Hey everyone, Stephen here! Welcome to Week 5 of the reset course, diving deeper into the “mindful action” module. Last week, we tackled goal planning. This week, we’ll explore strategies to take action and actually achieve your goals.
https://youtu.be/G7QWedt2C4U
We all know planning and dreaming are crucial. But as author Steve Maraboli says, “Take Action! An inch of movement will bring you closer to your goals than a mile of intention.” Taking mindful action is the key to real progress.
While it sounds simple, following through can be tricky. These tips, alongside the final video on reflection, will equip you for success:
Schedule Time for Action
To-do lists are great, but often tasks linger, leading to procrastination and frustration. Instead, schedule specific times for your goals in your calendar or set an alarm. Block out focused work periods when you have the most energy. Remember, you’re more likely to complete a task if you dedicate a specific time slot for it.
Chunking and the Pomodoro Technique
Our brains thrive on focused work. Multitasking hinders productivity. Chunking involves grouping similar tasks together. Dedicate an hour to “life admin” or “personal finance,” tackling tasks one by one.
The Pomodoro Technique is another game-changer (check out my full blog post dedicated to it here!). Set a timer for 25 minutes and focus intensely on a single task. When the timer goes off, take a short break. This method helps maintain focus and prevents burnout.
Minimise Distractions
Eliminate distractions to maximise productivity. Silence your phone notifications, close unnecessary tabs, and find a quiet space to work. You’ll be surprised by how much you can accomplish with minimal distractions.
These are just a starting points. The accompanying worksheet delves deeper into implementing these strategies. Remember, progress takes time. The next video will introduce a powerful tool for achieving your goals. Stay tuned!
Did you find any of these tips helpful? Have you tried similar techniques? Share your experiences in the comments! I’d also love to hear your suggestions for future topics.
See you next week for the final course session on goal reflection!
By the end of this session, you’ll know effective goal setting techniques to help you progress.
Effective Goal Setting for Personal Growth
Greetings, fellow seekers of personal growth! This session is all about effective goal setting. Welcome to Week 4 of our ‘reset course,’ where we’ll delve into the ‘mindful action’ module and embark on our plan-do-review cycle. We’ll explore how to effectively plan and write your goals for success (whatever that means to you) and address any challenges you might face in getting started.
In my experience, one of the primary reasons for resolutions or goals falling by the wayside is that individuals either don’t dedicate sufficient time or lack the knowledge to properly plan and write effective goals. As Denzel Washington eloquently stated in his 2015 commencement speech, “Dreams without goals, are just dreams.”
So, let’s transform our dreams (or, in our case, our current compass points) into something more tangible – bite-sized goals that we can take action on and utilise to drive positive change.
A Quick Note on SMART Goals…
Before diving in, a quick Google search on goal-setting will undoubtedly introduce you to the SMART acronym, a familiar tool to many. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
This method proves useful for administrative tasks and to-do list-type goals. However, when aiming to implement long-lasting habits or goals with a broader focus, confining all your goals to SMART can be detrimental.
Instead of SMART, I often adopt an approach where I simply ask myself two questions: “How will I know when I’ve achieved this?”, and “Do I need to complete this by a particular time?”. If I can answer these questions, then the intention behind the goal is often well-defined enough to get started.
The Steps to Effective Goal Setting
The following tips will guide you in writing clear goals that will set you on your path towards your compass points. The linked worksheet will take you through each step to help you formulate your goals for the upcoming weeks.
1. Get Clear
Firstly, examine your current compass point, pillar, or area you wish to improve. What do you hope to achieve here? Why is this important to you? What does improvement look like? Defining a clear vision of what matters to us in this area allows us to focus our efforts effectively. Without a clear vision, we hinder ourselves before we even begin.
The classic resolution example of ‘becoming more healthy’ highlights this point well. While it’s a noble sentiment, it falls short as a goal due to its lack of clarity. We need to refine the goal and the reasons behind it.
