There are many conflicts that we face when we pursue important goals. For example, we may fear the change required to achieve our goal. We may procrastinate or fail to believe in ourselves. Whatever the case, these conflicts need to be overcome in order for successful goal achievement. In this post, we will look at the following six common conflicts and give you tips to teach your students to overcome them:
- Fear of change
- Avoid procrastination
- Visualize your success
- Be persistent
- Replace bad habits with good habits
- Manage your progress
Fear of change
Fearing change is a common conflict when it comes to maintaining your drive strength. Almost everyone feels uncomfortable about or threatened by change, even those who would like to improve their situation. Realize that setting goals is the best way to control change so that it benefits you. Overcoming your fear of change is the first step to dealing with conflict in your life.
Avoid procrastination
Everyone is guilty of procrastination at some time in their life. There are different causes for procrastination, and it might help to know what causes someone to put things off. The number one reason people put things off is a fear of failure. People postpone doing things because they are afraid they won’t do it right. Procrastination is a part of human nature. Procrastination can become a habit, a bad habit. If your students fall for this bad habit, there are some useful ways to help them break out of the pattern. Teach them the following:
- Don’t put off starting tasks; start as soon as you get an assignment. Dig in and start right away.
- Write an outline on how to get the job done. Then assign dates and times to the outline. Be sure to allow yourself enough time to organize your thoughts and ideas on the subject.
- Don’t let perfectionism stop you. The project does not need to be done perfectly the first time.
Visualize your success
Teach your students that visualization is picturing in your mind what you want to have happen. Ask them to think about their family or social life. Ask: What do you really want to have happen? Then have them picture it and write out their vision.
Be persistent
Good things do not happen overnight. Teach your students to be persistent and:
- Stick with a plan, no matter what.
- Learn to act as if you have already attained your goal.
- When you feel like quitting, turn to your belief once again.
- Believe that you can achieve what you are trying to do.
- Persist and never quit.
Replace bad habits with good habits
Human beings are creatures of habit. Goals are the way to motivate yourself, but they only get you started. Habits keep us going. Your students must understand that the development of habits is the key to success or failure. They need to develop habits that are controlled by the subconscious mind and that will guide them toward success. Ask your students to identify habits that hold them back. Then teach them to replace these habits with positive behavior.
Manage your progress
To be successful, your students will need to manage their goals. Use the three R’s to do this:
- Review your goals one time per week.
- Revise them as needed.
- Redefine them in terms that have more meaning.
Thanks for tuning into our series on drive strength. If you want to learn more about developing or teaching soft skills, sign up for a free soft skills webinar here.
