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16Jan

How to Set an Intention that Lasts for Years to Come

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Perfectionism Podcast Stress Management
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set an intention

I was brushing my teeth the other morning when my husband came in and said “Did you set any intentions for this year?”. I laughed and reminded him that, yes, I set so many and we had talked about them, remember? He looked at me and said, “I thought those were all jokes?”. And he was right, they kind of were – finally finish rewatching The OC, bake/eat more cookies, continue to be awesome (j/k), eat more guacamole. 

I thought about it for a minute and asked him “What are your intentions?” and he shared his and I thought about what I really wanted to set as an intention – to get back to walking/hiking more, visit our trails and parks more, have a regular fitness routine. And to wake up and get out of the house on time. 

This was the big one that got me thinking. Logistically, to get out of the house by a certain time, we would need to wake up earlier than we had been last year, which meant get to bed earlier than we had been, which meant a more streamlined evening and nighttime routine. Easier said than done with kids. 

The first week, we maybe got out at the ideal time 3 out of 5 days. 

So, we could look at it two ways:

  1. We didn’t do it. In our first week, we failed at getting out of the house on time watch day. And maybe, it was too hard and we should just forget about it, or push ourselves to do better because we are not good enough yet. It’s pass/fail and we failed. 
  2. We didn’t do it every day, BUT we got three out of 5! That’s an improvement and it is making steps towards this becoming more routine and more easily done. On those days that things did not align ro get out in time, what was going on? Did we not sleep well, were the kids up at night, or did something else happen? What could make it easier – maybe pack lunches or plan clothes the night before, know where our bags are, etc. it’s all about the small wins. 

It’s still the same situation and scenario. Neither way of looking at it changes what happened, but it does change how we continue to move forward with it and what can happen in the future. 

The first viewpoint focuses on what went wrong and how it will not work. It gives no timeframe, no room to improve, and expects it to be right immediately. The second focuses on the truth – it didn’t happen every day – and also on what went well and worked, and ways to shift what didn’t. It gives more time, expects less to start, and focuses on continuing to learn, grow, and move forward. 

It takes it from being a thing to check off on a Resolution “To-Do List” and turns it into a skill to learn and use. 

While this is my intention for the year, it can also transfer into how you go about your stress management and mindset as an SLP this year, especially as you set intentions for the year ahead. 

New Year’s goals aren’t meant to make you perfect, but they can definitely drive perfectionism, which most likely is something you are already grappling with as an SLP. 

One way to shift out of this is to look at your intention for the year (or just for a fresh start at any time) is to look at the goal as a progression, not as perfection. Much like the goals you set for your students. Goals aren’t meant to be mastered immediately. They are meant to be worked up to, little by little, while learning the skills needed to master those goals as you go.

Imagine if you set a goal for your student and expected them to achieve it right away. They (and you) would feel defeated and likely give up after not being able to perfect the enormous amount of skill that reaching that goal right away entailed. You would both probably give up, feel stressed, and feel like you had “failed”. All because you expected it to be perfect right away. 

The same goes for the intention you have for yourself. If you want to work on reducing and managing your stress, then it is ok if you are still feeling stress for days, weeks, or months, or even years, after you begin working on it. It is not about getting it perfect, or reducing it entirely, but about learning new things and growing along the way. 

With perfectionism, the idea is that there aren’t challenges. If things are challenging, and you have to try to learn them and figure it out, then it must be wrong and not for you. But in order to grow and continue to learn, challenge is to only an OK thing, but a welcomed thing. While it seems nice for everything to be simple, easy and challenge-free, if it was that way, life would be stagnant.

Whether your intention is to recycle more, meditate regularly, move your body each day, have a morning routine, hold amazing SLP sessions, or feel less stressed in your work overall, aim for growth rather than perfection. 

Look at the two viewpoints I could take from my intention I mentioned before. 

The first viewpoint focuses on what went wrong and how it will not work. It gives no timeframe, no room to improve, and expects it to be right immediately. The second focuses on the truth – it didn’t happen every day – and also on what went well and worked, and ways to shift what didn’t. It gives more time, expects less to start, and focuses on continuing to learn, grow, and move forward. 

It takes it from being a thing to check off on a Resolution “To-Do List” and turns it into a skill to learn and use. 

When you are setting a goal or intention for yourself, or if you already have, here are a few things to try.

