“The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals.” —Melody Beattie, The Language of Letting Go: Daily Meditations on Codependency
Since 2016 FFfT ended with reflection, it is only fitting that we start 2017 with goal setting. In early 2016 at J2 we did a vision board exercise. Many of the goals we put on our boards were accomplished. I mentioned last week I accomplished 70% of mine. The goal I did not accomplish was improving my health. I did very little towards it—life got in the way. This is one of my personal goals for 2017.
Have you picked your goals? Here is my challenge to you for 2017: Pick goals that will take you some time to accomplish, and then accomplish them.
| 1. | Pick a goal. If you are like me, you probably will set several goals, both professional and personal. Write down your goals, keep them some place where you see them often. That will help you stay accountable and the goals will be top of mind. |
| 2. | Make it measurable. Make it specific. My goal is to get healthier. What does that mean to me? I want to lose weight. More accurately I want to lose fat, I want to fit into 34 size pants. I also want better results on my blood work. So how do I plan to see those results? The weight is easy; I can see that in the mirror in the way my body changes and the pants I wear. The blood work results will be less frequent but still measurable. |
| 3. | Pick something that’s a stretch but not impossible. Make sure your goal is difficult, but attainable if you push yourself. That is what high performers do. Pick a goal that is going to push you to be the best you can be; but don’t pick one that will frustrate you and make you give up. |
| 4. | Pick something that will make you happy. Make sure you know why you want to reach that goal. Reward your progress along the way—celebrate the wins. All this will make you happy. So will achieving your goal. |
“All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible.” —Orison Swett Marden
Have a great weekend.
—Vijay
About Friday Food for Thought (FFfT)
I frequently attend conferences and retreats on entrepreneurship and leadership and while I am away, the J2 team picks up the slack, allowing me to learn to be better at what I do. I wanted to share what I was learning with my team, so I created the weekly FFfT emails in November of 2015 and have been writing them ever since.
Before long, the J2 staff began sharing the FFfT emails with their friends and family and now other leaders have asked to be included, which led to the creation of this newsletter. I hope you enjoy!