It is that time of year again when people review their lives and create goals they want to accomplish in the coming year. Am I right?
Some goals are really reachable and some are kind of big. But unfortunately by February most people's goals are not being pursued any longer. We get to December and feel defeated once again. I read this thing the other day that said "My goal in 2018 is to accomplish the goals that I failed in 2017, which I should've done in 2016 because I made a promise in 2015, which I planned in 2012." Oh my goodness how true is that? I thought to myself, that is the true epitome of resolutions, which is why I normally do not make them. I do however like to make goals for the year. I think about the goals I want to accomplish and the attainability of those goals before I set them. Don't get me wrong, I make goals plenty of times that I do not complete at all. There are times that I set out a goal to workout every day or 5 days during the week and by week two I am lucky if I get 1 day in. I know goals are hard to keep, and why is that you think? Oh sure, life gets busy and we have tons of things to do, I get it, I am there, but I do not think that is a true excuse. I was reading somewhere last year that stuck in my head. It said "motivation has very little to do with the success of goals" What? You would think that being motivated would mean that you would attain these goals even better, but it turns out that "intention is more important than motivation." A study in health psychology showed that 91% of people who planned their intention by writing down where and when they planned their exercise each week actually followed through better than those that just planned to workout. I thought about this over the past few months and I can see why they would say this. Because if you think about it, you need to have some level of desire. What pulls the desire out of you and turns it into action is not just your level of motivation but rather you plan for implementation.
I have a list of how to set goals that will actually achieve (which I will provide below) and one the first things is to ask yourself why, why, why, why, why. Someone may say they want to lose 20Lbs, but that may just be the surface level goal, you need to get to root by asking yourself the 5 whys.
There is this story I heard of a guy that goes to trainer and says I want to lose 50 lbs, and the trainer said ok why do you want to lose 50lbs? the guy said I just want to look better, the trainer said, well that's a good reason, but not good enough to get through the hard days. Then he said, why do you want to look good? The guy replied, well my daughter is getting married, So I want to look good for her wedding. Ok the trainer said, that's a little better, so why is your daughters wedding really important for you to look good? The guy said a year ago I had a heart attack and they weren't sure I would live to walk my daughter down the aisle, so I don't want to walk my daughter down the aisle, I want to Waltz her down the aisle because I am healthy to do so.
So you see when you take a goal that seems so surface level and you dig deeper and ask yourself why, why, why. why, you will get to the bottom of what really matters, and at that point you can plan you path of implementation.
You need to plan out you plan of attack when it comes to goals. My advice is to take one or two goals at a time and plan then on the calendar. Maybe do it small, monthly or bi-monthly, one of my favorites is quarterly. For example, for me, one of my first goals this first quarter of the year is to paint the inside of my house. (a goal I set in 2015) I plan to have this done by the end of the first quarter March 30th. If you set goals like this, you make them much more attainable. Another huge thing about goals is to have an accountability person to help keep you on track. So think of someone who you can trust to hold you accountable and when you ask this person to help you, do it on the phone or in person and when they are to hold you accountable have it in person or on the phone. When you do this, it makes it more personal, and it is harder to push it aside if you have that in person/in voice interaction with someone. And then the last thing you want to do is to make sure you celebrate, yes even the little stuff. There is this weird thing that people love celebrating their success no matter how big or small, but it gives people a huge amount of endorphins.
So I challenge you, and myself, to make this your best year yet. That is what is so great about new years, they are a chance at a clean slate to do something that makes your life better in some way.
Below is a good example I got from an online source that I can't remember right now, but is a great way to start making goals.
Some goals are really reachable and some are kind of big. But unfortunately by February most people's goals are not being pursued any longer. We get to December and feel defeated once again. I read this thing the other day that said "My goal in 2018 is to accomplish the goals that I failed in 2017, which I should've done in 2016 because I made a promise in 2015, which I planned in 2012." Oh my goodness how true is that? I thought to myself, that is the true epitome of resolutions, which is why I normally do not make them. I do however like to make goals for the year. I think about the goals I want to accomplish and the attainability of those goals before I set them. Don't get me wrong, I make goals plenty of times that I do not complete at all. There are times that I set out a goal to workout every day or 5 days during the week and by week two I am lucky if I get 1 day in. I know goals are hard to keep, and why is that you think? Oh sure, life gets busy and we have tons of things to do, I get it, I am there, but I do not think that is a true excuse. I was reading somewhere last year that stuck in my head. It said "motivation has very little to do with the success of goals" What? You would think that being motivated would mean that you would attain these goals even better, but it turns out that "intention is more important than motivation." A study in health psychology showed that 91% of people who planned their intention by writing down where and when they planned their exercise each week actually followed through better than those that just planned to workout. I thought about this over the past few months and I can see why they would say this. Because if you think about it, you need to have some level of desire. What pulls the desire out of you and turns it into action is not just your level of motivation but rather you plan for implementation.
I have a list of how to set goals that will actually achieve (which I will provide below) and one the first things is to ask yourself why, why, why, why, why. Someone may say they want to lose 20Lbs, but that may just be the surface level goal, you need to get to root by asking yourself the 5 whys.
