goalcreationmaps.com site mentioned in the video is being refreshed. If you want to be notified when it’s ready, then subscribe to this blog’s email update or follow me on twitter, @markmcclure2day.)

If you’re on Twitter and found this post helpful please retweet it or alternatively, share it via the Email, Stumbleupon and FaceBook icons below.

- Mark ‘goal setting’ McClure

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Online Goal Setting For 2011 – Special E-Coaching Offer

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[Online Goal Setting - March 2012 Update:
The goal creation maps site is being refreshed. Follow my twitter account, markmcclure2day, for news of that project.]

The quote below is from Brian Tracy’s book, Maximum Achievement (Chp 5 “The Master Skill”, page 138), one of the few self-help books I recommend to people interested in learning how to set and achieve goals.

“Success Equals Goals And All Else Is Commentary”

From my experience over the years, it seems many people avoid or even loathe the whole process of setting goals.

There are probably two main reasons for such behavior:

1- People don’t know how to set, monitor and adjust their own goals.
2- People are busy achieving, sometimes unknowingly but often reluctantly, other peoples’ goals…

Setting Goals is a Skill

Fortunately, reason number one is a skill that can be learned and improved on, at any age. It requires just time and effort.

Number two is trickier to overcome because ‘other people’ can be family, friends, colleagues, bosses, even celebrities and sports stars.

Add in a fear of failure / embarrassment plus a trained desire to conform / please and it’s no surprise that goal setting gets a bum rap.

The Value Of an Experienced Coach

And that’s when an experienced coach can be a good investment. Someone who can act as an independent sounding board and mirror for your plans, hopes and dreams.

This was my experience five years ago as I began to plan a mid-career change. I had lots of ideas, some vague and others that were detailed but wildly optimistic. My coach became a trusted confidante who didn’t belittle my clumsy or ill-conceived goals with withering criticism, sarcasm or indifference.

Instead, she patiently listened but astutely called me on the what, where, when, how and why of these invariably conflicting goals. This is what I mean by ‘sounding board and mirror’.

She didn’t tell me what I should be doing. Rather, she let me thread these stories about my possible future together in my own way and in my own time (it took about 5 sessions, if I recall correctly, over a couple of months). Some ‘future stories’ I could choose to discard while others morphed into the various freelance activities I’m pursuing today.

Discover How To Set Incredible Yet Reachable Goals

Inspired by the progress I’d made with my coach, in the Spring of 2007 I set out to create an online, home-study course that shows people how to create meaningful and practical goals. Here’s a screenshot from one of the course videos:

goal-setting-2011-online-home-study-course

And while the course delivers everything it promises, I still hear from people who have problems in following through and completing the material.

A small number are unable to even get started.

What to do? What to do?

I had no plans to offer 1:1 phone coaching around goal setting at that price point. Especially as my own copywriting career was gathering momentum and requiring more time and attention.

And so the course remained as an ideal way for self-starters to discover and set their goals.

Nonetheless, my coaching persona still wants to find a way to be creative and help people create goals they can believe and achieve. I’m thinking about starting a goal setting membership site next year where people can get e-coaching support and help on a regular basis.

How that pans out is yet to be decided but as a test, I’m going to introduce the following e-coaching service.

One Month of Email Coaching Support Plus lifetime Access to the Goal Creation Maps Online Course

Here’s how this e-coaching service will work in the ‘test’ phase:

1- You purchase the online course at the standard price of US$ 67.

2- You send me your email receipt and tell me that you want the e-coaching option at no extra cost. (This is a benefit only available via this blog.)

3- I’ll reply to you within 1 business day with the e-coaching email address, and then we begin!

To keep things manageable for us both, you can email me one question/issue each day (for a full calendar month) that is connected with what you’re doing on the goal creation maps course.
I’ll reply to this email in as much detail as necessary within 2 business days, often sooner.

(Please note that ‘business day’ means Monday to Friday, excluding any Japanese National Holidays. And the time zone is Japan Standard Time.)

But you must act soon…

This Offer Expires Midnight Tuesday 30th November

As I’m busy with other projects I can only except a limited number of clients for email coaching. If you’re ready to start today, then head over to this link and click the order button at the bottom of the page.

Click here –> GOAL CREATION MAPS: E-Coaching Service

The offer expires at Midnight on Tuesday 30th November – in any timezone!

- Mark ‘Goal Setting E-coach’ McClure

PS – Note there’s no risk to you in this offer as ClickBank, the payment processor I use to handle billing, has a 60-day money back guarantee. If you’re dissatisfied for any reason whatsoever, just email me within 60 days of purchase, and I’ll process a full 100% refund.

