RESET
  • Home
  • Book
  • Coaching Program
  • Leadership
  • About
  • Contact

what should you do
​with your life?

Choose an option below to start your reset TODAY
Download the book
Join the Coaching Program

You know who hates resolutions?

1/4/2016

 
People who don’t achieve their goals, that’s who.

I speak from experience on this. The years when I hate setting resolutions are typically the years when the goals feel audacious, I didn’t accomplish what I intended the year before, or my goals lack clarity.
The reality is that goals are the only way we get anything done ever, whether we explicitly set them or not.
  • “I need to mow the lawn today.”
  • “I’ve got to send out that spreadsheet by 5pm.”
  • “I’m going to prepare my lesson.”
  • “I want to save $50 for that widget I’ve always wanted.”

Whether we realize it or not, our life is driven by goals. The only reason you get up in the morning, eat food, and go to work is because you set micro-goals.

  • “Ok, now I’m really going to get out of bed. Here…I…go!”

Goals work. We use them all the time.

Why not make them intentional and meaningful?

I use the the following categories and set 1-3 SMART goals in each:
  • Career
  • Financial
  • Spiritual
  • Physical
  • Intellectual
  • Family
  • Social
  • Relationship with Wife

What makes a great goal? For me, it’s simply about specificity and deadline. Also, I should be able to pinpoint when it’s complete.

For example, “I want to get healthy” isn’t a goal, it’s an aspiration. “I want to work out five times a week” is more of a goal, but lacks specificity. “I want to work out five times a week at 5:30am like this: M — Run for 30 min, T — Chest/Back, W — Run for 30 min, Th — Legs, Fri — Run for 30 min.”

That’s a goal that’s likely to happen.

Once your goals are set, read over them keeping in mind the three things that derail goals:
  1. They’re too audacious. “I want to make $1 million this year” when you’ve only made $50k historically is a demotivator. “I want to make $75k this year and here’s the plan” is more likely to result in $75k and probably more.
  2. I was unsuccessful last year. The past is only an indicator of future success if you don’t change anything about your future trajectory.
  3. Lacking specificity. If you want to be healthier, richer, more empathetic, or more productive, you likely won’t. Aspirations are nothing more than wishes. In fact, these aspirations come as a result of actions taken. You’d be better off setting specific goals, where these things become the byproducts: “I want to work out 5 times a week (healthier), increase my net worth by 5% (richer), ask questions and listen to my kids during dinner to learn more about their day and strive to really understand them (more empathetic), and wake up at 5am, work out, read scripture, check and respond to all emails and eat breakfast by 8am (more productive).”

But what if I don’t accomplish them?

“We are at our very best, and we are happiest, when we are fully engaged in work we enjoy on the journey toward the goal we’ve established for ourselves. It gives meaning to our time off and comfort to our sleep. It makes everything else in life so wonderful, so worthwhile.”
-Earl Nightingale

It was never only about the goal in the first place.

Comments are closed.

    Sign up to receive blog posts!

    * indicates required
    Picture

    Hi! I'm Dustin.

    I post here once a week on Tuesdays, every week, at 4:59am. You can also sign up below to have these posts magically air-dropped straight to your inbox.

    I help people figure out what they do best and do more of it. I'm a full-time leadership trainer and coach who writes about how to dominate your career and win in life. I help people RESET their careers to do more of what they love. Sometimes that means a total career-path reset, other times it's simply finding ways to do more of what they love in their current career.

    Read more HERE.


    Archives

    January 2018
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    RSS Feed

Learn more.

Blog
Interviews

Tools

RESET now.

Book

Support

Contact
About

© COPYRIGHT 2016. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Photo used under Creative Commons from Jeff Kern
  • Home
  • Book
  • Coaching Program
  • Leadership
  • About
  • Contact