Sunday Story…Year in Review part 2

This is the continuation from last week’s story. If you didn’t read it go here: http://sunday-stories.blogspot.com/2013/12/sunday-storyyear-in-review.html
The second part of the process is to set the goals for the coming year.

Again we look for the answer to 2 questions:
1. What do I really want to accomplish in the coming year?
And
2. What do I need to do to accomplish the things in #1?

Again take a day or two to get 3-5 solid goals. These are your goals and if they don’t light you up you aren’t going to do them. You know you should make more money but maybe it doesn’t get you excited like volunteering at the local shelter does. If you put it down you won’t do it, you won’t be excited about it and when you look at it over the course of the year you will feel bad about not doing it and not wanting to do it. So only put down goals that get you excited. And to remind you…stop living out of the should box. Just because you should do something doesn’t mean you have to do it. Also you can always adjust your goals along the way. Maybe 6 months into the year you realize the goal isn’t quite right. So change it. It is your goal and it is your life…your movie.
Life planning will change your life. The intentional planning of a life will make all the difference in where you end up. Think about it…if you get in your car to go to New York City and only know that if you head east to get there you may or may not ever arrive. And if you do manage to arrive in NYC you will have no idea how you got there. Make a map…you can take side trips and detours but a map will give you a guide to return to.

I highly suggest breaking your list into several categories (use ones that work for you.) For example, financial, career, relationships, learning (education), and health are all good categories but, really, you want areas that work for you. Spend some time thinking about these things over a few days. Ideally, if you could disappear for a week it would be great. For most of us that can’t happen. For me, I put them in my brain and let them ferment for a bit and then sit down for a few minutes and let them all come flowing out with no filter. I let them rest for a bit; make sure there aren’t any others that need to manifest themselves. A day or two later I go back to the list and start whittling it down. If I start with 10 things in a category I am going to bring it down to 2 or 3 things. As soon as that is done I apply the S.M.A.R.T. principle to each one. Is it Specific? This is the difference between “I want to lose weight” and “I want to lose 5 pounds.” Is it Measurable? For instance increasing my net worth by 5% is measurable (as long as you know what number you are starting with.) Is it Attainable? Getting married and having a baby this year is only attainable if you are pregnant by March or so. Is it Realistic? It isn’t realistic to earn a million dollars this year if you are unemployed at present (there may be some special exceptions to this but I am not one of them.) Is it Time orientated? In simple terms do you have a time limit on when you will complete the goal?

I like these goals to be concise and simple. Things I can express in a sentence or two. Goals I can put up on my refrigerator or bathroom mirror. Let’s not write the Odyssey here. Here’s an example from 2013 from me…I will increase my fitness by at least 20% (over 2012) as measured by my performance in the CrossFit Open. Simple, concise, measurable, easy to state and easy to track.

I also suggest whittling these goals down to the 5 most important. You might be able to do more but for me any more than that and I feel overwhelmed. So get it down to 5 or less really important, exciting goals that have you want to get off the couch and get going, right now!
At this point you may be able to create an overall theme for the year and write a short concise one paragraph summary of what your desired outcome is for the year. You can’t do this until you have done the whole process though.

There is one more piece of this puzzle. After all this is said and done…take a hard look at the goals, the theme, and the paragraph and then fill in the blank with one word…Be ____________. Just a single word that would sum up all your goals and aspirations for the year. Be magnanimous. Be love. Be generous. Be learned. Whatever the word is make it a word you can really get behind and be excited about.

Resolutions and goals work. Life planning works. But they will only work when you are 100% behind them and 100% excited about the making the journey to the goals.

Be commitment.

Namaste

John Mariotti

www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.martialartsnevada.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com