Instead of simply stating that you want to “become more healthy,” consider why you want to become more healthy. Is it to improve your energy or mood levels? Because you’re finding it difficult to concentrate? Because you want to lose weight? Or because you want to enhance your physical capabilities?
Each of these motivations will have a different focus and a different measure of success. So, let’s get clear first.
2. Break it Down
Once we have a clear idea of what we want to achieve, the finish line doesn’t always make the race any easier. Big goals can be overwhelming, often making it difficult to know where to start. So, we need to eliminate that feeling of ‘this is a huge project’ and break it down into manageable chunks.
Let’s say your current compass point is to become self-employed, driven by a desire for greater flexibility in choosing what and when you work. Great! But… where do you start?
I find that working backwards from your end goal often helps in breaking things down and identifying the starting point. So, if you want to work for yourself, you’ll need to register as a business or sole trader. You’ll need a product or service that people value, so you’ll need to test the market and trial your idea. But before that, you’ll need to have an idea worth testing, so you’ll probably want to brainstorm some ideas.
So, your first step, before doing anything else, is to set aside some time to brainstorm ideas that you find exciting to pursue. That’s a manageable step that could be done in 30 minutes, rather than being overwhelmed with the concept of creating your own business empire from scratch and engaging in endless ‘research’ on how to set up a business.
Remember, it’s perfectly acceptable to start small and gradually build momentum. Don’t feel pressured to tackle everything at once. Instead, focus on taking consistent, incremental steps towards your goal.
3. Process or To-Do List?
For the purposes of our discussion, goals can be categorized into process goals and to-do list goals. Process goals are those where we aim to develop habits and don’t necessarily have a specific end date in mind. Our focus is on dedicating time to the process rather than achieving an immediate outcome. Examples of process goals include reading or writing at least 20 minutes a day, practising yoga each morning, or playing the guitar for 10 minutes after work.
To-do list goals, on the other hand, are one-off goals that we work towards with a clear end in mind. Examples of to-do list goals could be decluttering your house, purchasing a bike, assembling a piece of flatpack furniture, or responding to an email.
Throughout your journey towards your compass point, you’ll likely encounter both types of goals. It’s important to make this distinction because the approach you take for each type of goal will be different. Additionally, you don’t want to overwhelm yourself with too many of each type at once. In Week 5, we’ll explore strategies for effectively structuring your time to handle each type of goal.
4. Prioritise Your Goals
Another common reason why resolutions or goal-setting fail is that individuals take on too much and become overwhelmed. While we might have a long list of goals to achieve in order to reach our compass point, we can’t do everything simultaneously. So, let’s prioritise those goals that need to be completed first and focus our attention on them during our day-to-day activities. We can always revisit the remaining goals when the time is right.
A good rule of thumb is to only work on one process goal at a time. Developing a new habit takes time and consistent effort before it becomes second nature, like brushing your teeth, which you now do without thinking twice, twice a day (hopefully).
Similarly, don’t overload yourself with endless to-do list goals. Allocate more time than you think you’ll need for each task. If you finish early, you can treat yourself or tackle a bonus activity.
Adopting a slow and steady mindset is key to success. Our aim is to maintain forward momentum in the right direction. If you find it challenging to focus on your goals consistently or are simply having a low-energy day, give yourself some breathing room and focus on making small improvements, even if they seem insignificant. What can you do today that nudges you in the right direction?
Some days you’ll make greater strides than others, but as long as you maintain that motivation and continue moving towards your compass point, you’ll eventually reach your destination.
Conclusion
This week’s worksheet will guide you through the process of planning your first goals and effective goal setting to ensure you’re on the right track towards achieving your compass point.
Please share your experiences in the comments section to engage in the conversation. I’m also planning to launch a mailing list soon, so keep an eye out for that. I’ll be seeking your input in shaping the topics of upcoming videos.
In Week 5, we’ll delve into effective strategies for tackling the ‘doing’ aspect of your goals.
