Goal Setting 2021

As we Approach 2021 for most of us it is a time to set new goals or resolutions. For others the New Year is not the best time to do this. Each camp has their own reasons. Whatever your thoughts are, I would like to encourage you to reconsider your approach to goal setting. This article will shed light on a different approach which you might want to consider next time you want to do this. 

Acceptable Goal Setting.

It has been preached to us that SMART goals are the way to go when it comes to setting goals. This has been the default approach for a long time. I have used it myself all the time I am setting goals. It is a very effective approach and some of what I am going to discuss here will still capture elements of the acronym. Let me get a few things out of the way first before I delve deeper into the discussion.

There is no changing the fact that goals must be specific. If they are not specific then they do not mean anything. They are just statements of intent. Goals must also be measurable meaning they must be quantifiable in terms of size and magnitude. I am also persuaded that goals need to be achieved within a particular set timeframe lest they become wish lists or someday items. I have a problem with attainable and realistic because they are limiting words. Goals need to stretch and scare you. Attainable and realistic mean if you stretch just a little bit you will be there. That does not excite me at all. 

Winner’s Goal Setting.

How does Grant Cardone approach his goal setting? In his book ‘The 10X Rule', he suggests setting goals 10times bigger than you normally do and be willing to do 10 times than you do. According to him, we set our goals too low and put in too little effort and end up disappointed. 

Goals need to excite us and pump up our blood. They need to scare us when we think about them and achieving them. It is when we are looking for average results and an average life that we set attainable and realistic goals. We tend to dabble in attainable and realistic because we want to fly under the radar. When you start talking big, there is no way you will fly under the radar. Everyone will be watching you. Some will even take it upon themselves to keep you accountable. The mockery you will receive from others will drive you even more. If your goals do not scare your peers, be prepared never to rise above them. 

Attainable and realistic goals guarantee that you will live beneath your potential. 95 percent of us live beneath what we are capable of. It is a case of poor stewardship of our abilities and if you are religious I bet it is sinful. Why would any of us want to live beneath our capabilities? 

The exciting way to do it is to set big goals. There is a need for a shift in mindset from us so that setting big, scary goals becomes the norm. There are many reasons for this. What we think we need turns out never to be enough courtesy of the many variables that come about. When this happens, only those who had outsized goals will weather the storm. Big goals provide enough motivation for you. They inevitably make you realize that you have to step up your activity levels. Big goals hold our attention. When they are small or attainable with little effort, we tend to lose focus and drift into other more exciting things. The bigger and more unrealistic goals are and the more aligned they are to your purpose, the more they’ll energize and fuel your actions according to Grant Cardone.

If you must follow the examples of others, then be careful about those you choose to follow. You have a responsibility to set your goals against the benchmark of those who have achieved massive success. This way the goal is so scary you are almost sure you won’t attain it. Anytime you think your goal is easily within reach, the goal is not big enough.

As you do it, realize you have been raised, educated and conditioned by restrictions. You are more conscious of what you can’t do than what you can do. From our parents to our teachers, we have been taught to think in terms of limits, to be real. Whenever we looked like going too far out of line, we were punished and brought back into the fold. We have been taught moderation which isn’t a bad thing but still comes as a limiting mindset. It is possible even your environment at work tells you to play it cool. Maybe they sneer at the very idea of ambition. With a history of limited thinking, your default approach is ‘I need to be realistic.’ This means that a lot of times we are capable of so much more. Keep this in mind as you set your own goals so that you are challenged to target higher.

Advantages of Unrealistic Goals

They help us exploit our potential more often than not. Using up our potential is often a hit and miss kind of thing. One of the surest ways to improve our odds is to set unrealistic goals and commit to massive action to realize them. 

They also have a greater reward. If I achieve 30 percent of a small goal and 30 percent of a big goal in the same area, the results and rewards are surprisingly different.

Big goals motivate. We need to be in pursuit of big things to remain focused throughout the journey.

They also cushion you from inevitable shocks. When you achieve massive success, you stand a better chance of conquering shocks that come your way from whatever quarters. 

