Goal Check 2024

How Are Those Goals Going?
No need to get hung up on the calendar and January 1 as an arbitrary date. Has the house settled down? Any "CEO Day" for yourself yet? How about (more realistically!) a "CEO Hour" for yourself! #reality!

Still Working on Goals?
Same! They've been percolating in my brain, with some ongoing that just work to keep me moving forward. Time to start writing them and get a bit more intentional. 

Moving Forward
I've noted a variety of goal setting ideas and philosophies the past month. Check these other blog posts here and here. I've been leaning into Jon Acuff's approach to goal setting after catching a video workshop at the start of the month and I've been binge listening to his audiobooks (he reads them - totally love when an author reads their own book!). I've finished Start and am listening to Finish now. I'm looking forward to listening to Soundtracks, but I think his latest All It Takes Is A Goal will be my next Audible monthly read. 

Simplicity Is Crucial
Life move fast and Time is short. For me to deal with goals, they have to be fairly limited in number and focused or they lose me. I'm moving forward with a scaled back version of what Jon suggests. I'll note his basic process below.

• List your goals - brain dump time, ALL the goals
• Categorize your goals - Jon suggests Career, Financial, Relationships, Health, Fun (basic and seems to cover everything)
• Time reference - Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Event (Event is the one-off, doesn't-fit-other-categories idea)
• Get going! 

Tracking and Motivating
So, how do you keep these brilliant ideas in mind? I've seen a number of ways in a Facebook group of Jon's.

• Sticky notes - Jon's into BIG and visual. Post-It has pads of sticky notes with 5 different colors. Check out the number of categories. Crazy, right?! Place these where they suit you for color-coded reference. Jon uses a monster-sized white board to move sticky notes around. 
• Trello/Asana - I'm more of a digi/portable gal and use Trello. I can color code category lists and can move them around as desired with Time references. (I'm a BIG fan of the power of color coding!)
• Spreadsheets/Xcel - I've seen many examples of color-coded spreadsheets
• Pen & Paper - maybe you keep a journal close or come up with a Canva graphic to stick on your bathroom mirror to regularly remind you of your plan. 

Don't Get Too Uptight
I've heard the 2nd Friday in January is known as Quitter's Day! Two weeks into the random start date of January 1, folks give up and move on. (I generalize both start and quit days in my world) Two weeks. 

As I read Jon's books, Perfectionism is often to blame for quitting goals. I can definitely see that. Whenever you fall off the wagon, lose that commitment, lose that streak of days, folks are done - game over! - why bother. I get it. That's easy. But I'm a stubborn cuss. 

I like to think of each new day as a brand new slate - opportunity - adventure. Had a daily goal? Try again tomorrow! Missed a week? Get going and just START. 

Maybe Scale Back
I caught a few ideas in Jon's book FInish.

• Whatever goal you set, cut it in half. Aiming for daily blogging as a goal? Maybe consider 2-3x/week and work up from there as you get into the habit. 
• If you're not keen on cutting the goal in half, make the time longer to achieve it. Aiming for weekly blog posts? Maybe aim for at least every 2 weeks at a minimum. 
• Check yourself - share your goal with others, especially the more wild-for-you ones. Run them by others to see how they sound out loud and resonate. If folks start doubling over with laughter, maybe rethink the plan. If your goal is to run a marathon next weekend and you haven't gotten off the couch in months, maybe let's break this down a bit. Don't set yourself up for disappointment. 

Perfectionism Is Killer
As soon as we miss a day or a streak, we stop. Maybe give yourself the gift of Grace and Time. Don't aim for perfect. Aim for doing. Aim for simply moving forward. Tomorrow's a new day. We've got this.

I'd be honored to be part of helping you achieve your goals! If you're looking to start a project or business but don't feel you have all the skills, don't let that stop you - partner with others! Things are going well - maybe even too well - and you could use a hand? I'd be thrilled to help you succeed! Let's Chat!

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