The idea of a tune up mid-year is useful for everyone and especially for anyone who has ADHD.  If you have a tendency to overcommitt, now is a perfect time to regroup and set the course for a productive close to 2014.  Do you tend to lose focus on your priorities during the year?   Take time to refocus on the priorities that mean the most to you.

Pull out your goals or resolutions that you made for 2014.  They can be personal, family and/or business goals.  Review your goals and first review and celebrate the progress you have made.  The celebration step is an easy one to skip, but I recommend that you take it seriously.  You need to give yourself credit for what you have accomplished.

Review your goals to see what else you need to put in place to achieve your success.  Identify action steps that you can take in the next week to move you forward.  If due dates have passed, set new deadlines that are more realistic.  Are there any goals that no longer seem relevant?  Get rid of them!  (Decluttering at its best!)  Are there new goals you need to implement?  By formalizing them and setting action steps, you can increase your chances of staying on track and achieving your goals.

Leave a comment below and let me know how you will review your goals and plan for success.  We are here to help!  Wishing you a successful end of 2014!

Goals are important when you have ADHD.  Goals are also often difficult to remember when you have ADHD.  Keeping your goal present and in your mind is important when you find yourself not working towards your goal.

How can you remember your goals?

Here are a few of my favorite ways to remember goals….

• Write out your goal 4 times every day.
• Make a PowerPoint slide with your goal and post it somewhere that you will see it every day. (You might want to move this around every few days so it doesn’t get lost in the background.)
• Make a daily routine to repeat your goal to yourself 3 times every morning.  Do this while sitting quietly and taking some deep breaths to really help you focus.
• Write about it each day in your journal.
• Record one action item each day in your calendar.
• Find a picture that represents success in your goal and post it somewhere that you will see it every day.
• Using that picture as your home screen on your phone can be helpful.

There must be hundreds of ways to remember goals.  Please share with us below…. how do you remember your goals?

Setting Intentions

The biggest impact for me was when she talked about setting intentions in order to do something differently.  For example, if you want to get a certain task done today, you can increase your chances of success by declaring your intention to yourself.  I’ll take something simple to illustrate.  If I want to make sure that I plan a week’s worth of dinners today, I will start with setting my intention.  I will close my eyes and state to myself  “I intend to plan our menu for the next week by 2pm today.”

As I plan my day, this intention will be top of mind and I’ll increase my chances of meeting my intention.

Can intentions be bigger?

I think so.  At the beginning of every year we get a barrage about New Years’ Resolutions.  What if we set ONE simple, meaningful and achievable intention instead?  I have been thinking about this concept ever since hearing Dr. Schaver talk at the beginning of December.  My intention for 2013 is to create more balance between my personal and professional pursuits.  In other words, “I intend to create more balance in personal and professional aspects of my life”.  There is more work to be done to meet this intention.  I’m not sure yet of all the action steps that will lead me to more balance, but setting my intention feels like a good place to start.

Intentions and ADHD

Can you apply this concept to your ADHD challenges?  I say you can.  The key from my perspective is to set one intention for the year.  You might be tempted to make many intentions.  On a daily basis, you can do this.  If you want to set an annual intention, focusing on one will help give it the priority that you deserve.

What types of intentions can you set around your ADHD?  Here are some ideas to get you started:

• I intend to focus more during conversations.
• I intend to arrive on time.
• I intend to declutter the house.
• I intend to give more focus to each task that I tackle.

I’m curious, do you think that setting intentions can help you?  I would love to hear your comments!

I’ll be honest, I don’t like New Year’s resolutions.  They are often not realistic, do not have solid plans behind them and are usually not what I would call “ADHD-friendly”.  I often hear people asking, “What resolutions are you making this year”?  This can easily lead to an impulsive response of, “I’m going to lose weight”, “I’m going to focus more” or  “I’m going to finally manage time better this year”.  Resolutions tend to be susceptible to this impulsivity, general and filled with obligation to fix what is wrong with ourselves.

Will you consider a goal instead?

I’m writing about this now because I am hopeful that you have forgotten your resolutions… Hopeful that you will open to considering the idea of setting ONE meaningful goal for yourself.  Having a meaningful goal to focus your attention can help you overcome the problems often associate with resolutions.

 Brainstorm

To start, brainstorm the ADHD challenges where you would like to make some improvements this year.  Review your list and decide what is the biggest priority for you.  Make this priority your focus for the meaningful goal you are going to set.  I know, it will be difficult to pick just one, but this is really important.  Having one goal where you focus your energy will help you in achieving that goal.  (I also think it will help you improve in other areas, but more on that another day!)

 Set a SMART Goal

After selecting your area of focus, it is time to set a SMART goal.  To make your goal SMART, you can answer the following questions for yourself:

• How can I make the goal as Specific as possible?
• How will I Measure this goal?  (If it is not easily measured, develop your own rating scale.)
• What are my chances of Attaining this goal?  How can I revise the goal to make it more Attainable?
• How is this goal Relevant to my personal and/or professional life?
• What is the Timing or deadline associate with this goal?

When your goal is SMART, you can then develop a useful action plan and monitor your success until you achieve the goal according to the timing you have established.

What do you think, do resolutions work for individuals with ADHD and ADD?

How can you apply these tips to your goals?

PS – You can now subscribe to the show in iTunes!

