Book Summary Preview : Grow Your Own Carrot

Preparing Yourself

Preparing yourself is important in the GROW process. You need to consider the following things in order to help you achieve your goal: available resources, positive environment, support group, and a journal.

First, know your available resources. Resources can refer to your finances, skills, knowledge, or time. This will help you lay the groundwork for what you need in order to go through the GROW process.

Second, develop a positive environment. This will help you focus on your goals, and give you the best possible start.

Third, form a strong support group. A support group will help you tremendously to stay motivated to accomplish your goal. It can consist of your friends, family, or even mentors who can cheer you on and contribute to your progress. In addition, it is also recommended to have a buddy throughout the whole process, to whom you can report to regarding your development.

Finally, keep a journal to help you keep track of your progress. It allows you to document your whole journey, and lets you to write down your insights and learning along the way. Keeping documentation such as this will help you in pursuing future goals.

Remember that preparing yourself involves a lot of struggle. Too much thinking and voices from our past will initially get in the way of setting your goal. Questions such as “What will my friends think if I give up?” or “What will happen to me in the future?” will definitely arise. When embarking on a new journey, and the GROW process is indeed a journey, doubts and internal conflicts will assail you. This is normal. The key is to deal with them from the beginning, so that when you encounter them in one of the stages, you will know how to handle them.

At every stage, there are Key Questions to guide you through the process. Be sure to refer to them as you go along.

Setting Your Goal

The first step in this process is setting your goal. You have to decide which area in your life you want to change, and what results you want to see. Setting your goal is very crucial, because you have to commit yourself to it. If you are unclear as to what goal to set, here are the different types of goals people choose:

• Practical Goals - Examples: To lose weight, get a new job, or organize all your hobby supplies.
• Material Goals - Examples: To buy a new house, a new car, or a new power tool.
• Decision Goals - Examples: Ending a relationship, immigrating to another country, choosing a college to go to.
• Being Goals - Examples: To have a calm and stress free life, or to become the leading expert in a certain field.

After setting your goal, create a clear goal statement. Make sure it indicates a time limit and is specific, measurable, and positive. Without these four things, your goal becomes vague, and it‘s much harder for you to commit to it. One example of a clear goal statement is, “I want to display my hand made serving spoons in 10 leading Belgian stores within 8 weeks.” This goal is very specific, and contains all the elements of an effective goal statement. . . .