I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t going to approach goal setting differently than other people…
Where other people focus on finding your ‘WHY’ first, that’s not what we’re gonna be talking about today.
Instead, we’re gonna look at a really hands-on, no-bullshit way to tackle your goals!
We will go through the 4 exact steps you can use to focus on your long-term goals without getting distracted.
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If you are ambitious and driven, you probably know the feeling of getting distracted… You might have a vague vision of where you see yourself going… but you’re not always making the progress you thought you would when you decided on your goal initially.
Maybe you’re allround distracted and not getting around to stuff, or you're stuck with certain types of clients or you have opportunities coming your way that take you away from working on your own business.
Learning how to say no is such a cliché, but it's truly one of the most valuable skills you’ll ever learn.
Because when you say yes to one thing, you are saying no to all other things.
That means: if you want to say ‘yes’ to yourself, we’re gonna have to say no to a bunch of other things and people.
Guess what?
The world will not end because you say no.
If you want to grab the printable of this episode, get it here:
Let’s get to the deep and dirty of goalsetting so you can keep your focus and slay your goals!
STEP 1: KNOW YOUR ENDGOAL
Back in my fitness coaching days, when I had a full wait list and no spare time left, I wanted to create an online business that was
- scalable and
- fully location independent.
I needed to know what my end goal was in order to know when to say ‘no' to other opportunities, like when someone offered me a spot as head coach in their fitness facility.
Sometimes new opportunities seem really shiny, which doesn’t mean you need to say yes to them.
Saying ‘no' is a lot easier said than done though, so how do we retain our focus on our goal?
STEP 2: STATE YOUR COMMANDER’S INTENT
State your endgoal in a way that it makes your intent very clear.
For example:
- grow your online business
- or sign on more ideal, fun clients
- or spend more time with your family
- or get healthy and fit
If you feel afraid of doing this, you need to realise you don’t have a choice. You can’t reach your goals if you don’t even know what they are!
When someone now pitches something to you, you can decide if it’s worth it to you or not. You can decide if it will contribute to your commander's intent, or take time and energy away from it.
Let’s say your end goal is ‘more ideal, fun clients you love working with and who give you energy’.
Your commander’s intent is to: sign on more ideal, fun clients you love working with.
Now when a rich bozo who’s super annoying comes along and offers you a lot of money… it doesn’t really matter for you because you were looking for fun clients who give you energy instead of draining it!
“Does this move me closer to signing on more ideal, fun clients?”
Nope, this guy won't do that for you.
People often feel a fear of commitment when they talk goals… but if you want to not commit and keep all your options open, you’re not going to reach your goal either – in fact, you won't reach any of your goals!
If you feel like your end goal is hard to define, that is a sign you need to do this!
If you want to build a business, you need to be able to make smart decisions.
How do you start doing that?
Often by making the wrong decisions first!
This commander’s intent will help you make the right decisions, faster.
I learned about this Commander’s Intent from Chip & Dan Heath's book ‘Made to Stick’. They give more examples of how the U.S. Army and other organizations use this principle.
Example: Southwest Airlines is THE low cost airline, which means many decisions in the company can be made quickly if employees know about the commander’s intent.
If you have a clear commander’s intent, many decisions will become easier and be made faster!
It will finally help you make the right decisions, faster and you will be able to make decisions on a rational level instead of being guided by your emotions.
Now don’t stop here!
STEP 3: Determine the specific action steps you need to reach that end state
Let’s reverse engineer your goal: we are going to work backwards from your goal and determine the action steps you need to reach that goal.
If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re going to end up lost… so that’s why we’re working backwards!
I want you to phrase all the tasks you need to execute in order to reach your endgoal in really specific action steps.
We’re gonna use ‘do words’ to outline this.
Examples:
- Contact web developer to create your website
- Write an outline for what you want on your homepage
- Make an appointment with the bank
You see the difference between writing ‘website’ or ‘Write an outline for what you want on your homepage’ as a task => that’s because we’re making this specific and actionable.
(By the way, if you want more on creating tasks this, check out episode 4 of the podcast on time management and making tasks actionable: www.fastforwardamy.com/004)
STEP 4: Determine your 80/20
If you are a client of mine you know I use this term every day! You’re probably already used to writing a to do list, but you might not be used to determining what the 20% on your to do list is that will get you 80% of the output.
Example when setting up your own, new business:
- Don’t spend 80% of your time on deciding what color logo you will put on the wrapping of your car.
Instad: Sell. Contact previous clients. Don’t spend days and days on bullshit tasks that keep you busy working in your business.
Get productive and work on the stuff that moves your business forward.
Ask yourself: which few things will actually move the needle?
Get started on those first! Do more of those and less of the other things (and if you can, delegate those ‘busy' tasks.)
You’ll probably feel resistance to doing the stuff that actually moves your business forward… which is why you need to do this.
I always have my mastermind clients write a list of previous clients and reach out to them.
So hey – Should you update the font on your website?
Shit no, you need to start selling before anything else! If you are feeling resistance here, it’s a sign you really need to do this.
I know it’s uncomfortable and I have my quarterly crises of doubt as well, just like you might be experiencing doubt right now. Every level of growth will bring you new sessions of uncomfortableness. But remember: you can always change stuff later.
For now… You need to start DARING TO COMMIT!
As my friend Jessica says: “it’s easier to change the course of a sailing boat, than it is to change the course of a boat that’s still stuck in harbour“.
You are always allowed to change things later on.
Remember: being consistently good is better than being inconsistently perfect.
It’s better to consistently perform a bad workout plan than to inconsistently perform a great workout plan.
Thank you for reading. As a reward for your dedicated reading and listening, I have a gift for you: I have a ‘get your shit together’ training on how to gain clarity in your life and increase your self care.
If you review this podcast episode on your facebook wall or linkedin where you write a little review and encourage other people to listen, you screenshot this review and you upload the review, you are going to get my ‘get your shit together’ training!
Upload your review at https://fastforwardamy.com/review6
Tag me and help me get the world get some more uplifting stuff!
Good luck setting your goals and see you next week Tuesday for the next episode on how to get new clients through your free content.
Have a happy day,
Amy
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Your advice and strategy is absolutely well appreciated thank you Amy!