Jump Start the New Year!

New Year resolutions, priorities, setting goals, personal improvement, and that weight loss plan….

Things that are on our mind as we start 2018.  By the way it seemed liked the 80’s were not that long ago – space invaders, PacMan, Princess Di got married, CDs (11 for a dollar anyone?), Sally Ride, New Coke, The Simpsons, The Berlin Wall, Thriller, The Cosby Show.  OK, back to my blog (sorry for the digression back to the 80’s).

What do we want to achieve before 2020?  What do we want to achieve at work?  What do we want to achieve at home? What do we want to achieve today?  The power of goal setting lies in its ability to motivate us. To unlock this power, we have to do three things: let our goals challenge us in some way; keep our goals in the forefront of our minds; and keep our goals consistent.  Goals help us focus and give us direction. Setting goals is also a process – a process that requires quiet thinking time and clarity of your purpose. 

To start we need to evaluate and reflect.  What are our dreams and what goals will help us achieve them?  

Having goals for things we want to do and working towards them is important. The path towards our goals may not always run smoothly or be easy, but having goals, whether big or small, is part of what makes our life good. It gives us a sense of meaning and purpose, points us in the direction we want to go and gets us interested and engaged, all of which are good for our overall happiness.  So, about that weight loss goal?  Or let’s call it a health goal….

As James Clear wrote about in an article (Goal Setting: A Scientific Guide to Setting and Achieving Goals), “Most goal setting exercises start with an overpaid consultant standing by a whiteboard and asking something like, “What does success look like to you? In very specific terms, what do you want to achieve?”  If we are serious about achieving our goals, however, we should start with a much different question. Rather than considering what kind of success we want, we should ask, “What kind of pain do I want?”  The real challenge is not determining if you want the result, but if you are willing to accept the sacrifices required to achieve your goal. Do you want the lifestyle that comes with your quest? Do you want the boring and ugly process that comes before the exciting and glamorous outcome?  It's easy to sit around and think what we could do or what we'd like to do. It is an entirely different thing to accept the trade-offs that come with our goals. Everybody wants a gold medal. Few people want to train like an Olympian.  Goal setting is not only about choosing the rewards you want to enjoy, but also the costs you are willing to pay.

• If you’re a coach, your goal is to win a championship. Your system is what your team does at practice each day.
• If you’re a writer, your goal is to write a book. Your system is the writing schedule that you follow each week.
• If you’re a runner, your goal is to run a marathon. Your system is your training schedule for the month.
• If you’re an entrepreneur, your goal is to build a million-dollar business. Your system is your sales and marketing process.

Goals are useful for setting the direction. Systems are great for actually making progress. In fact, the primary benefit of having a goal is that it tells you what sort of system you need to put in place. However, the system itself is what actually achieved the results. “

If my goal is to be thinner (scratch that – healthier), then my system will be to exercise 6 days a week and eating healthier foods 6 days a week (yep, gave myself an out there).

Paul Shearstone writes, "Setting goals is the genesis from which all things great and not so great are accomplished... It should be noted that there is no small coincidence between the one percent that write goals down and the highest achieving, highest income-earning men and women around the world."

Let’s make it easy – think about these few things:

• What motivates us and will keeps us energized?
• Are our goals SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound)?
• Can we put them in writing? 
• What do we need to “do” to achieve our goals (what actions/systems)?
• How will we hold yourself accountable (reminders, milestones, etc.)?
• Who will you tell and enlist to help hold you accountable?

Together. We. Win.

Dave Harmon
People Division
“Kindness is Currency”
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/davidharmonhr

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