Goal Setting
Whether you’re trying to get into a cool new yoga pose, lose/gain 5 lbs, or conquer a chronic illness, there are certain things that can help you achieve your goals. But before you can accomplish any goal, a few things need to be done to set you up for success. First, you need to decide what your priorities are, what your “Big Why Goals" are, and what it is you actually want to accomplish. Remember, motivation is not the best indicator of success, the system you set up is. Read through the following methods and decide which of them resonates with you and walk yourself through the process to prioritize what needs to be done. Click here to download a free worksheet for a year end review and goal setting worksheet! This exercise can help with the rest of what’s written here.
Next, go through setting up the system(s) for creating success. Begin to create your system for success. Write it in your journal. and if you want, we can set up a time to discuss. If you need any help filling this out or working through any of the pieces please feel free to reach out to me and we can work on it together. This article is full of information from James Clear’s website, the book called “The Power of Less”, mindfulness practices and my personal experiences.
Creating Goal Priorities
The Ivy Lee Method
During his 15 minutes with each executive, Ivy Lee explained his simple daily routine for achieving peak productivity:
1. At the end of each work day, write down the six most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow. Do not write down more than six tasks.
2. Prioritize those six items in order of their true importance.
3. When you arrive tomorrow, concentrate only on the first task. Work until the first task is finished before moving on to the second task.
4. Approach the rest of your list in the same fashion. At the end of the day, move any unfinished items to a new list of six tasks for the following day.
5. Repeat this process every working day.
Warren Buffett's 25-5 Rule
STEP 1: Buffett started by asking Flint to write down his top 25 career goals. So, Flint took some time and wrote them down. (Note: you could also complete this exercise with goals for a shorter timeline. For example, write down the top 25 things you want to accomplish this week.)
STEP 2: Then, Buffett asked Flint to review his list and circle his top 5 goals. Again, Flint took some time, made his way through the list, and eventually decided on his 5 most important goals.
Note: If you're following along at home, pause right now and do these first two steps before moving on to Step 3.
STEP 3: At this point, Flint had two lists. The 5 items he had circled were, List A and the 20 items he had not circled were List B.
Flint confirmed that he would start working on his top 5 goals right away. And that's when Buffett asked him about the second list, “And what about the ones you didn't circle?”
Flint replied, “Well, the top 5 are my primary focus, but the other 20 come in a close second. They are still important so I’ll work on those intermittently as I see fit. They are not as urgent, but I still plan to give them a dedicated effort.”
To which Buffett replied, “No. You’ve got it wrong, Mike. Everything you didn’t circle just became your Avoid-At-All-Cost list. No matter what, these things get no attention from you until you’ve succeeded with your top 5.”
The Eisenhower Box: How to be More Productive
Eisenhower’s strategy for taking action and organizing your tasks is simple. Using the decision matrix below, you will separate your actions based on four possibilities.
1. Urgent and important (tasks you will do immediately).
2. Important, but not urgent (tasks you will schedule to do later).
3. Urgent, but not important (tasks you will delegate to someone else).
4. Neither urgent nor important (tasks that you will eliminate).
The great thing about this matrix is that it can be used for broad productivity plans (“How should I spend my time each week?”) and for smaller, daily plans (“What should I do today?”).
From James Clear’s Website
Warren Buffett's “20-Slot” Rule
Here it is:
When Warren lectures at business schools, he says, “I could improve your ultimate financial welfare by giving you a ticket with only 20 slots in it so that you had 20 punches—representing all the investments that you got to make in a lifetime. And once you’d punched through the card, you couldn’t make any more investments at all.”
He says, “Under those rules, you’d really think carefully about what you did and you’d be forced to load up on what you’d really thought about. So you’d do so much better.”
Again, this is a concept that seems perfectly obvious to me. And to Warren it seems perfectly obvious. But this is one of the very few business classes in the U.S. where anybody will be saying so. It just isn’t the conventional wisdom.
To me, it’s obvious that the winner has to bet very selective. It’s been obvious to me since very early in life. I don’t know why it’s not obvious to very many other people.
Finding Your Anchor Task and Simplifying your life
Doing more does not mean we are actually more productive. Usually it means we get a whole bunch of nothing done or a lot of things done mediocrely.
“Mastery requires focus and consistency.” (James Clear) You can do anything you want, but you can’t do everything.
The first thing to do is to figure out what your priority is for the day based on your “big why goals.” Pick one big priority for each day that will have the most impact towards your over all life.