Have a good week everyone, and I’ll see you next time.
In our Week 3 session, we’re talking about developing an improvement mindset. In exploring this topic we’ll delve into the realm of mindsets and thought patterns. These may seem like abstract concepts at first glance, however, as you’ll discover in this week’s workbook, these are all practical aspects that you can actively work on to transform your approach to self-improvement.
Rest assured, this isn’t an exercise in vague concepts and empty platitudes. We’re not just introducing ideas and telling you to adopt them without any guidance. Instead, we’ll explore three essential mindsets that will set you up for success in the rest of the course. These are: focusing on what you can control, embracing slow and steady progress, and becoming your own self-improvement detective.
https://youtu.be/Xw3XvpkD8L8
Focusing on What You Can Control
In a world often brimming with frustration and a sense of helplessness, it’s easy to get caught up in things beyond our control. We’ve all had those moments where we’ve allowed external circumstances to dictate our emotions. Which can lead to feelings of frustration, helplessness, or even depression.
But let’s consider this: given the limited time and energy we have each day, how do we want to spend it? Do we want to expend our precious energy worrying about the weather? Or annoying social media posts, or other factors we have no say over? Or would we rather channel that energy into tasks, thoughts, and behaviours that we can influence or control?
While we may have some influence over aspects like our health, wealth, and relationships, these are also ultimately affected by factors beyond our control. Our genes may play a role in our health, our wealth depends on customers or employers valuing our skills, and the actions of others will undoubtedly impact our relationships.
When you break it down, we have 100% control over very little – our thoughts, judgments, and behaviours. So, as much as possible, let’s focus on those. Personally, I’ve found this concept to be an invaluable anchor when navigating my own self-improvement journey.
This doesn’t mean you should ignore other things or deny your emotions. Of course, you’ll still experience frustration, sadness, and investment in certain matters. But the aim is to reach a point where you can recognise when you’re worrying about things beyond your control, catch yourself, and redirect your focus to something you can affect. We want to move away from a reactive mindset (where things happen to us) and embrace a proactive one (where we can plan and control). By practising this consistently, we’ll naturally gravitate towards focusing our time and energy on things we can influence and do something about. Focusing on what you can control is the first step in developing an improvement mindset.
Slow and Steady Progress
On his website, habit expert James Clear explores the concept of slow and steady ‘continuous improvement’. He advocates for incremental progress, suggesting that improving by just 1% each day will eventually add up and is the best way to sustain improvement in the long term. While it may not be the most glamorous approach, it works.
The image above is taken from James Clear’s blog post on Marginal Gains – I’d really recommend it!
Clear argues that the typical goal-setting approach, where we set a goal and try to achieve it as quickly as possible, often leads to burnout, frustration, and failure. Perhaps you can relate to this if you think back to previous goals or resolutions you’ve made.
However, if we focus on continuously tweaking our habits and behaviours slightly towards our goals, we’ll not only see progress in a more balanced way, but it’s often easier to sustain those positive habits for longer.
I love this model because it’s forgiving and aligns well with our compass points. We’re developing an improvement mindset, not a perfect mindset. Since we’re only trying to improve by 1% each day and we have a clear understanding of our current direction, it’s much easier to pick ourselves up and continue pursuing our goals the next day if things don’t go exactly as planned.
We all have off days, but instead of facing the same crashing and burning cycle that traditional goal-setting or resolution-based approaches can lead to, we can view our improvement from a long-term perspective.
So, let’s aim for slow, sustained progress. We want to get 1% better because we’re not just aiming for short-term goals; we want to sustain these improvements and create healthy habits that will benefit us in the long run.
Being Your Own Self-Improvement Detective
When you try to improve yourself, it’s easy to blame yourself if things don’t go as planned, even if your plans are unrealistic. However, approaching your progress like a detective can help you focus on the system and find the right approach for you.
