Why set goals?
There is soooooo much out there about this, it's kinda coconuts and bananas buuuuut if you're the kind of person who loves vision board parties and can be heard spouting phrases like "a goal is a dream with a plan!" - hear this!
A goal is no more planned than a dream if it doesn't include a finite time frame with some deadlines and some action plans to reach each milestone.
So a goal is just a goal.....and I would add that in many cases whether it's a personal goal or a professional one it's an idea of the future that a person or group of people envision, plan for, and commit to achieve.
A goal has a lot of parts and a plan is only one of them.
Without the vision of a future realized and the commitment to carry it out, a goal is just a dream in a different outfit.
And a vision, whether it's on a board or anywhere else, without the plan and accountability structure to bring it to life, can start to blend in with the furniture and the rest of your wall decor.
If you manage projects at work in a professional setting you know how much goes into designing a project and bringing it to life: The meetings, the decision making process, the pitches to enroll and get y stakeholders on board. Calendar reminders, late nights, hand-offs to supervisors and colleagues, reassessments over drinks, procrastination, discipine, home runs, cold sweats, base hits, elation, bathroom mirror pep-talks, ego trips, prasie and recognition from peers, track changes.....letting go, and celebration.
How many projects have you quit because of what it takes to keep a dream (even with a plan!) alive?
In April of 2020 I wrote a vision for the future and I called it Covid-19, a Letter from the Future.
It was a big ass redesign of the year I'd already mapped out. The results I desired weren't any different, but I was quickly realizing how much of my ability to see straight and stay in action was going to be tested.
So please read this playful take on a vision - notice the desired future is completely unpredictable, but also completely possible. Also notice degree of specificity of the 19 ways I declared my life would improve.
What did I do with it? I posted it on my website, I sent it to a couple of newspapers in hopes they'd find it worthy enough to publish among the inspiration articles that came out as the covid shadow crept over us all - - and while no one else published it, my coach receive a copy and I'm working towards each one of these now.
As we close out 2020 I'm celebrating 8 of the 19 are accomplished! 7 are on track, but incomplete, and 5 are far away from where I want them to be.
I'm using Q1 of 2021 as my no bullsh*t window. The time to double down and go after all of the goals being accomplished.
Is it predictable? No. It's still not likely that all 19 will be completed.
Is it possible? 100% - and all there is to do is not stop, allow rest and integration, and run fast through the finish line.
This is all there ever is to do with goals because goals are not stagnant, they are living, breathing opportunities to keep moving forward, falling and failing as you go, adapting, and growing.