EE028 - putting your goals to work

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In this episode I’m sharing what I do, once all my goals are signed, sealed, and delivered, to actually put them to work.

If you have ever procrastinated about your goals (or just let them slide for any reason) then you need to really look at what happens after you made those goals. I know I used to be terrible at this (okay I still am sometimes)!

I would create amazing jaw-dropping goals and after a month, or two, forget all about them. It’s so easy to fall into this trap.

Stuff comes up that looks more important, bigger, better, whatever and off you go. The “old” goals are now dated and obsolete and the new ones are the hot stuff. Yikes! It’s a receipt for disaster. Why create goals at all if that’s your plan?

These are the 5 strategies I use to steer away from goal detours:

1. Have a system that keeps your goals visible and in action.

I have tried most of the systems that are out there and finally created my own super-simple system. It’s a one page document that includes my life goals, goals for the year, Flight Plan (see below), and holding zones for upcoming work, organized by month. It’s easy to use and easy to maintain. I now use an on-line tool called asana, and moved my life and year goals to evernote. The concept is the same, I’m just using tools that allow me to collaborate with other people on my team more easily.

2. Chunk your goals down each week.

When I was working on my book Give Be a Break I needed a simple (see a trend here?) system that chunked down the big goals (boulders) into more manageable goals (pebbles). I call my system the Friday 15 (watch my video on this). Every Friday or Sunday night I spend at least 15 minutes to build my new Flight Plan. This is what’s involved:

REVIEWing the previous week: what worked, what blew up? What did I put off, what did I get done? What connections am I proud of? Who do I need to connect with next?

RETHINK the next week: what do I need to do differently to get even more success? What can I delegate to others? What can I postpone or drop?

REVISE my Flight Plan for the following week: what is the maximum number of goals I can successful complete. Overloading myself might feel good at the time, but is a set up for disaster long term.

3. Stick to my personal goals.

This is tough one. Work should come first, right? After many years of putting in long hours and thinking I was great for being so dedicated I have realized I was missing out. Whatever you want or need this year to be sane, healthy, and have great relationships, should be your #1 priority. Being burnt out because of work is a painful way to reach your goals. Tweet this out!

I make a couple of important non-work commitments everyday that I work very hard to keep. These include getting to a daughter’s basketball game. Making dinner for my family. Morning exercise. And getting to meetings, group runs, seminars I’ve committed to. The more I make and keep those kind of commitments the stronger my ability to make and keep more of them (see www.hughculver.com/27 for more about willpower). It’s that simple: strengthen your commitment to personal goals and you can enjoy more personal success.

4. Measure progress.

You have to be measuring progress to know what’s working. Every week I’m looking at: my keynote bookings, campaign sales (like webinar registrations), growth of our list, social media followers, and how much time I am working. You don’t need dozens of these-just 4-6 that are meaningful and that you can easily check every week.

5. Be SMART about your success plans.

We are entrepreneurs because it gives us freedom to work and live the way we want and create wealth while serving people. And we have to be smart about it. I watch for: repetitive, low-value tasks that interrupt me. Check out my episodes on: outsourcing and hiring staff and micro-outsourcing. I also protect my time. Watch my video on doing the hardest 50% in the first 90 minutes of your day to learn more about this.