Here’s what my current weekly schedule looks like… (James Clear’s Week)
Mon – Write article.
Tues – Send two emails (1 for networking, 1 for partnerships.)
Wed – Write article.
Thurs – Write article.
Fri – Complete weekly review.
Sat – OFF
Sun – OFF
“The power of choosing one priority is that it naturally guides your behavior by forcing you to organize your life around that responsibility. Your priority becomes an anchor task, the mainstay that holds the rest of your day in place.” This automatically tells you what you need to focus on even when other things get in the way and you feel unmotivated.
2. Creating Systems
Your success is directly linked to the system you set up for yourself. Let’s be real with ourselves. No one stays motivated consistently every day. We all have lapses that make us lose sight and hope in regards to our original goals. I for one, know how terrible I can be at sticking to something daily or weekly; unless I build a system around it. SMART goals don’t work for me very well, so I’ve been incorporating some of the tips for system building that are mentioned in books like “The Power of Less” by Leo Babauta, “4 Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferris, or “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. These systems make all the difference!
So, once you’ve set your priorities, here is the list I compiled from these resources to help you get started.
Decide what type of person you want to be. When you become a healthy person, you choose lifestyle factors that contribute to that. Rather than saying I want to lose 5, 10, 100 lbs. You can redefine this and say I want to become a person who works out regularly. As you become more of this type of person, whatever that may be for you, then you’ll end up reaching your goals along the way. And it’s WAY easier to stick to your lifestyle choices and habits if you are defining yourself as that kind of person. So, who do you want to be?
Goal Stacking- Adding a new habit to an established one. For example, While I wait for the shower to get warm, I will do 5 squats and 10 Lunges. Or when I wake up, I will take 5 deep breaths before reaching for my phone.
Complete the following statements for any habits you want to create in your system: “During the next week, I will partake in at least 20 minutes of vigorous exercise on [DAY] at [TIME OF DAY] at/in [PLACE].”
Make sure to make this one as specific as you can. It’ll help.
Set an upward bound- When we make the decision to change, we tend to go overboard. We try to reach too high, too quickly, which burns us out and we quit before we even get a chance. Setting an upper limit to your goals can help keep you from burning yourself out. Especially for those who are used to pushing themselves through pain, fatigue, and discomfort.
For example, “I will lose at least 5 lbs this month, but not more than 10. I will walk for at least 20 minutes every day, but not more than 40.” This will be ESSENTIAL, especially if you have adrenal fatigue in phase 2 or 3.
Set up your environment to benefit you and work as part of your system. For example, if you need to take supplements or medication, set them next to a glass of water where you can see them. You can include this in your habit stacking. I set my supplements next to the sink with my glass of water, so that as soon as I get up (and after I go to the bathroom) I take them, drink my water, and brush my teeth.
If you have vices, make them difficult in your environment. For example, if you constantly check social media and email, un-sync and turn off notifications and schedule when it’s time to check them. Get an alarm clock, so you don’t have to use your phone. If you crave sweets, have someone else hide them from you or put them out of sight. Place your healthy food up front and center.
Opt-in while motivated, so then you’ll have to go to the trouble of opting out when you aren’t. Adding extra work to avoiding good habits makes it even hard to not follow through.
Track your habits- I know that this can sound like extra work, but when you see how far you’ve come it’ll all be worth it. Some different ways of doing this can be through visual clues, check marks on a calendar, paperclips in a jar, spreadsheet in google sheets. Writing a journal and keeping track of your to do list are all great options as well. Gamify it, there’s lots of apps that can help out with different goals, for example duolingo will send you a reminder that tells you to practice each day!
Revel in your awesomeness! Take a moment to reflect and see how you’ve been doing, how you started, and where you are now. It’s all worth it as you continue to make forwards progress. Celebrate every little thing! But make sure it is equal to the energy expended and won’t ruin all the work you just did. Don’t binge an entire cake right after quitting sugar. Don’t go on a huge vacation if you’ve only added one healthful habit. Maybe push that cruise out till you’ve reach a significant milestone in your “Big Why Goals.”
Resources this page are from my own personal experience and:
JamesClear.com for additional resources on setting and maintaining goals, check out his work on his blog or read Atomic Habits.
”The Power of Less” by Leo Babauta
“4 Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferris
Check out the resources at our bookshop.
If you are interested in getting help accomplishing your health and wellness goals, schedule a discovery call today!
