How To Turn A Goal Into Reality Using The Grow Method

Why Reality

Most of us believe reality is real based on our thoughts and feelings which is partially true. What we imagine exist in our heads must be real. Although, it appears real it’s still only in our heads. When we take what is imagined, churn it in our heads a bit, organize and make sense of things only then will we create reality through actions we take in the physical world. The beauty and clarity of imagination with strong belief creates the vision which in turn manifest in our world. So, to put it simply, “Our Inner World Is A Reflection Of Our Outer World.” Let’s take a look on how to create reality into a real thing…our outer world.

History Of The GROW Model

Well, it’s known the grow model grew from Timothy Gallwey in the 1970’s. A tennis coach who first systemized the goal method while teaching his tennis students. He realized that the tennis students had poor timing concentrating on the ball hitting the court over an extended period of time. He devised a methodology that separated specific actions into smaller steps while helping change their perspective on tracking the ball. He has written several books on the matter first with the Inner Game of Tennis and later translated the methodology into areas including business, health and education. Timothy Gallwey first practiced his ideas on himself which made him a better tennis player hoping he could transfer this teaching to tennis students. He was successful and the first generation of the Grow Model was born. It was Alan Fine and Sir John Whitmore in the 1970’s, who were both executive coaches, later expanded on Timothy Gallwey’s process and named it the Grow Model.

How Does It Work

GROW= Goal; Reality: Obstacles and Way. The main idea behind the grow model is to take what is in your head, organize your thoughts and feelings, and turn them into a specific goal with actionable steps that are measured over time. We all have imaginations, dreams, goals and targets. The grow method will help you make them a reality. Imagination is where it all begins, which according to Albert Einstein, “Is Life’s Coming Attractions.” We begin to organize our thinking by putting things in some kind of order that makes sense to us.
From there we create dreams. Then from dreams we begin to set a goal using specific measurable targets with actionable steps. Targets are also known as milestones or the in-between steps we take.

Original GROW Method

G: Stands for a Goal you want to attain in a certain time Frame
R: Stands for Reality it measures how real your timeline is in relation to your goal
O: Stands for Obstacles, and is there for you to answer questions to potential obstacles that may
get in the way or slow you down.
W: Stands for Way and answers the question is there another way around the obstacles?

Real Potential GROW Method

G: Specific Goal
R: Reality- How real is your timeline broken down into 3 year, 12 months, 9 months, 6 months,
3 months 1 month, tomorrow and today (Timelines are specific for each person) with actionable steps
O: Obstacles- measured and completed by actions steps
W: What Else can you do today, tomorrow, this week?
There are some similarities between the original grow model and Real Potential GROW method. Real Potential grow method represents more action steps than questions. It’s the action steps and why you do them are most important rather than asking yourself a bunch a questions before taking action. I like asking a couple of questions then taking action on them…it’s the ready, fire, aim, aim instead of ready, aim, aim, aim, aim, aim then fire. Real Potential incorporates TMT…Test, Measure, Tweak Method as mentioned in the “Why New
Year Resolution Fizzle Out By February” 2019 article. Test-something you want to try for a specific time period, then ask how did I do? Finally if it turned out fine then continue what you’re doing if not, tweak by trying something else.

Real Potential GROW Method In Action

The first step is to identify a top of mind specific Goal. For instance I want to lose weight is not specific enough. Instead I want to lose ten pounds in the next 90 days. Now, why do you want to do this? This WHY is your purpose and has the greatest meaning to you. It cannot be contrived or someone else’s why. Now, assign a feeling to it. What feeling did you assign your why…annoyance or boredom or happy or hopeful? Whichever feeling you assigned will be manifested in your results. Annoyance will bring you annoyance results; Boredom will bring you boredom results…get the picture! The big why and feeling must match in order for you to be successful. For example, “I can do this right now without a doubt” but your feeling is Annoyance. This feeling doesn’t match your strong thought conviction which creates conflict. Instead, the feeling of excitement may be more appropriate. You cannot think one thing and feel another this creates conflict. Because a feeling reflects the way we think and must match!
Reality is defined where you are right now and what you need to do to meet your goal in the next 90 days. If it’s too far in the future it may not seem attainable, and if it’s too close to the present it may not seem challenging enough. So where’s the happy ground? The happy ground is based on the amount of the effort you are willing to do now, how big the WHY is and what feeling you assigned the WHY.
Obstacles will always be present but it’s how you respond to them rather than react that will make you move over, around, under or through the obstacles. Remember obstacles are man-made and first appear in our heads. Do you think, “Well the problem is?” Or “The solution is? One will move you forward and the other will keep you stuck. Either decision makes you right. What’s the difference between responding or reacting to a situation? It’s based on urgency. Usually when you respond there is a higher degree of thinking delay creating a better decision and result, versus reacting which is less rational and has a much higher degree of failure. Of course reaction is necessary if your life is in immediate danger especially if your brakes fail on your car. You will be need a bit of both responding and reacting at the same time. When you overcome an obstacle the next question to ask is, “What else can I do?”
What else keeps you moving forward toward a goal and big why. Just because you went through an obstacle doesn’t mean you stop there and raise your arms in victory. Unless, of course, you reached your goal then whoot-whoot-horay-horay celebrate, reinforce and validate your success! What else can I do? What else can I accomplish? What else…? What else is the momentum you need to keep going forward.

Here’s the whole thing in action:

Note: Begin with 3 months out and work down to today. By doing so you will have laid out the foundation for the next three months…a great place to start!

Goal: I want to lose 10 pounds in the next three months and be down 10 inches. I’m Hopeful that I will.

Reality: Is where you are now.

Target: 3 months out
Action: Watch my portion sizes every day
Action: Walk four times a week for 30 minutes
Target: 2 Months out
Action: Watch my portion sizes 4 times per week
Action: Walk three times per week 20 minutes
Target: 1 Month out
Action: Watch my portion sizes 2 times per week
Action: Walk 2 times per week for 20 minutes
Target: 1 week out
Action: Read and learn how to eat
Action: Watch my portion sizes 1 time per week
Action: Walk for 10 minutes 2 times per week
Target: Today
Action: Drink two glasses of water
Action: Clean out my pantry of boxed foods

Obstacles:

What Else can I do?

And there you have it a GROW model in action. Although this is a road map it’s definitely not a straight line to the victory flag. It’s full of curves, roadblocks and obstacles. You worst enemy is going to be your head. Will you balk when an obstacle is in your way? Will you say “I can do this!” Whenever you find yourself thinking you can’t do something turn it around by saying, “Okay, I hear you, but you know, I can and I will do this because I’m in control of myself…thanks for sharing.”
Remember, it’s not a race and never never never compare yourself to others on what you achieved or didn’t achieve because this will lower your self-worth and self-esteem, and sabotage your goal, big why and dreams. Stay laser focused on your Goal, Big Why and Feeling because these three are your stable foundation…your rock!

 

References:
The Inner Game of Tennis. (2018, April 25). Retrieved from. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Gallwey
The GROW Model. (2018, April 6). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GROW_model
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