Goal Setting 101 – Finish it Before You Begin
With the end of the year straight in our headlights, people often both reflect upon the year that is coming to a close as well as think ahead of the coming year and all the exciting things that may come to be. Well….some people.
I generally don’t set New Year’s resolutions intentionally. I’d rather start something on Jan 5th or Dec 22nd or something. My intention behind this is simple: I don’t want any attachment to beginning it. I want it to begin and in momentum as soon as possible. The quicker I can get to the point of it being in my daily focus, the better I’ll be at continuing it.
That being said, there are a few things missing from when folks begin something new that could make or break it as a success or not. In light of many people choosing this time of year to make some positive changes, let’s look at a few of the unseen heroes of success.
Goal Setting: for me the key to goal setting is to be as concise and as measurable as possible. A goal must be clearly identified and hyper specific. Saying I want to get in better shape is way too open for interpretation. You may have an idea of what this is now, but when things get dicey along the way, too much room in the goal gives you opportunities to slide the goalposts a bit in favor of the easy path. Doing this repeatedly a few times dilutes your goal from where it originally was to now a “nice to have”.
Instead of saying you want to be in better shape, pick a goal that people with the physique and fitness level you admire also have. Something they strive toward. If you’re able to being running, then maybe a goal of finishing your local marathon or 10K would be a goal. By training for this goal you’ll have the mind of what it’s going to take to finish the race. But by default, you’ll be getting in better shape to do so. Concise and measurable.
Systems: once we have a clearly defined goal in place, we can then formulate a plan to accomplish it. Within this plan build, we need to look at a few things.
- First, do I need anything new in my life that will get me steps closer to the goal….knowledge, skills, physical items, etc.
- Second, can I identify items I currently have that will hamper my progress toward this goal. Bad habits, lack of cash, location issues, etc.
- Third, this is the fun one, what do I have now that can be modified slightly and cheaply that will take it from group two into group one.
For our example of getting in better shape we chose running in the local 10K this coming year. There isn’t much you need outside of a good pair of running shoes for this and the time to train. There are a lot of plans available online to print off to stick on the fridge to show you what you should be doing on any given day. This is your system.
Looking at the above needs for our system:
- Am I lacking anything to begin my quest toward this goal? Do we first have running shoes? Go get a pair if not…and don’t be too concerned about brand and what not at this point, just don’t cheap out. Injury is to be avoided at all costs. Trust me…been there. (kinda still there actually)
- Are we doing anything that could hamper this system? Things like sleeping in on weekends, bad diet, partying, and smoking can all put the breaks on your training before it gets into full swing. Changing these early in the system is best.
- Is there something I can modify a little right now to help me out? Something like getting up an hour earlier could be just the key to your success. Similarly, changing what you binge watch will help you flip your mindset to what your new goal is. YouTube is such a wealth of knowledge for learning new topics and skills. Find the big dogs in the niche and follow them relentlessly.
Whatever it is you’ve chosen as a goal, this easy to follow plan will help you block out a lot of the noise and keep to basics. The fundamentals around anything new are were the most value lies. Spend more time there than you think necessary and this will ensure you develop the skills needed to progress.
