Goal Setting
Are you a goal-setter? Are you a “let life lead me” kind of a person? Or somewhere in between, perhaps? What if goal setting is just a way to be intentional with how you live your life.
Maybe this is the year where you really make things happen instead of letting things happen to you. Give this method a shot and tell us what you think! What’s the worst that can happen?
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Full Interview Transcript
Goal Setting
Alt Text: A grey journal has the label “GOALS” on it. There is a black pen laying on the journal.
This week, Tim and Carolina reflect on 2020 and everything they learned during the pandemic. They use the first episode of the new year to set intentional goals for themselves.
More About the Show
The Build Perspectives podcast shares insider knowledge to build connections and community in the building materials industry. Tim and Carolina are friends, colleagues and former coworkers who love the construction industry and their clients, and they want to share their passion and insights to attract future talent to the industry.
In this episode, Carolina walks Tim through a goal-setting exercise to help set intentions for 2021. They discuss the importance of finding purpose and encourage others to join them as they reset their priorities.
Part One: Reflect
For the exercise, you’ll need five sheets of paper and a set of pens.
First, draw a line down the center of a sheet of paper and two lines across, making six boxes total. Then, do the same thing on the back of the paper. When you have made your 12 boxes, label each square a month of the year. January through June should be in the front boxes, and July through December should be on the back.
Now that the formatting is set, reflect on the past year and write down everything that stands out to you from each month of 2020. Carolina suggests taking a look back at something like your monthly planner or calendar to find inspiration.
These events can include birthdays, anniversaries, vacations, books you’ve read or even your biggest sales month — anything that means something to you.
Events that Tim listed:
- Attended the International Builders’ Show in January
- Traveled to Boise, ID in January
- Spoke at the John Burns Design Summit in February
- Presented at Venveo’s LinkedIn Workshop in May
- Started taking online museum tours in May
Events that Carolina listed:
- Watched her son’s jazz band perform at Disneyland in January
- Went to Atlanta for her grandfather’s funeral in February
- Attended Oprah’s “2020 Vision” Tour in Los Angeles in February
- April was her biggest sales month
- Read 17 books in September
It doesn’t have to be exact — just whatever stands out. This exercise is helpful to see how much progress you made, and it gives you a closer look at the things that you want to repeat and the things you hope never happen again.
Carolina notes that mistakes are also a good thing to write down. You’re reviewing the year and picking out highlights and lowlights to learn from.
Part Two: Mind Map
This next step will resemble a mind map. Take another sheet of paper and write down “(Your name)’s Wishlist” in the center of the page. Put a circle around it with four arms coming out of it. On those four arms, you’re going to label them to match the chart below:
Now, start a stream of consciousness and write down anything you want to do or achieve in the next 20 years — be sure to write it in the top left, stemming from the 15-20 years bubble. These goals can include where you are, what you’ve done or how much money is in the bank.
Set the timer for five minutes to do that.
After you’ve finished writing your 20-year goals, circle one goal that really speaks to you — that will be your keystone goal. Repeat this step for the following sections.
Part Three: Keystone Goals
Write down each of your four keystone goals in the center of a new page and circle them. Use four pages total — a page per keystone.
Take three minutes to write down the habits and steps you need to take to make that goal happen, taking note of who you should contact and any classes you should take. The more details you can get, the better.
Do this for each of the four goals.
Now that you have a solid structure for your goals, the main thing to keep in mind is that you want to break up each goal into smaller ones. For example, break your “1 Year” keystone goal into quarterly goals, then break the quarterly goals into monthly goals and the monthly goals into weekly goals.
Carolina’s Pro Tip: If you have major steps, you can circle them and add things from there.
Plan for Stoppers
Some of these goals are things you’ve always wanted to achieve, but your brain wants you to stay in your comfort zone. There will be times when you won’t want to take the steps you need to in order to achieve your goals — Carolina calls these “stoppers” or obstacles.
What are things that could pop up and keep you from doing the things you need to do to achieve your goal? What are the habits you know will keep you from achieving that goal or keeping that commitment to yourself?
Write a list of those stoppers and then make a plan for how you will avoid each of them.
For example, Carolina says that if your goal is to lose 10 pounds, maybe you’ll hit the snooze button on your alarm to avoid morning workouts. To combat this, Carolina explains what she learned from “The Five Second Rule” by Mel Robbins.
When you hit the snooze button, you’re destroying your self-esteem. The more times you hit it, the more it happens, and it becomes a vicious cycle. Mel Robbins came up with the five-second rule to say, “Five, four, three, two, one. Get up. No matter what.”
That’s an example of killing your stopper — find ways to beat yourself at your own game and set yourself up for success.
Keep Your Purpose in Mind
Alt Text: A person wearing jeans and a yellow shirt is writing in a notebook using a black pen.
It’s important to write down why you want to accomplish your goal. When the going gets tough, you’re going to want to remember why you wanted to do this in the first place. It should be something that touches your heart and soul and ties into your life’s purpose — somehow adding meaning to your life, not just because you want to be liked or want a promotion.
Carolina and Tim discussed what they learned from the heavier struggles that accompanied the pandemic and 2020. They want this exercise to help combat those struggles and remind you why you’re here and show you that you still have things to do. Keep in mind that you aren’t married to the goals — if they change over time, that is okay.
Tim said that when you finish the exercise, go back to the original sheet and look at your purpose or life goals behind it all.
Are your goals purposeful? Do they have meaning? Is it macro or micro thinking? Macro and micro thinking are both important, but make sure that you’re not filling your time with fluff activity. As long as your activities are tied to your higher purpose, it’s not fluff.
It’s important to use your energy to sustain your goals — there are lots of things that need to get done. Tim says he has head-in-the-clouds ideas. It’s easier for him to accomplish business-oriented goals than longer-term personal and life goals. This exercise helps him turn that ideation into action.
Where to Start
If you’re having trouble deciding which one of your goals to work on first, Carolina describes a tool from the Tony Robbins website that can help.
You split a wheel into pie shapes and each pie shape represents an aspect of your life including your relationships, health, finances and work. Then, rate where you are in that part of your life from 0-10. The idea behind it is that a wheel can’t turn if it’s not turning together. That just means you need to achieve balance with all of those portions of your life.
If part of your life is screaming for help, work on that goal first. If you don’t want to start at the lowest one because it’s too daunting right now, then move on to the next one. Trust yourself — if you’re not ready to work on that bad part of your life, then don’t.
Prioritize Your Goals
Tim explains that the goal of this exercise is to get the perspective of time and set their priorities accordingly. People overestimate what they can do in a year and underestimate what they can do in a decade. Don’t kick yourself if you don’t achieve everything you set for your one-year goal.
Carolina says that if you’re new at goal setting, you’re going to mess up at first. Things change, life happens. This exercise gives you a map to follow and reminds you that you have dreams and you’re here to accomplish something.
If a goal is causing you stress, then figure out why that is. Maybe you need to move on to something else and let that dream go.
Tim and Carolina both found that getting all of their goals and thoughts out of their heads and onto paper helped them prioritize what they wanted. It’s important to know your priorities and say no to anything that’s not related to what you really want.
If you feel like you’re juggling a lot of balls in the air, Tim says that the trick isn’t keeping them all in the air. The trick is knowing which ones to drop. Ask yourself, “Am I working on the right thing for right now?”
If you’re interested in doing a workshop on goal-setting, text, email, call or message Tim or Carolina on LinkedIn — there’s more to this exercise that they’d love to share with you!
And remember — it is never too late to start setting goals for yourself. After all, if you don’t set and define them, the world will.