Below, I have pulled together some of my favorite goal setting articles here at My Attention Coach to provide you a one-stop “shopping” experience.  Let me know your thoughts!

Goal Setting 101

Clear goals that use the SMART acronym do more to move you towards success than any number of New Years resolutions.  This article shares some quick tips to ensure that your goals are SMART.

Review Goals to Get Focused

ADHD can cause trouble staying focused on your goals.  Especially annual goals that are set early in the year.  This article will help you review your goals to help you stay (or get!)  focused.

Prioritizing ADHD Goals

All of your goals are important to you and prioritizing them allows you to focus your valuable time and energy.  When you have ADHD, prioritizing your goals can be extremely difficult, yet it is an important skill to develop.

Let me know your thoughts and any questions below.

Take some time to review your goals or to set some new ones.  Whether it is getting organized, staying focused, starting a new project or something else that I have not contemplated, you owe it to yourself to get focused.

To start, take some time today to make sure your goal is SMART.

• Specific
• Making goals specific give you a better idea of where you are headed.
• Take the example of getting organized.  Saying I want to be better organized might move you in the right direction, but saying that you want to clear all of the extra clutter from the file drawers in your home office is likely to motivate you more.
• Measurable
• When you set your goals, make sure you can measure them.
• Having measurements lets you keep track of whether or not you achieve your goals.
• Attainable
• Goals need to be attainable.  Many times, when talking to clients, I learn that their goals are often set in a manner that makes them unachievable.  As you  know, this can be frustrating.  When looking at your goals, look at them to make sure they are attainable.  If not, break them into smaller steps.
• Realistic
• You must be realistic when setting your goals. If ADHD tends to make you impulsive, it is especially important for you to focus on setting realistic goals. When you set goals, double-check to make sure you are being realistic.
• Timely
•  When you have ADHD, it is important to set timely goals with deadlines to help you keep focus on the goals.
• To reinforce the deadlines you set for yourself, I recommend that you write them down in your planner or calendar.

To learn more about goal setting strategies, register for the teleclass I am offering in August with my coaching colleague Dale Davison.  Goals and ADHD: Practical Strategies that Work for You!

Join us for 30 minutes to learn how to

• set powerful goals that you can actually achieve
• set goals that will motivate you
• set goals that will increase your focus
• set goals that will increase your productivity

This will be easy  and convenient…  Call from either your home or office on

Monday 8/22/11  2:30 – 3:00 p.m. EDT  (1:30 – 2:00 p.m. CDT)

or

 Tuesday 8/23/11    9:00 – 9:30 p.m. EST or  8:00 – 8:30 p.m. CST

We really encourage you to join us live so you can get your own questions answered, but the recording will also be available for those of you who can’t make it to either of the teleclasses.

Cost:  complimentary / free
Register by:  9 a.m 8/22/11 to receive call-in number and password

Interested in more strategies and support that work?  Join us for our group coaching by phone starting August 29.  Go from Turmoil to Tranquility!

The practice of gratitude as a tool for happiness has been in the mainstream for years. Long-term studies support gratitude’s effectiveness, suggesting that a positive, appreciative attitude contributes to greater success in work, greater health, peak performance in sports and business, a higher sense of well-being, and a faster rate of recovery from surgery.

But while we may acknowledge gratitude’s many benefits, it still can be difficult to sustain. So many of us are trained to notice what is broken, undone or lacking in our lives. I know this can be especially true for my clients with ADHD.  And for gratitude to meet its full healing potential in our lives, it needs to become more than just a Thanksgiving word. We have to learn a new way of looking at things, a new habit. And that can take some time.

That’s why practicing gratitude makes so much sense. When we practice giving thanks for all we have, instead of complaining about what we lack, we give ourselves the chance to see all of life as an opportunity and a blessing.

Remember that gratitude isn’t a blindly optimistic approach in which the bad things in life are whitewashed or ignored. It’s more a matter of where we put our focus and attention. Pain and injustice exist in this world, but when we focus on the gifts of life, we gain a feeling of well-being. Gratitude balances us and gives us hope.

There are many things to be grateful for: colorful autumn leaves, legs that work, friends who listen and really hear, chocolate, fresh eggs, warm jackets, tomatoes, the ability to read, roses, our health, butterflies. What’s on your list?

Some Ways to Practice Gratitude

• Keep a gratitude journal in which you list things for which you are thankful. You can make daily, weekly or monthly lists. Greater frequency may be better for creating a new habit, but just keeping that journal where you can see it will remind you to think in a grateful way.
• Make a gratitude collage by drawing or pasting pictures.
• Practice gratitude around the dinner table or make it part of your nighttime routine.
• Make a game of finding the hidden blessing in a challenging situation.
• When you feel like complaining, make a gratitude list instead. You may be amazed by how much better you feel.
• Notice how gratitude is impacting your life. Write about it, sing about it, express thanks for gratitude.

As you practice, an inner shift begins to occur, and you may be delighted to discover how content and hopeful you are feeling. That sense of fulfillment is gratitude at work.

What do you think?  How can you practice more gratitude?

Author’s content used under license, © 2011 Claire Communications

Goal Review

To review your goals, ask yourself the following questions:

• What progress have I made towards my goal?
• What adjustments do I need to make regarding my goal?
• What milestones can I set to to ensure I am making progress to meet my goal?
• How can I keep my goals present for myself in my day-to-day activities?

Do a quick review and leave your comments here to let us know how it has helped you.