What will you do with your current goals? Are they big enough? Do they need a fresh look? What about your team’s goals? What is your takeaway from this post? Share in the comments below.

If you need someone to walk you through setting and tracking your goals going forward, feel free to DM me or comment below. 

Share Widely.

Work it Out

The book of Philippians 2: 12-13 is a good place to start this conversation on working out your salvation. Here is what it has to say.

Therefore, my dear ones, as you have always obeyed [my suggestions], so now,
not only [with the enthusiasm you would show] in my presence but much more
because I am absent, work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete)
your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious
caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking
from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ).
13[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you
[energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His
good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.

While this scripture is specifically focused on believers living their lives in such a way as to do right with regard to honoring God and fulfilling his will, there is more to it than what we see. I would like to look at its broader application in the course of this article.

First it is important to note that the premise for this requirement is what God has already done. This is the way it always works. First, God invests in you then he seeks the return. He will never seek a return where he has not invested.

God works in you as we see in verse 13 to have both the willingness and the ability to do what He is asking for in verse 12. There are two things which stand in the way of someone who wants to do something good. For some it is a lack of willingness. You lack the drive, the impetus, the motivation to go out and do something. The second challenge we see is the ability. In a world where the default setting is for us to do wrong, it takes superhuman ability to go out and do the right thing. God takes care of both issues and positions us where we have all it takes to work things out.

If we are to look at its broader application, this scripture is encouraging us to make the most of God’s supplied graces upon our lives. There are many investments God has put in us, many things he has endowed us with. We have talent, abilities, gifts and so much more that is already resident in us. The question becomes what to do with it all. If you look deep within yourself you realize that there is a lot that lies unexploited. Working it out is about choosing to bring it all to the fore.

Your endowments help no one when they stay hidden or under the radar. They only find their significance when they are given room to shine through. Our job as we live this side heaven is to ensure that all our reserves are deployed for the benefit of all. We must endeavor to tap into all our reservoirs of energy to ensure that we are not living anything unutilized or underutilized.

When we fail to work out our potential, we are guilty of one or all three things. We are either misusing, underusing or not using at all. John C. Maxwell says where purpose is unknown, abuse is inevitable. Therefore there is a number of things we need to do if we are to get to the point where we are fully making use of what we have at our disposal. These three things are the heart and soul of what we do at Optimize Institute. I will briefly go into them as we come to a close of this article.

I call them the 3D’s of your potential and they stand for Discover, Develop, Deploy.

The first task you have as an individual if you are to work out your potential is to discover it. You cannot exploit what you don’t know. Your eyes must be open to what you have lying within you if you will have a chance to exploit it. That awareness is critical. You need to look deep within yourself as you also search the scriptures to get a clearer understanding of what lies within you. I am of the persuasion that the God who made you understands clearly what is wired within you much like automotive engineers know what lies under the hood of a supercar. There is therefore no better place to start looking than to consult with Him in prayer and in His word. He could give greater meaning to your experiences than what you thought possible. He can weave a good narrative out of the chaos of your life than you could come up with by yourself. Discovery is not complete without the involvement of the divine.

Secondly you must develop that latent power lying within. There is a lot that your gifts need before they can shine through. I always say, you must look at your gifts as diamonds in the rough. There is a process through which they are taken before they are ready to make beautiful ornaments. That process is what we are calling development. Development requires that you go through the fire and the water. It will call for you to endure the ups and downs of life, there will be highs and lows at every turn. Sometimes you will feel like quitting along the way because the heat is too much. At other times you will wonder whether it is all worth it. The process of development is no walk in the park but it is a necessary component of the journey to bringing it all to the fore.

Finally you are ready for deployment. After all the ups and downs, the time is right for you to be made manifest to the world. Many times, the people see you and marvel at what has happened overnight. While it feels like an overnight success to them, for you who has gone through the process, it’s been tedious beyond explanation. At the point of deployment you are up for celebration. Everybody wants to be associated with you. Even those who were on the sidelines want to find a way to show solidarity with you. They say failure is an orphan but success has many fathers. You must learn to take it in your stride because there is nothing much you can do to change people.  To work it out means you have endured the process of development and allowed yourself to reach the limelight. The Joy of deployment far exceeds the pains of development every time. It is much like how for the joy of holding her baby in her hands, the mother forgets all the pain of childbirth.