How to Set an Intention that Lasts All Year

  1. What is my expectation? Check in and see if this is something you are planning to have perfect right away or are going to keep working with over time. 
  2. What is my reason for this? Look at what you are setting and connect with it – what is the reason behind it. If you want to get up early, is it because you “should” and you “fail” at mornings, or because you want to ease into your day instead of rush. 
  3. What are some small steps you can take? Instead of an overhaul, look at one tiny thing you can do each week to build into the bigger picture you envision. 
  4. Where is this working? When you restart and as you go, check in and notice the places you are putting into practice, or where your strengths for this are. Then play off of those to help out the places you’re struggling. 

Here is something to remember and to remind yourself of: A little makes a difference.

Even if you are not seeing huge leaps towards your students goals, or you yourself are not making giant steps towards your intentions, that little bit makes all the difference. It is a small step forward, keeping the momentum building and the growth happening. It is not perfect and that means it is not stagnant. It is likely messy and that is learning. 

In fact, small shifts and changes, even little tiny baby steps, are more effective than giant, sweeping changes, because they build gradually over time and are easier to stick with once they are learned. 

So, rather than overhaul your life immediately with your intentions this year, and expect immediate changes with a pass/fail indicator, go for a big intention with small steps to reach it all year and into the years to come. 

When you take this perspective, it can help to give you more freedom and space, to feel less stuck and stressed, and to help with preventing added stress and burnout. 

What small wins did you have with your intentions this year? Share below!

Want some resources to help you keep taking those small steps towards less stress? Make sure to sign up for the FREE resources in The Resilient SLP Toolbox, including yoga classes, meditations and more. 

Sign up below for immediate access:

With Love and Light, 

Jessi

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24Jan

Meditation for SLP Goal Setting and Visualization

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Goal Setting
Comments Off on Meditation for SLP Goal Setting and Visualization

Meditation for Goal Setting and Visualization Pinterest

Want to set goals that will actually work (and evolve with you), but have no idea where to start? Give this goal setting meditation a try. You’ll visualize your goals, explore the “why” behind them, and then get to setting them.

 

Want more meditations? Make sure to check out the Meditation and Audio library, and subscribe to the monthly newsletter for a free meditation practice straight to your inbox, as well as access to the SLP Toolbox, where you’ll find more meditation audios, journal templates and more – including the “Goal Setting Guide“, a downloadable workbook that will help you explore, set and reach your professional and personal goals.

Much Love,

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19Jan

How to Set Better Professional Goals as an SLP

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Goal Setting
Comments Off on How to Set Better Professional Goals as an SLP

Set Better Professional GoalsGoals and dreaming big can become overwhelming and can make you feel as if you are stuck and they are impossible to achieve or reach. This can lead to more anxiety, stress and burn out, usually the exact opposite of why you created the goals in the first place, because they seem like so much work, or it feels as if they will never happen.

When you are stressed or looking to create a change, it often feels like it needs to happen quickly, and with a HUGE shift in our daily life, in order to make it happen and stick. You probably really want that goal to part of you life, sooner rather than later, so you push, feel frustrated when it take more time, and eventually feel as though it is not worth the effort.

The good news is, goals are more achievable when you take smaller steps (or smaller goals) in order to reach the bigger ones with time. This means – they don’t have to happen all at once and they can happen (and should happen) with smaller increments .

Take creating healthier eating habits aka dieting, for example. With dieting, people tend to want to make huge, drastic changes and overhaul their diet, and in return receive results immediately. However, it is often the people who make small changes that build over time who reach their goals and keep results for the long-term, more than the people who make big, sweeping changes at once (like New Years resolutions). This is because the huge, drastic changes are often harder to do in the short-term and even more difficult to keep up in the long-term. It’s where yo-yo dieting comes from. Smaller goals, that may not yield as big of results immediately but instead build up overtime, are easier to start and to maintain, because you are incorporating them into your current life and learning new habits along the way. It cuts through the overwhelm and give you something more sustainable. This is true for any goals that you are trying to reach or changes you are wishing to make.

Here is another example: Let’s say you are looking to reduce stress and overwhelm with some mindfulness practices. You have a friend who reduced their stress through daily meditation and you’d like to give it a try too. They are on Day 25, and are able to sit in a 20 minute meditation each day, without any issues with sitting, their mind wandering too much, or difficulty finding time to make it happen. You think this sounds like something you would enjoy, but the idea of sitting with your mind “blank” for 20 minutes seems overwhelming – you don’t have the time or stamina – so you decide it is too hard to do and not something that would fit your schedule. You share this with your friend, feeling upset that this goal won’t work for you.  Your friend let’s you know they didn’t start this way either. They started small and built up, until it became a regular part of their day, even though at first it seemed like it would be impossible.