Imagine you set a goal to do 30 minutes of yoga each morning after you wake up. You go to bed happy, imagining your future-toned self.
The next morning, you wake up to darkness and a chilly room. Your bed is warm and inviting. You think, ‘Just five more minutes in bed won’t hurt’. Then you think, ‘You don’t have to start right away’. ‘Maybe just wait for the room to get a little warmer.’
You fall back asleep and wake up annoyed at yourself for not getting out of bed. Self-criticism starts to creep in. Maybe you’ll start tomorrow, or maybe you’re just not a yoga person; maybe you just don’t have the self-discipline.
This is a very common thought process and is one of the main reasons New Year’s resolutions often don’t work. People rely solely on self-discipline without making any other changes and expect different results. MuchelleB aptly points this out in her video on how discipline doesn’t work. Relying solely on self-discipline is unhelpful because when you fail, you blame yourself, get demotivated, and end up giving up.
However, if you take a detective’s approach, you can start to explore why things didn’t work. Then experiment with different techniques and tweaks to your approach. Maybe you move your alarm across the room so you have to get out of bed to turn it off. Perhaps you sleep in your yoga clothes so you’re ready when you get up. You might even adopt Mel Robbins’ 5-second rule and pretend you’re a rocket, counting down from 5 before launching yourself out of bed!
The key is to try out different techniques – keep what works and ditch what doesn’t. And if something doesn’t work, it’s simply because you haven’t found the right system yet. Everyone’s system will be slightly different, and it may vary depending on the day, time, and energy levels – but it’s a puzzle that can be solved. So, put on your detective hat and challenge yourself to figure it out.
Conclusion – Developing an Improvement Mindset
These three mindsets – focusing on what you can control, embracing slow and steady progress, and becoming your own self-improvement detective – will serve as valuable tools on your personal growth journey. This week’s worksheet will help you assess your current thought patterns and reflect on these concepts further. We’ll continue to revisit and adopt these mindsets over the next three weeks of the course.
As always, remember to share your progress with the other participants in the comments section below. Did any of these concepts strike a chord with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Hey everyone, Stephen here. In Week 1 of our New Year’s Reset, we talked about finding your pillars of a successful life. This week, we’re going to build on that foundation and talk about how to find your compass point.
What’s a ‘Compass Point’?
Think of your compass point as the direction you want your life to go in right now. It doesn’t have to be a specific destination, but it should be a general direction that you want to head in. For example, your compass point might be to:
Live a more meaningful life
Be more successful in your career
Be simply happier
Once you know your compass point, you can use it to guide your decisions and make sure that you’re on the right track. For example, if your compass point is to live a more meaningful life, you might decide to:
Spend more time with your loved ones
Volunteer for a cause you care about
Pursue a passion project
How do I Find my Compass Point?
Finding your compass point is a simple but powerful exercise. Here are a few steps to help you get started:
Take some time to reflect on your values and goals. What is important to you in life? What do you want to achieve?
Imagine your ideal future. What would your life look like if you were living your best life?
Identify a destination that is aligned with your values and goals. This is your compass point.
Develop a plan for how you will reach your compass point. This doesn’t have to be a detailed plan, but it should give you a general idea of the steps you need to take.
Remember, your compass point can change over time. That’s okay! As you grow and learn, your values and goals may change as well. Simply revisit your compass point regularly and make adjustments as needed.
Finding your compass point is an important step in creating a life that you love. It gives you a sense of direction and purpose. If you’re feeling lost or overwhelmed, I encourage you to take some time to reflect on your values and goals and identify your compass point. It’s a decision that you won’t regret.
Conclusion
Download my free worksheet to help you find your compass point.
See you next time for week 3, where we’ll be moving on from the ‘Direction’ module and exploring the ‘Mindsets’ that will set you up for success when we start taking action in week 4.
Have a good week everyone, and I’ll see you next time.
Stephen
This post is part of the ‘New Years Reset Course’ – find details of the course here and the previous post on finding your pillars here
