Vicky Jones’ path to success has by no means been a smooth one. In fact, it was a family tragedy that made her stop to reevaluate and focus on what meant the most to her in life. This resulted in Vicky leaving a 15 year media career to establish her own business. Here’s what happened…
1. Tell us your story:
My name is Vicky, I’m a 38 year old single mother & business owner. Born in Wales, UK – I graduated from Oxford Brookes University, England & have lived in Sydney since 2003. Through hard work & dedicated study I have swapped my career of 15 years in the media industry in London & Sydney to establish my own thriving coaching business. I’m now following my passion to inspire and empower individuals to be the best version of themselves they can be.
2. How did you identify the goal/s you wanted to achieve?
My journey to become a life coach started with a tragedy when my oldest brother passed away from an accidental overdose in 2010. I was utterly devastated by his passing and embarked on a path of destructive avoidance strategies to try and cope with my loss.
Despite the pain, grief and suffering my family has endured, it is comforting to know that the passing of my brother has changed my life forever and looking back at the dots, I would never have embarked on such a massive life and career change if it had not been for seeking out a life coach as a way over overcoming my own destructive behaviours. It was through researching life coaching that I decided it was the perfect career for me. I was able to use my passion for human behaviour, my degree in biology and fascination with quantum physics to use this career as the perfect vehicle to channel my desire to help people.
When I started my coaching journey one of the first things I did was to write a vision statement and create a vision board. Within 11 months everything I once dreamed of had manifested. I am living the exact life I had written about including being able to leave my job of 8 years and set up my own business. I now have more time to spend with my daughter and three weeks ago I was able to attend a school trip as a parent helper – something I would never have been able to do 3 years ago.
A vision board is super powerful if you are really clear on what you want. Creating your own treasure map or ‘vision board’ allows the information filtering system of the brain known as the reticular activating system (RAS) to filter all the incoming information that your brain receives and it also acts as receiver for information that is tagged as important. We all have automatic ‘tags’, for example your name. We have all been in a situation when you are able to pick up your name being mentioned in a conversation on the other side of a room while talking to others. Similarly if you are thinking about buying a particular car or going to a specific holiday destination you are more tuned into any stimuli on that topic whether it’s a conversation, advertisement, article etc. Suddenly you see those cars everywhere you go and lots of people are ‘coincidentally’ also talking about that same trip. Nothing has actually changed you have just zeroed in on those subjects.
The process of creating a vision board is one of the best ways to program the RAS. It focuses your transmitter to pay attention to certain things in your environment that are in frequency with your goal or vision. This selective attention filter makes you aware of daily things that can help you achieve your goal and it’s your job to take action on those opportunities when they present themselves.
One of the first exercises I was encouraged to do as I studied coaching was to design your ‘ideal average day’. If you don’t know where you’re going, you will never arrive. Success means holding to a vision of what you want. Just saying ‘I have an idea’ isn’t going to make anything happen. You have to be specific and intentional about what you want. Without a vision to pull you into the future, you’re likely to keep reverting to the past.
3. How did you work towards achieving your goal – did you have a plan and a deadline to achieve your goals?
As part of my study program we are given the best tools for how to set & achieve your goals including creating 5 year, 2 year, 12 month, 90 day, monthly, weekly & daily goals. The most important part of goal setting is knowing your big why. For me, being able to give my daughter the best life I can and being able to spend quality time with her and be the best role model I can be drives me forwards every day.
I have my vision board in front of my desk so every day I am reminded of everything I want to achieve. If you have a big enough “why” you will overcome any “how”.
4. What was the biggest challenge you encountered along the way?
As a single mum without any family in Australia it was a challenge to travel to Melbourne for study purposes, plus I still had to work full time. Thank goodness for good friends that helped me look after my daughter.
I would have to work on my business every night after I put my daughter to bed. In January 2016, after two years of dedicated study I was able to leave my job to go out on my own.
5. What inspires you and keeps you going when you encounter obstacles?
Being on this path and now being able to share my passion with the world through my coaching helps me with the loss of my brother. Knowing that he is with me on this journey, that he is the reason I can overcome any fear and keep driving forwards every day. I talk about him in a lot of my workshops when I describe how I got onto this path.
6. What advice do you have for anyone wanting to achieve a goal?
1. Know your WHY
Why do you want to achieve your goal, what will it give you? The more emotion you feel when you think about your goals; the more likely you will follow through & overcome any hurdle.
2. Crystallise your vision
Know what you want with crystal clear clarity
3. Set specific SMART goals
90 day, 60 day, monthly, weekly & daily. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.
4. Tune in
I recommend creating a physical vision board – what better way to visualise your vision than to see it?
5. Believe
You must believe you can have the life or goal you desire. If you don’t believe it, it won’t happen.
7. What are the next goals you hope to achieve?
Here are 3 of my biggest goal for the next 5 years:
• I want to be financially free by the time I’m 45 – I have 7 years to achieve this and have mapped out my plan with specific financial benchmarks to hit to ensure I stay on track.
• I want to run motivational workshops in Italy within the next 2 years.
• I want to take my mum to South America to climb Machu picchu in October 2017 (we have always talked about it but I have now set a date).
Vicky is a transformational coach, mentor & speaker- she’s a passionate human being who knows firsthand how to achieve personal and professional success from the ground up, and it’s her mission to show others how to do the same. www.vickyjones.com.au
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