If you wish to start a regular meditation practice, you have to start small and build, so that is becomes a regular habit that grows and helps you meet your overall goal. Start meditating for 5 minutes a day (or most days) and then build up to 10 minutes, then 20 minutes, as you start to make room for it and experience benefits from it. When doing it this way, you build up slowly, so the changes are easier to make and last longer than if you had started all at once.

With goals setting, it is not always about completing your goal quickly or overnight, but instead having an action plan to help you reach that goal as you grow. This will not only help you to reach your goal more effectively, but help you to keep going and evolve more once you reach your goal.

Let’s look at the common types of goal setting together:

  • SMART Goals:
    • These are the traditional type of goal setting, and are similar to the types of goals used for Speech Therapy clients.
    • SMART stands for: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely.
    • These goals are made to be well-defined, measurable goals that are realistic and are able to complete in a certain amount of time.
    • They focus on the smaller details.
    • The good: They give you a guide to follow and a time-frame to get there.
    • The bad: They can be limiting, without a lot of flexibility, and often don’t give you anywhere to grow once you reach your goal
    • Example: “I want to get certified in _ therapy technique within the next 2 years”.
  • Goals with “Soul” or Purpose:
    • These are more non-traditional, holistic ways to set your goals
    • A shift in how you look at your goals and the reasons behind setting them.
    • They focus on the bigger picture of your life, instead of the smaller details
    • They often work with how you want to feel, rather than focusing on what you should do or what you want
    • The good: They offer a lot of growth for creating your daily life and after you reach your goal.They are ever evolving.
    • The bad: They can be difficult to follow, without set steps or actions to take. They don;y always have a timeline or trajectory for how to incorporate them
    • Example: “I want to feel more freedom and passion within my work day”.

Both of these are great ways to set your goals, but they both also have faults that will make it difficult to pursue your goals, or to feel fully satisfied once you achieve them. In order to make better goals, you need to combine the two types to create a bigger picture and have an action plan. When you put the two together, you get to look at the bigger goals of how you want your work and life to feel – how you want to experience it – by setting smaller goals that can take you there and continue to evolve once you reach them.

Let’s set some goals: Start with the bigger picture and work you way down to create a step-by-step process of reaching your goals, and growing with them.

  • Start with the bigger picture – What is your overall goal?
    • What do you want to feel?
    • Find your core values/feelings/words that will help bring that to you
    • Examples: abundance, freedom, grounded/security, thriving, flourishing
  • Set a time-frame:
    • When do you see this happening (reasonably)? 5 years, 1 year, etc.
  • Plan it out: Decide how to make it happen in small steps
    • If your goal is 5 years – What do you wish to achieve by then?
      • What can you do this year, and each continuing year, to bring you closer to it
    • At 1 year – What piece of your 5 year goal do you want to reach by this time?
      • How can you start to move forward from your 6 months?
    • At 6 months – How will this help you reach your 1 year goal?
      • What more can you do to start to get to your year mark?
    • At 90 days  – How does this continue the month goals you have set?
      • How can you expand upon what you have done, to create more?
    • At 30 days: Where does this take the weekly goals you have made?
      • What can you do this month, and each month, to reach this goal?
    • At 1 week: How does this build upon each day?
      • What can you do each week to reach your monthly goal?
    • Today: How can you begin?
      • Where can you start today to get you there?

Example: You want to have more freedom in your life, through less financial struggle. You decide pay off your student loans in 5 years, through a side hustle. In the first year, you need to make _ amount to help you pay for that, growing it by X each year through various streams of revenue. In the first 6 months, you need to be making X amount through a few of the revenue streams, so you market them to new sources. In the first 90 days, you have 2 steady streams of income, that will grow over time. In the first 30 days, you start selling your first product. In the first week, you start creating your first product. In the first day (today!), you decide what type of products you are going to create. 

*This is just an example and not a fool-proof plan. Your real plan will have more details and factors, most likely. 

Now go to your calendar or planner: If it’s not written down, it is more likely to NOT happen. You need to write it down and put it into your calendar/planner BEFORE you begin.  This way, you can see what to do each day or week to help you reach your goals. It also helps you to reduce some of the stress and anxiety that can come with setting goals, because you are taking it out of your head and putting it somewhere else. This allows you to examine it a little better, and also takes some of the responsibility of remembering it off of you.

Remember, goals that are worth doing, and that are most achievable, are ones that look at the smaller details to help you get to the bigger picture of your life.

What are your goals for your SLP life and what steps are you taking to create them?

You can download this entire post, as well as a free workbook for Goal Setting in the SLP Toolbox. If you are a member, look for the “Goal Setting Guide” in the SLP Toolbox. Not a member? You can sign up (it’s always free!) below.

Much Love,

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