In the three plus years this course has been running there have been only 2 refund requests. Both of which were promptly and politely given. I stand by this guarantee 100%.

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Free Self-Esteem Advent Calendar

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Liv Miyagawa, the self-esteem coach, has just released an online Advent Calendar you can get for free just by submitting your name and email address.

I signed up a few minutes ago and look forward to receiving the daily messages starting on 1st December.

I’ve met Liz once in Tokyo (she lives on the Western side of Japan, so we don’t have much chance to meet up in person). She’s a trained coach, specializing in self-esteem coaching, and also has an academic background in psychology.

In these tumultuous economic times, there’s a lot to be gained from having a robust and grounded confidence in your own abilities and inner self-worth. That’s why I’m treating myself to her free gift.

That link again: online Advent Calendar

- Mark ‘yes, you can’ McClure

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How To Silence Yourself and Prosper

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Earlier this year I was privileged to be coached by one of the top white paper copywriters around.

Although the call was recorded and later downloaded in mp3 format, I didn’t listen again because the top 3 actions were in my head and the next step was obvious… to start implementing them.

On a recent weekend’s computer tidy-up, I came across the file quite by chance and decided to give it a whirl again while commuting by train.

Imagine my befuddled brain’s surprise around 7:03 am when the copywriter’s introduction came through loud and clear but little old me was nowhere to be heard!

At first I was annoyed at possibly having damaged the file and therefore losing the benefit of my contributions. However, as I listened carefully, a most interesting dialogue was taking place:

ME: (probably, since there was only silence. 1 minute, 2 minutes passes. What could I possibly be saying that takes so long? It must be really important or complicated!)

COACH: “It’s not a question of ‘trying’. You CAN do this.”

And so it went on for about the first 15 minutes.

I wasn’t consciously aware of it but I must have been asking questions from a position of doubt and insecurity. We’re talking about making significant monthly sums as a copywriter here – and that possibly ‘explains’ my hesitation – even so, it was a revelation to come across so negatively.

Ask For and Listen to Feedback

Although this copywriter is not a coach by profession he had an uncanny knack for picking up on my inexperience and self-doubts, and coaching it gently to begin believing that “specific and regular actions + application of learned knowledge” are the sure way forward.

To be honest, I’m pleased that my voice has gone AWOL from the recording. Why? Because all I need is the advice he was giving.

My excuses are simply irrelevant to the matter at hand.

You might not have the luxury of recorded coaching conversations to go over but where you do have trusted friends or family to discuss plans and goals and dreams with, why not take the opportunity to ask them what they really thought YOU were saying.

Their responses may surprise you.

I’d also recommend that you write some of these down and then really think about what their perspective of you and your actions/behaviors might be saying. Is it possible they’re right? And what can you do right away to begin making constructive changes by using that feedback?

- Mark ‘I was silenced’ McClure

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Follow One Course Until Successful

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I heard this F-O-C-U-S acronym mentioned on a free teleseminar by copywriting coach, Chris Marlow.

She’d invited her own coach, Gary Ryan Blair (The Goals Guy), to talk about his 100 days goal achieving challenge. Of course, this allows Gary to also pitch his product but I’m fine with that for two reasons:

a) Gary freely covered some good content on goal setting – enough for a student of copywriting to get and apply the basic idea to their own business / personal goals without having to buy anything. However, he also pre-sold his own program very effectively and that was a valid marketing lesson in itself!

b) Chris is sharing some of the resources she’s using to set and achieve goals. And since I’m ‘into’ copywriting, I make it a point to find out how the top people in that field are developing themselves. (Anyone can apply the same approach in a field that interests them.)

Here’s What I Got From This Call With The Goals Guy

I always aim to learn something from these calls (I listen to them on the train, when there’s not much else to do anyway), and this time I was reminded of two important ideas:

focus-tokyo-odaiba

1) F-O-C-U-S

2) A ‘Sense of Urgency’

The practicalities of implementing a ‘Follow-One-Course-Until-Successful‘ FOCUS approach can be debated endlessly (hello procrastination, my old friend…!) and, in my experience, they vary from person to person.

However, let’s assume you’re committed to making a mid-career change.

That goal’s become your ‘focus’ for the next one, two, however many years you believe it will take to: a) make the change and b) achieve and savor the tangible and intangible goals that go with this new lifestyle.

Combining the ‘focus goal’ with a ‘sense of urgency’ is the tension that helps keep you moving forward. Sure, that tension will not always be present and there will be times where you may be ‘slacking’.

But, in the unknown time period that we call ‘our life’, inspired tension can be both your own motivator and reward generator.

That’s what I took from this teleclass.

- Mark McClure

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