No matter what stage you are at in the process, remain focused on the final goal which is to see the fruit of all your labor. The reward is not for those who quit along the way. It is reserved for those are ready to go all the way to the top. They say the air at the top is pure because the top is less crowded. If you want to enjoy that kind of air, then you have your job cut out for you. Beyond the reward however, do it from a sense of duty and responsibility because one of my favorite quotes is that ‘The world, God and you need the best of you expressed.’ When you fail to show up, everybody suffers. Therefore show up for the good of everyone who is waiting on you. 

Make a point of subscribing to the blog so you don't miss out on any of our posts in the future. 

Improve on your best

 

Get into the habit of pushing the boundaries of what you can handle. Everything around us evolves constantly. What was great yesterday is considered trash today. The people who will remain relevant must change with the changing times and circumstances. While you rest easy enjoying your success, your problems are evolving. Improvement is required just to maintain your position before you even think of taking steps forward.

If you are in business, you will realize that your competitors are working very hard to close the gap between you and them. If you don’t work on getting better at what you are doing you will soon find yourself as a success story of the past. I constantly refer to smartphone manufacturers as the greatest example of improving on your best. For the better part of the decade 2001-2010, Nokia was the king when it came to manufacturing cutting edge phones that always surprised us with what they were capable of doing. At some point it looked as though they had a new phone out every week. Word has it that they had the technology to produce the first smartphones but they slept on it concluding for some reason that the world was not ready for this kind of technology. Since that time, it has never been the same for them again. The moment they missed the bus, they started going downhill. Several attempts later and they still can’t boast of any significant market share in the smartphone business despite having some great options along the way. Contrast that with what has happened at Apple and Samsung. People are so invested in what these two companies produce, that they line up well in advance to get their hands on the latest iteration of their flagship devices. They are sure to sell millions of devices across the globe every year. The thing that keeps them at the top of people’s minds is the fact that they come with the latest technology available. Their R and D teams have little time to celebrate the success of what came out last year. They almost immediately go back to asking themselves: what can we offer the market next year to beat what they currently have in their hands? In short they are keen on improving on their best.

In his acceptance speech for an Academy Award, Actor Matthew McConaughey made an outstanding statement that reflects what it means to improve on your best. He said that his hero is always 10 years ahead of him. In essence his hero is who he is going to be ten years from now. That means he is always chasing a better version of himself. The way he sees himself now as great as it is, he knows that his future self, is bound to be better than his present self and that is why he keeps chasing his hero. Another example from the incredible Dr. Benjamin Hardy is from onetime Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. Her mantra is that she never refers to herself as the ‘Former’ anything. She focuses much more on what the future has in store for her that she has no time to get lost in thinking of who she was in a former role. That right there is the thinking of someone who is given to doing better and focusing on the improvement they can still reach rather than any greatness in their past.

However well you are doing at the present moment, it is important to realize that you are still a work in progress. You must constantly keep your eyes open to see the opportunities accorded you for improvement and to do better. That is the basis for living a great life. I am a strong proponent of living optimally and constant improvement can never be separated from the pursuit of an optimal life. The fact that you are excelling today should keep you on your toes. At some point, you are no longer in the zone of competing with others. Your competition becomes the pursuit of beating who you were yesterday. Grant Cardone in his masterpiece The 10X Rule has a chapter on Competition where he says that your goal needs to be domination rather than competition. He says that while others are pursuing best practices, you need to be in a place where you are pursuing ‘only practices.’ By the time you reach here, you are not only improving constantly on your best self but playing in a one man league where you are constantly assured you will win.

Would you do with someone to hold your hand in the pursuit of improving on your best? If your answer is in the affirmative, then talk to me on +254725832477/ samuelmwinamoa@gmail.com