February is the best month to start on your goals!
What do your 2022 goals say on last day of the first month of 2022? Are they with you or you lost them in priorities, distractions, and planning fallacies?
Many wise people have written about how to set goals, how to plant triggers for you to act on them, how long you need to carry on for them to become second nature, and what comes between you and your goals. Why so many self-help books and motivational content take you only thus far? Let me be yet another guy giving this problem a shot and since we love steps, here are 6 steps to achieve any goal you wish!
Step 1: Use your inspiration to strengthen your ‘why’
Who doesn’t want to get fitter, quit smoking, and learn new skill? Why do we rely on an inspiration to pursue our goals? Inspiration has an expiry date! Many times an inspiration is upgraded imitation and imitator jumps loyalties in no time. Your ‘why’ is much more profound. Why do you pursue a goal? Why it is important to you? Why now? What happens if you abandon it and what happens if you achieve it? How do you feel when you are through it and how do you feel when you deceive it? Write answers to these questions down.
Step 2: Systems within the remits of your goal:
The momentary kick of inspiration should not be used to go full steam on your goals, but to rather set systems that help you stay true with your goals. What systems?
- Equipment (shoes for a runner, online course for a coder, karaoke player for a singer)
- Accountability partner (a coach, a friend, a spouse who keeps check on you)
Step 3: Systems outside the remits of your goal:
Pursuing goal is consistent decisions taken over a period of time. An environment has a significant impact on your decisions. And especially, if you have just taken off, chances are higher that headwinds force you to retract and land. Diffuse decisions that have a potential to derail you.
- Sleep well- No matter what your goals are, don’t compromise on length and quality of your sleep. Invest in your sleep.
- Nutrition your body
- Meditate to maintain perspective
- Eliminate, outsource, automate tasks that you can. Pay close attention to the perpetual tasks that keep showing up and eating into your sacred time.
Step 4: Plan your pursuit
Now that you have your why and your systems and your distractions taken care of, think deeply about your goal and figure out 20% actions that can possibly give 80% results. Take expert help in coming up with a plan, but remember, nobody understands you better than you yourself. Have a personalised plan since nobody can beat you at being yourself. Keep it simple.
Deliberately practice and review nuances of your pursuit with an expert. You need to constantly focus on needle movers you need to put into 20% bracket through an authentic feedback loop. Make sure that your systems are enabled to support this feedback.
Step 5: Measure progress and course correct
Everything that counts is not countable and everything countable does no count. Have 2–3 metrics to measure your progress. Many times gut tells you whether you are sincere with your goals and you are inching towards them or mindlessly following a plan but are far off track. Journaling helps in such self appraisal because the chances of we lying to ourselves are ‘lower’. Also, discuss your progress and challenges with your coach or accountability partner. Be humble to amend any/ all of step 2 through 4.
Step 6: Gratitude
Finally be grateful for you finding a goal worth pursuing and you being honest with that pursuit. Connect your progress with your ‘why’, give yourself a pat on your back, have a little celebration on reaching a milestone, and wish yourself well for protecting your goal!
