Taking the first step: How Goal Getters helps turn intentions into action

Making a change can feel difficult, even when we know it could improve our wellbeing. Laurence shares how his own experiences of feeling stuck led him to create Goal Getters! a supportive group helping people take small steps towards their personal goals with encouragement, accountability and connection.

Here’s an experience that might be familiar: you have something you want to change or do, you know that it will make your life and your mental health better, but you don’t do it.

Maybe you’re not sure the best way to go about it, maybe there are big obstacles in the way, maybe it seems too much. Perhaps you get stuck in procrastination. Perhaps you make an attempt, but it doesn’t go so well and you get discouraged; then, when you think about it thereafter, it brings up negative feelings – inadequacy, failure – so you try not to.

I know this is all too familiar for me. I have a trail of failed projects and abandoned attempts at various things scattered behind me, and a host of issues I have avoided facing up to. At one point, around four years ago, when I was having a particularly tough time and feeling very low, I realised that I needed some peer support. Trying to do things all off my own back, relying on my own self-discipline, had not worked out very well before and was certainly not going to work now when I was so depleted.

This set me on the path which brought me to starting Goal Getters!

Goal Getters! is a group about helping people achieve their personal goals – whatever they may be: big, small, in whatever area of life. It works through following a structured process based on evidence of how best to set and pursue goals, and by providing accountability, access to knowledge and experience, camaraderie, encouragement and emotional support.

We are not about quick fixes, miracle cures or short cuts. Our ethos is based on systematically thinking through where we want to be and making small, incremental steps towards getting there, addressing challenges along the way.

The group is still young – we started in May – but already people are starting to see results. Current members’ goals range from losing weight, writing a play, starting a side project, and drinking more water. When asked for reflections and feedback to use for this article, members told me:

“The group gives you encouragement and helps you stay focused”

“There is a safe, open-minded environment of gentle accountability, held together by a structure, which allows everyone to feel supported”

“Along with the positive team spirit and boosted self-discipline, another benefit for me is how the group helps in overcoming a practical or creative obstacle and embracing challenges instead of avoiding them. Hearing others’ views can offer different or better ways through.”

“Everybody here is chasing different goals. It’s not just about my own path — it’s a place where I can watch and explore what works for other members and what doesn’t, reflect on whether it could work for me too, and try different approaches. It’s an inspiring place with a room to make mistakes, wander off track, and come back with more experience”

I can vouch that it has very much helped me formulate, plan out and stick to my goal of getting physically stronger and healthier before I hit 50 at the end of the year.

There’s a quote from Martin Luther King Jr which I use in the induction session: “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

We have space for new members and would love to see anyone who is interested take a step by coming along and giving it a try.

Goal Getters! meets every Friday afternoon at 5pm for around 1 hour in one of the studios at North Edinburgh Arts: 12C MacMillan Square, Edinburgh EH4 4AB (about half way along Pennywell road, in same building as Muirhouse Library). For more information contact Laurie: laurence_bell@proton.me

Do you live and/or work in Edinburgh and want to share your own experiences of mental health and wellbeing and the different ways keep you well? If you would like us to share your story, please email ithrive@health-in-mind.org.uk.