Hitting Your Target for 2008
Resolutions, as you might have already determined for yourself, rarely succeed. The problem is that they’re based on thinking that stems from you thinking guilty thoughts about things you should do better. You start by thinking about your weakness, and then you make plans about how to shore up those things that you’re weakest in handling successfully. I believe that this is the heart of the problem. I think the exact opposite approach is required. I think if you want to set some goals for 2008, you have to work from your strengths.
An Easy Starting Point
Why reinvent the wheel. I like the book StrengthsFinder 2.0 as a great tool for helping you understand your strengths. Take the survey exactly as they intend you to do it, and NOT with any intention to game the system. (Here’s a hint: if you lie on this test, the results won’t be that useful).
From Strengths, Make Plans
Here’s where you can be really, really simple with your plan for 2008. Decide what you’ve done well in 2007, and decide how to improve on that in 2008. Maybe you’ve conquered the basics of blogging. Are you ready to think about problogging (blogging for money?), or are you ready to start sharing your knowledge with others(schedule a series of how-to events at your local library, chamber of commerce, etc)?
Set these plans up with very simple phrases to sum up your goal. For instance, make a goal look like this: “Produce two ebooks about social media in 2008 to make $5,000.”
In there are a few numbers. Two books. Not one. A year: 2008, not “some day.” And $5,000. A dollar amount, not a checkbox to say you’ve created a PDF.
Take simple leaps from what you’ve done well in 2007 to where it can bring you in 2008.
Make Only Three to Five Targets
Our minds aren’t especially good at managing large numbers of things to remember. We do best when we can boil things down, make icons of our thoughts, and burn a deep understanding into just a few things. Let’s work hard at building targets that you can hit by working on three to five targets only for 2008. In 2006, I had three goals: Ask, Do, Share. I would ask for help when I needed it, and ask how I could be helpful. I would take action as often as possible, instead of just talking about things. And I would share what I learned.
2006 was my BEST year. Three words. Best year. Coincidence?
Try cooking your target ideas down to just three to five things to focus on. And then build them graphically into your vision.
Make Simple Target Maps
On any given day, at any point in that day, there are things you’re doing that will advance your goals. All else will not. Set up very simple graphics (I’ll create some later this week for you) that lay out those things that advance your goals. POST THIS VISIBLY where you’ll be working towards those goals.
If your goal is to run a marathon this spring, then you need a simple goal graphic by your fridge, your bed, your TV, and your computer that says, “Running gets better with practice.” Or whatever will get you out of the house, out of the fridge, and in bed on time.
Any time you’re not working on your targets, you are not working on having a great 2008. You’re waffling. You’re making excuses. You’re doing something that’s NOT going to get you the results you’re seeking.
Fix Your Self-Esteem
I could recommend Dr. Matthew McKay’s book Self-Esteem ten times a week and still not mention it enough. MOST of our problems in life come from not having dealt with our self esteem. The best thing I ever did for myself was work on this in 2003. When I falter, it’s because I forget these lessons. When I excel, it’s because I work my hardest at following what this book taught me.
Your path to a better 2008 includes your conquering of your Inner Critic, your challenging of your self-view, and your putting in place some self-management of the things that put you in a bad place mentally.
If you do NOTHING else for 2008, do that. Read this book, with a notebook nearby, and pay VERY close attention to the lessons and advice in this book. It will help you immensely, and that in turn, will bring you closer to hitting your targets. (It will also reinforce my point of you not focusing on your weaknesses and guilt).
Just One More Book
No, not the wildly successful children’s book podcast. In this case, I want to recommend one more book that I think will make a difference for your thinking.
Dr. Stephen R. Covey’s The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness. This book is a build-up of Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which is a classic in its own right. What I like about this book, however, is that it’s built up into a nicer framework. This version is a lot better to follow than the original 7 Habits text, and I got tons more out of it.
One note: I didn’t do much with the spirituality part of the book, and that’s a fairly large chunk of the last .. I don’t know… third? of the book. That’s me. If you’re religious or very spiritual, that part might offer you lots. Me, I stick to the earlier part of the book. So, it’s a good one to consider, because it helps understand principle-based leadership, and helps you structure your thoughts around some really simple but life-changing guidelines.
It’s Not About The Books
You can do tons in 2008 without ever cracking a book. The books are talisman tools, designed to give you an external helping hand with things that are completely internal to you. This coming year, look at building on what you do best, simplifying your targets, and picking three to five things to improve.
Does anyone want to share their thoughts, additional resources, or ideas on how you’ll tackle 2008? We’d love to hear.
Photo credit leeroy09481
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Comments
Chris,
I’m glad to see StrengthsFinder listed in your post. I actually haven’t taken the 2.0 assessment yet, although I have the book. I have taken the earlier assessment and not only did it give me insight into how I work, it gave me insight into how others around me work. Great suggestion!
In The Ultimate Guide to New Year’s Resolutions (at my blog), I emphasize planning ahead for goals. 2007 was my best year ever because I finally developed an organizational system that propelled, not hindered, me. I wake up each day and take a step closer to my Big Goals, and even more importantly, I thoroughly enjoy the process each day. (My definition of happiness is having the power to change what you are unhappy with.)