There is this story I heard of a guy that goes to trainer and says I want to lose 50 lbs, and the trainer said ok why do you want to lose 50lbs? the guy said I just want to look better, the trainer said, well that's a good reason, but not good enough to get through the hard days. Then he said, why do you want to look good? The guy replied, well my daughter is getting married, So I want to look good for her wedding. Ok the trainer said, that's a little better, so why is your daughters wedding really important for you to look good? The guy said a year ago I had a heart attack and they weren't sure I would live to walk my daughter down the aisle, so I don't want to walk my daughter down the aisle, I want to Waltz her down the aisle because I am healthy to do so.
So you see when you take a goal that seems so surface level and you dig deeper and ask yourself why, why, why. why, you will get to the bottom of what really matters, and at that point you can plan you path of implementation.
You need to plan out you plan of attack when it comes to goals. My advice is to take one or two goals at a time and plan then on the calendar. Maybe do it small, monthly or bi-monthly, one of my favorites is quarterly. For example, for me, one of my first goals this first quarter of the year is to paint the inside of my house. (a goal I set in 2015) I plan to have this done by the end of the first quarter March 30th. If you set goals like this, you make them much more attainable. Another huge thing about goals is to have an accountability person to help keep you on track. So think of someone who you can trust to hold you accountable and when you ask this person to help you, do it on the phone or in person and when they are to hold you accountable have it in person or on the phone. When you do this, it makes it more personal, and it is harder to push it aside if you have that in person/in voice interaction with someone. And then the last thing you want to do is to make sure you celebrate, yes even the little stuff. There is this weird thing that people love celebrating their success no matter how big or small, but it gives people a huge amount of endorphins.
So I challenge you, and myself, to make this your best year yet. That is what is so great about new years, they are a chance at a clean slate to do something that makes your life better in some way.
Below is a good example I got from an online source that I can't remember right now, but is a great way to start making goals.
1.CLARIFY WHAT YOU
WANT The best way to begin to identify your goals for next year is to start
with a brain dump. Writing down your goals, makes them real and make it more
likely that you will take action on them. I actually do this pretty regularly,
not just with the big picture items on my list but my week to week projects as
well. I find getting everything out of my head and on paper make things feel
more manageable and I’m less overwhelmed and stressed by what I want to
accomplish. I would challenge you to not judge this list and just get every
thought and idea no matter how little or big and scary it might be. We will
spend time in the next few steps refining and diving deeper into them.
2. REFINE TO MAKE
SPECIFIC AND MEASURABLE Listen to your gut when reading through your goals
and be honest with yourself about what’s important and needs to be a priority.
Pay attention to the ones that light you up and deserve your time and energy.
Too often we are vague about our goals which in turn makes us less likely to
achieve. With every single goal, you need to be able to confidently say “Yes, I
did this” or “No, I did not.” So it needs to be more specific than “make more
money” or “take more time off.” Instead, you could specifically say “I am going
to book 20 weddings” or “I will take the month of March off as a sabbatical.”
3. PUT THEM ON THE CALENDAR I get it, it’s
fun to dream, but too often as entrepreneurs it stops there and I want to make
sure you adopt the idea that goal setting should be on-going and not just a
practice for January 1st. Break your goals up into smaller, actionable steps
and put them on your calendar. Most importantly, honor these tasks and
deadlines. As our own boss, it can be easier to keep promises to others while
our own goals and dreams take a back seat. Make sure every goal you have has a
date of completion. Without a date, you’ll likely keep pushing it to the bottom
of your to-do list, never to get done. Be aggressive with this but also have
grace for yourself that dates can be adjusted. Even your wildest dream goals
can come to fruition if you take the time to put the action steps down to achieve
them.
4. BE HONEST ABOUT YOUR FEARS Too many
people don’t acknowledge the fears they have in their business, heck, we
frankly suck at dreaming because we’re too focused on what can go wrong. What
would it look like if you believed everything would go right for once? Simply
acknowledging these fears and then letting them go can be crazy powerful. When
you recognize that something terrifies you, you free yourself up to start
thinking about how it’s going to feel when you accomplish your goal or the
steps you’d take it you had to face that fear. What would it look like if your
fear actually happened? Usually, it’s not as scary as we make it up to be in
our head and bringing our fears into light takes the power away from them.
5. CELEBRATE YOUR
SUCCESS When you write down the goals it will help you see the finish line
even when things get tough and you undoubtedly run into troubles. You’ll better
be able to gauge if you should say yes or no to all of the opportunities that
land in your lap and allow you to stay focused and set boundaries to protect
your vision and goals. And my favorite part, it will enable you to see and
celebrate your progress when you accomplish them.
Pick a goal in each of the following areas that your most
excited about and develop it further.
PERSONAL Goal:
By Date: Action
Steps to Achieve: -
-
-
-
Fears: -
-
Refined Goal:
Celebrated How:
BUSINESS Goal:
By Date:
Action Steps to Achieve: -
-
-
-
Fears: -
-
Refined Goal:
Celebrated How:
DREAM Goal:
By Date:
Action Steps to Achieve: -
-
-
-
Fears: -
-
Refined Goal:
Celebrated How:
WELLNESS Goal:
By Date:
Action Steps to Achieve: -
-
-
-
Fears: -
-
Refined Goal:
Celebrated How:
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