Friday Review: Goals
How high do you set your goals? How diligently do you pursue them? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.
“To better the future, we must disturb the present.”
“Your goals, minus your doubts, equal your reality.”
Tag Archives: Goals
To live only for some future goal is shallow
“To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain which sustains life, not the top.”
—Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Image from Unsplash by Charlie Hammond
I’ve never climbed a mountain but I’ve learned through watching plenty of nature programs that very little lives at extreme heights.
For the tallest of the world’s mountains, climbers enter the “death zone” when they are over 8,000 meters above sea level. At this height, oxygen is about one third the concentration it is on the ground below.
When one examines more modestly sized mountains, we can readily see the tree line only goes so far before things shift to the cold frosty stuff.
EXERCISE:
How often do you take the time to fully explore and appreciate all the steps on your journey to the top? Where might stops along the way and even deciding not to climb all the way be the wisest approach to take?
Your secret weapon is the patient execution of what everyone knows they should be doing.
“Your secret weapon is the patient execution of what everyone knows they should be doing.”
—Rich Litvin, co-author of The Prosperous Coach
Image from Unsplash by Ben White
Secret weapons are the stuff of superheroes and blockbuster movies.
Whether you are a Marvel or DC fan, watching the good guys fight the bad guys on screen or even in a comic book always grabs our attention. Yet — as far as I know — there are no superheroes with patient execution as their secret weapon.
A two-hour film is not the venue to reveal how their secret to success is longer time intervals. We want things big and bold, or we simply go home.
EXERCISE:
Where in your life could patient execution be the secret weapon you need to achieve your most important goals?
What simple actions will you take today to build the momentum to be your own superhero?
Friday Review: Goals
Friday Review: Goals
How high do you set your goals? How diligently do you pursue them? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.
“Are you following a path, or blazing one?”
“Never mistake a clear view for a short distance.”
“The person who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”
To improve your chances of finishing, cut your goal in half
“To improve your chances of finishing, cut your goal in half or double your timeline for completion.”
—Jon Acuff, author of Finish — Give Yourself the Gift of Done
Image from Unsplash by Alice Yamamura
As we enter the halfway point of 2022, how are you progressing on the goals you established in January?
How many have been realized? Where are you on track?
Where have you fallen behind or perhaps given up completely?
To some, today’s quote looks like a cop out or a form of sandbagging. After all, we are supposed to swing for the fences and stretch for the stars if we listen to the most popular advice on achievement. This may be all well and good in theory but not if we never see things through and wallow in regret.
EXERCISE:
Where would cutting your goals down to size or giving yourself more time to complete things dramatically increase the likelihood of finishing?
Managing your own and others’ expectations will be an important consideration to reduce the chances of upsets along the way.
Stop and look up. Ask yourself, is this the mountain I wish to climb
Stop and look up. Ask yourself, is this the mountain I wish to climb?
—Calm App Reflection
Image from Netflix.com
In the world of mountain climbing, Nirmal Purja stands in rarified air.
In the recent Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible, he and his team attempt to climb the world’s 14 highest peaks with an altitude greater than 8,000 meters (26,247 feet) within a 7-month time frame. The previous record was seven years.
Project Possible, as it is called, tackles numerous personal, social, cultural, and financial obstacles that only add to the monumental physical, mental, and emotional achievements. Insights into Purja’s unstoppable drive and resolve is an inspiration for all of us looking up and within ourselves, to reach for our own personal and professional summits.
EXERCISE:
What are your most mountainous goals and objectives?
How can you engage your own supportive communities to realize your own project possible?
Please watch this inspirational movie and let me know what lessons you take away.
It is good to have an end to journey toward
“It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.”
—Ursula K. Le Guin, Late American speculative fiction author
Image from Unsplash by Neal E. Johnson
What are your most important goals for 2022? To what degree have you progressed toward them and how do you feel about your efforts?
How do you expect to feel when you reach the end of your journey and stand on the peaks of your achievements? What then?
Another goal and then another. How is it possible to remain energized and not be let down soon after we actually hold the prize?
Numerous experts on personal and professional development suggest we focus on growth versus goals. This shift in perspective supports us in gaining satisfaction from our efforts and milestones along our paths instead of just the pots of gold at our journey’s end.
EXERCISE:
Where would adopting a growth versus a goal mindset enhance your motivation, momentum, and levels of success?
“To better the future, we must disturb the present.”
“To better the future, we must disturb the present.”
—Catherine Booth, 19th Century co-founder of The Salvation Army
Image from Unsplash by Ronnie Overgoor
What comes to mind when you think about goal setting and the achievement of your personal or professional objectives?
What has been your track record in meeting or exceeding your desired intentions?
For many, the course taken is often the path of the New Year’s Resolution — most of which are slowed down or completely stopped by mid-February.
A common reason for giving up may simply be that we believe we must always go big and have tectonic shifts in our reality if we are to realize our dreams of a better future.
Many pioneers in the world of human achievement and behavior suggest it is better to go small.
Books such as Tiny Habits and Atomic Habits point to the power and sustainability of even the smallest of actions taken on a routine basis, producing big, long-term results.
EXERCISE:
How can and will you make small but subtly disruptive changes in your life to help you realize the better future you desire?
“Goals are like magnets. They’ll attract the things that make them come true.”
“Goals are like magnets. They’ll attract the things that make them come true.”
—Anthony Robins
Image from Unsplash by Markus Winkler
Years ago, I was challenged by a colleague to look at goals differently.
Instead of looking at a goal through the SMART lens, he suggested using the words “To Be” and “To Have” to express goals as a future and not simply as a way to measure or quantify an outcome.
Since most of us value our health, I propose this example:
| Goal Statement: | To be healthy and fit |
| Measurable Results: | 1) To lose 15 pounds by December 31 |
| Goal Statement: | 2) To lower my cholesterol below 200 and get off meds by this time next year |
| Goal Statement: | 3) To have my RealAge be less than my chronological age within three months |
EXERCISE:
How can and will you describe your goals as futures, to magnetize your own inspired efforts and other resources to make these dreams come true?
“Let no one keep you from your journey.”
“Let no one keep you from your journey.”
—Mark Nepo, American poet and spiritual adviser
Image from Unsplash by Clemens van Lay
Where are you headed today, this week, this year?
What are your short and long term goals and objectives, personally and professionally?
Toward the start of each year, questions like these are asked so frequently that we often drown them out much like the safety instructions before a flight.
What if we now answered these questions on a far deeper level than at any other time in our lives?
What are your answers? If they don’t ignite a spark or engulf you in flames of passion and excitement, you’ve got more work to do and could perhaps use the support of a coach, mentor, close colleague, or family member.
EXERCISE:
What could possibly stop you from pursuing and fully realizing what you deeply desire?
How will you prevent anyone – including yourself – from keeping you from your journey?
Consider looking up Mark Nepo and exploring his work more fully.