3 Ways To Set Goals That Actually Work
Have you noticed that everyone’s talking about 2020? Your favorite influencer on social media, your best friend, heck even the guy who rings you up for your daily oat milk latte (“I mean seriously Kevin, I’d like to eat my muffin in peace”).
The New Year always conjures up a deep desire to achieve, set goals, and create a New You. (And since we’re entering a new decade, that feeling is even more pronounced.) Yikes! The pressure from that can be a lot to take in.
Will you start a business?
Will you hit 6- or 7-figures for the first time?
Will you have a kid?
Get married?
Suddenly decide to move to Bali?
Well, what if I told you to forget about 2020. Yep, f’real. Chuck your 2020 agenda out the window, my friend.
Instead, think bigger.
Let me kick you an example…
Let’s say Polly’s major goal for 2020 is to create her first online course. She’s already picked the topic of her course AND she knows that she wants to earn $10,000/month from her course by the end of the year. Solid.
But once 2020 rolls around and the months tick by, she notices halfway through that she still hasn’t worked on that course.
In fact, as 2020 comes to a close, she rationalizes the fact that she hasn’t hit her online course goals by saying that she “just didn’t have the time,” or “it was more difficult than she expected.”
(Does this sound like your 2019 at all?)
And then 2021 arrives, and the same thing continues.
Do you see how this creates a lifetime of stagnation? Of not living our highest purpose or creating our biggest impact on this planet?
Not only that, but when you set goals (things you want to DO) without considering your mindset and behavior (who you need to BE), then you literally set yourself up to fail.
See, I’d wager that the reason Polly put off her online course goal wasn’t because she was lazy, born-to-procrastinate, or didn’t have the time.
Instead, maybe deep down…
She was scared that people would think she wasn’t worthy of teaching an online course on that particular topic.
She didn’t think she was deserving of $10k/month when her friends and family earn far less.
She was afraid to invest in a mastermind or coach that would show her HOW to hit her goals because she convinced herself that investing in her business is risky.
…and so on!
The reason we don’t hit our goals almost always has WAY more to do with our beliefs about ourselves than it does about our capability to actually hit our goals.
Read that again. It should be massively freeing!
Because here’s the deal: it means that you are inherently capable and worthy of accomplishing whatever the hell you want.
BUT it also means that you are the first and last person to get in your own way when you try to make things happen.
So, here’s what I recommend:
1. Stop looking at 2020 by itself. Think bigger.
2020 is ONE year of your life, so focusing solely on one single year will give you shortsighted results. Instead, create a vision for the next 5-10 years. What does your life look like at that time? Who’s in your life? What have you created? How much revenue is your business earning? What does a typical day in your life look like?
Get specific about your long-term vision. Once you do that, you can work your way backwards. “If I want to accomplish XYZ in 5 years, then what do I need to accomplish in 3 years to ensure that I’m on the right path to achieve XYZ five years from now?”
2. What beliefs do you currently have that could prevent you from attaining that vision?
For example, let’s say you wanted to earn a million dollars, yet you grew up with parents who thought that “rich people are evil,” so you’ve adopted a similar subconscious belief (yes, even if “logically” you don’t think rich people are evil — the belief is still ingrained in you unless you’ve taken conscious action to reprogram it).
That belief means that you might miss or neglect obvious money-making opportunities because becoming wealthy is a negative thing in your family. It also might mean that you’ll judge wealthy people you meet instead of seeing them as potential mentors.
And it absolutely might mean that while you set the goal of “earning one million dollars,” you never actually accomplish it because, deep down, you’re afraid of what might happen if you actually did. Ouch.
Do you see what I mean? Until you’re AWARE of the limiting beliefs you hold (often things you learned growing up), they’ll continue to run your life behind the scenes.
Don’t know what beliefs are preventing you from reaching your vision? Pay very close attention to negative feelings that come up that might feel like a “trigger.” Typically these are mirrors that allow us to see places we need to heal.
3. Who do you need to BE to create that vision 5-10 years from now?
If one of your 10-year goals is to earn a million dollars, then who do you need to be to make that happen? What behaviors and beliefs are important for you to have if you want to reach that level?
This is where you get to reprogram the beliefs and mindset that are holding you back from your fullest potential.
Go through your 5-10 year vision. What qualities do you get to adopt in order to be the type of person who can accomplish and create that vision? How do you need to FEEL? How will you show up in your life? What will you decide to let go of?
And this, my friend, is where the magic really happens. Because if you live life year-to-year, you don’t allow yourself to be the visionary of your legacy. You don’t get to see the bigger picture or the massive impact you could create in the world.
And even more importantly, you don’t end up actually accomplishing your goals because your beliefs, patterns, and unconscious programming are keeping you small, year after year.
As we enter 2020, try going through each of the three steps listed above. You can journal about them, talk about them with a friend, record a voice memo to yourself — it doesn’t matter!
However you do it, getting real about who you need to BE to accomplish what you want to DO will make all the difference. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, so please leave a comment below on what this looks like for you.
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