PEI Life-Coach Says Embracing Doubts Can Help Achieve New Year Goals

By Yakosu Umana

Submitted by: Michelle Burns

At the beginning of every year, most of us strive for self-improvement and set goals or a resolution for the rest of the year. However, some of us often find ourselves coming short in meeting these goals, or worse, giving up on setting more goals.

Fortunately, there are life-coaches such as Michelle Burns, who can help us set realistic goals for the new year, and offer tips on how to stick to them.

She has been coaching clients towards their personal growth for the past 20 years.

When people set goals for themselves, fear may lead them to procrastinate, Burns said.

“Taking action in pursuit of a goal is kind of scary. Especially if it’s something new we’re doing. We’re moving into the unknown and it always triggers a bit of fear.”

Instead of confronting our fear, we focus on other problems we may have, instead of taking action towards our goal, she said.

“They feel like ‘I’m not good enough, I’m not worthy,’ these kinds of sabotaging beliefs cause them to not take action.”

Despite acknowledging fear as the main reason we fail to meet our goals, Burns said we should embrace it.

“Don’t try to push it away. Give it a voice,” she said.

“If fear had a voice, what would it say.”

Burns encourages people to write down what their fear is telling them.

On the next page, give faith a voice, she said.

“Faith will say ‘you have what it takes, go for it. It’s going to be good for you.’”

We have a choice to let fear or faith dictate how we act, Burns said.

“Some people don’t understand that they have a choice, whether they let fear run them or faith run them.”

“When fear is in the driver’s seat. I make very different decisions. When faith is in the driver’s seat, I move forward and feel good about what I’m up to.”

Even when we choose to rely on faith, fear is still there, she said.

“Fear is never going away. I always like to think of it being in the back seat. It’s just not in the driver’s seat, it’s not making the decisions.”

Aside from having faith when pursuing our goals, Burns said attaching our values to our goals helps us achieve them.

“ If [someone says] ‘I want to lose weight and improve my health because I want to be a great example to my children,’ that’s got a lot more energy [motivation] behind it.”

We can’t achieve goals that are separate from our values, she said.

“If you don’t have the passion and the ‘why’ is not big enough, any obstacle can cause you to get off course.”

Burns said maintaining good physical health is important in pursuing any goal.

“I always tell people take care of your physical health first. Making sure you’re on a healthy diet, get exercise, hydration and rest. It’s difficult to pursue anything if you’re not feeling good.”

Sustaining our mental health is crucial as well, she said.

“It’s good to have a support network around you, even if it is online, to be able to talk about the challenges you have. Have a way of processing.”

Burns encourages everyone to not only avoid energy-draining habits but to replace them with positive and motivating habits.

“Every time you take something out of your life, replace it with something better,” she said.

For more info on Michelle Burns, visit her website.