Lately, I’ve created a little mantra for myself: “Brighter & Up.” What does that mean exactly?

Let me use myself as an example. And if any of this resonates with you, or you hear something in it that you can apply yourself, hopefully, you’ll share in the comments!

Typically reaching goals has gone a certain way for me in the past. 

I’m someone who will do anything and everything it takes to accomplish a goal. I’ll conquer it, accomplish it, and then I’ll pull back. 

In other words, reaching a goal for me was like reaching the “end,” and gave me the right to stop. It became a bit of a stall out on the continuation of other things I wanted to accomplish.

Does any of that sound familiar? 

Now, I do think sometimes “pulling back” is a way to replenish and recharge. It’s not always disempowering to pull back. 

But what I know about myself is that there have been times I have pulled back after reaching a goal almost to tell myself, “okay you did it. That’s enough. That’s your cap, your peak. This is the best life is going to get for you. Celebrate it, but don’t push your luck from here.”

Have you ever felt like that? Think back to the last time you set a goal and what accomplishing it looked like for you. That “don't push your luck” mindset is something that I think a lot of us have but might not realize it. And what we are even less likely to realize is why we would create a mindset like that.

I would assert it’s because we are scared. Not scared of trying to reach a goal, but scared of actually hitting it.

Huh?

Yeah. I think most of us are scared of the possibility that we could reach every single goal we set out for ourselves. 

We are scared of that, because it means believing in ourselves. And it means giving up the belief in shitty stories we have. The “I’m powerless,” “I’m not good enough,” “I’m not talented enough” stories.

It would require full ownership of just how great we are. 

So for me, Brighter & Up is a way to own that greatness. This is what I'm practicing now, rather than that don't press your luck story. This also means reaching a goal, having gratitude and acknowledging how that goal serves as momentum for what's next for me and not an ending point each and every time. 

For instance, people in my Accomplishment Coaching community may know that this past weekend was a huge breakthrough for me. I got to step up my role as a leader in a way that I never have before in our program. I served as the co-chair in producing a program I was a part of. What I'm doing with that momentum is acknowledging everything that worked for me this weekend. This includes my authenticity, my presence, my passion, my ability to remember to be playful and have fun at it all. This is going to push me into having an amazing experience at ICF Converge next week.

I'm taking this amazing accomplishment, acknowledging what worked and what made it possible, so that I can lay the planks of the ladder to reach the next level, the bigger thing. The momentum is even brighter because it leads right into my first international speaking opportunity in just a few days. 

So my challenge for anyone reading this is to take a look for yourself and how goal setting has impacted you. 

What camp do you fall into after you accomplish a goal? 

Do you use it as momentum to go for the next one or do you use it as a reason to lean back, take it easy, give yourself a break? 

Then regardless of which camp you fall into, how has that created an empowered relationship to reaching goals or has it been a disempowering action?