My 2008 resolutions center around expanding my blogging audience by providing useful, relevant content and expanding my efficiency consulting as a result. I have an action card each day that has at least one or two Next Actions that contribute to these goals. With the right foundation, it’s almost harder NOT to succeed…
Chris,
You have hit on the 2 important missing pieces that keep people “stuck”.
Not knowing what to DO! (Or doing stuff that they are only doing because they think they “should” or for some other limiting reason.)
And not having the confidence in themselves to do, be and have whatever they want in life.
Thanks for your perspective and reminder to stay true to ourselves. (That may not be what you said and it was the message I took away from what you said.) :-)
Pat
The most important point is to keep your goals visible. My friend Chad prints his goals and has them laminated. He then keeps a copy at his desk, in his car and in the shower. Yes, the guy actually tapes his goals to the wall of his shower.
By keeping them visible it makes the tough choices easy. If you always know what you want you cannot get distracted or tempted by bad choices.
Out of sight is out of mind, so you need to constantly remind yourself of your target in order to get there. Like a plane flying from Los Angeles to Honolulu….if you just take off and go west…there is a lot of blue sea below you. You MIGHT hit Hawaii…or you MIGHT crash into the ocean. Having a clear goal and knowing what it looks like will assist you in a safe landing.
Chris,
So interesting to see Strengths Finder 2.0 on your reading list. I picked it up a few months back and right before the holidays took the assessment. I am now looking forward with renewed energy to 2008, in large part, because of what I am learning about my own strengths from this little but powerful book.
I discovered my own top five strengths are –Positivity, Futuristic, Input, Empathy, Achiever — I’m already finding it fun and interesting to work with these strengths! It feels good to set goals for the new year without focusing on which flaw I’m going to try to overcome this time around!
Thanks for talking about your experiences and offering insights on how best to set some positive intentions and actions for the coming year. Happy New Year and may 2008 be your most successful year yet!
I love these resources and ideas! Thank you, Chris et al, for sharing. The past few years, I’ve been using Your Best Year Yet (Ginny Ditzler), a values-based goal setting system, to map out my upcoming year.
It works beautifully at translating my desires into actionable (big) steps. But it’s become glaringly obvious that with my advanced case of Shiny Object Syndrome, methodical plotting out–i.e., working the little steps–is a key component of making goals a reality.
This year, since several key goals have to do with building my audience, I’m going to use my marketing coach’s Marketing/Planning calendar to keep myself on track and accountable day-to-day.
I think 2008 might also be the year I start that MasterMind group. Anyone here done that successfully?
[…] power of positive thinking and the fact that you can, in part, create your own destiny. I love Chris’ idea of beginning with your strengths instead of your weaknesses this year as you set goals. And […]
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Chris,
Yes, I understand that one must love themselves first, but for all of those leading companies spare everyone the pain of putting together large plans.
I love the one-page strategic plan from Vern Harnish, author, Rockefeller Habits.
http://www.gazelles.com/strategic_planning_management.html
I’ve used it for a number of different companies and always found it well received. Plus, the one page is about all I can personally handle.
Thanks for the book recommendations. It would appear that I have some reading to do. And, thanks for the nod at justonemorebook.com.
Off to do some reading…
I too have made a few New Year’s resolutions for this year. I hope to see them fulfilled and will make every attempt to see it come to fruition.
It’s not easy but it can be done with some determination, a solid plan, focus and keeping
your eye on the prize. I plan to do all of the above. I never thought I would turn out to be a blogger but it happened and I am gladly making the most of it. My eyes are open to every possible opportunity and ways to write about them.
Thank you Chris for those helpful tips and recommendations.
Wow! Lots of really great folks are sharing their perspectives and ideas here. Thanks for that.
My 5 strengths, according to the test were:
Communication, Futuristic, Woo, Ideation, Activator.
It’s funny because I can’t deny a lick of it. Some of them are tricky to work with. “Woo,” for instance, means that I tell people things that I feel from the bottom of my heart, and that they tend to think I’m just being a goof or don’t mean it. It makes me work harder in communicating more clearly.
So yes, thanks for sharing yours, LaDonna, and thank you to everyone for your comments and additional resources.
More than Strengths Finder I’d read Now, Discover Your Strengths (more in one place)
…. plus, The Gift of Fear, The Dance of Anger, Smart Choices, Paradox of Choice and Learned Optimism
… and the book coming ut in2008 (yetto be named) by Paul Elman and the Dalai Lama
another Brogan fan, Kare, MovingFromMeToWe.com
Chris - well said. I just posted about my 2008 goals and tried hard to make most of them as achievable as possible. The books sound great and one of my big issues is not having time to read a lot of books. The one about addressing your self critic actually will help me with one of my goals about drastically reducing negative self talk. I will check it out!
Aruni
Great post, thanks Chris. Gives me plenty to think about over the next few days … and still time to read some books.
[…] Now that my head is above water again, I went back and reread the ones I had tagged away for future reference, including this one by Chris Brogan. […]
[…] organized! I look forward to 2008 from an organizational perspective since all of my kids will finally be in school full time. Being a mom has been my biggest priority […]
Definitely set SMART goals - specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-tagged - much like your example “Produce two ebooks about social media in 2008 to make $5,000.”
Have a productive and successful New Year!