Well, it is a new year so everyone is thinking about New Year’s resolutions and talking about goal setting. Most of which will be broken or forgotten by the time you are reading this.
We generally don’t go about setting goals the right way. We get caught up in the hype and the noise of what everyone else is doing, but we take little time thinking about goals and ways to achieve them that are ideal for us. I’ve been in that boat just the same as everyone else.
I have learned to do it differently and it has proven to work very well for me and my clients.
What’s your vision?
First, whether you are working on a business or personal goal the general approach is the same. You need to start with a vision. I am not talking about a vision statement. Those are mostly useless for this purpose. I am talking about a vision of who you want to become and what you want your life to look like. What you daydream about. Think about it for a minute. What is the constant thought you have of how you would like your life to look different? If it keeps recurring you are on to something.
You may think this vision is unrealistic. You may think it is too big. I would say you are wrong. What happens if you fall a little short of going after big goals? You have likely still achieved something great. You also have the satisfaction of knowing that you did all you could do to get there. The journey is where you will find some joy.
Hold on a minute…
Ok, so you have your vision in mind and are ready to go after it. Let’s go!…Wait a minute. Why are you going after this? Is it what you really want, or is it what you think you should do, or what someone else wants for you? Does it align with your values? What are your values? You need to understand who you are at the core, what is critically important to you and make sure your vision aligns with that before going after it.
My dad told me something probably 25 years ago on the golf course that he doesn’t likely remember saying, but it has stuck with me to this day. I am paraphrasing a bit and I can’t remember what we were talking about but he said, “You have to know yourself and be yourself” If your vision for yourself and your life is rooted in knowing yourself and being yourself you are heading down the right path. If not, time to dig a little deeper.
Now what?
Ok, you know what you want and why you want it. Now comes the really hard part…getting it done. Lots of people have dreams that they don’t achieve. Sometimes there are legitimate circumstances that prevent them from happening, but oftentimes we get in our own way.
When you have a clear vision of what you want and why, every decision you make gets you closer to, or farther away from, that goal. Yea, that’s a lot to process and may seem a bit overwhelming. However, it is really about your mindset and habits you put in place on a daily basis that will allow you to achieve big things. No, you don’t need to be perfect. We all have periods of time where we take a step back. Two steps forward and one step back will still get us there. The key is finding a method that works for you and being consistent. I can’t over emphasis this enough. CONSISTENCY is critical!
When I am working with my clients on their goals we start with core values. We find out who they are. Then we talk about their vision for their life and business. Then we put the structure in place to get them where they want to go.
You can do the same thing for yourself. However, it is helpful for a lot of people to have someone to talk to about all of this. Whether it is to bounce ideas off of, or to hold them accountable, or both.
If you would like to have a conversation with me about this please don’t hesitate to reach out. Really, if you are reading this, I am inviting you to contact me. I am happy to have a conversation with anyone about how to create and achieve your goals.
One Small Step
Whatever goal you are working on now, before doing any more work on it, take a step back and ask yourself why you want to achieve that goal. If it is not for you and it doesn’t align with your values…stop. Then, figure out what you really want and go after that.
I am going to change things up a bit. I have found that writing about a topic that is tied to a specific book and podcast recommendation is limiting. It limits what I can write about and it limits the number of recommendations I am giving you for books and podcasts. So, I have decided to decouple those two things. I am going to write about whatever it is that I think might be valuable to you and I will also give recommendations for books, podcasts and articles that I think will be useful, but they won’t necessarily relate. I may decide to break them out in separate emails, we shall see.
This article from HBR is helpful if you are feeling overwhelmed.
This podcast episode gives helpful tips about quieting the negative chatter in your head.
This book has great information about how givers (those that help others without expecting anything in return) can achieve great success without getting taken advantage of.
As always, if you have any feedback, let me know.
Thanks for reading!