It’s that time of the year: creating our new year’s resolutions i.e. goals for the upcoming year.
For the past couple of years I’ve been using vision boards and spreadsheets to track my goals.
This year I learnt a new process by Alan Donegan that takes goal setting to a whole new level:
Step 1: 10 things you’re proud of: you must be aware/proud of the goals already achieved.
Step 2: 50+ goal ideas: write down as many goals you can think of, for next year and beyond.
Step 3: Assign time frames to your goals: some of them can be done in 1 year, 2 years, 5 etc.
Step 4: Choose your top 10 goals for next year: identify the top ones from your list to pursue.
In this article, I talk about how to be proud of your goals and how to come up over 50 ideas.
I discuss how to choose your correct time frame and how to choose which goals for next year.
Finally, I ask you to think about your why for each goal and where you can find out more info.
1. 10 Things You’re Proud Of
The 1st step part of this goal setting process is to get in the right headspace i.e. frame of mind.
The way we do this is by listing out 10 things that we are proud of achieving this current year.
In his actual goal process, Alan talks about listing only 5 things that we are proud of this year.
However, I felt that this wasn’t enough: there are so many things that we should be proud of.
These do not have to be big achievements, they can be little goals that you can acknowledge.
Whether it’s buying a car, getting a new job, or losing weight: these are all to be celebrated.
The fact we made it to the last week of the year is an achievement not to be taken for granted.
So the first step is to write down at least 10 things/goals you are proud of achieving this year.
That why it’s good to keep track of your goals achieved; you’ll be amazed when you look back.
More importantly, don’t compare your achievements to others: we’re running our own race.
2. Over 50 Goal Ideas
I know what you’re saying: 50 goals that’s a lot; the reason it’s that many is to get you thinking.
Anyone can come up with 5 goals but we need to dig deeper. Here are some tips to help you:
- Quantity over quality: Don’t judge before you write it, if it comes to mind then write it down.
- Doesn’t have to be worthy: if you want a coffee machine go for it, be honest with yourself.
- Small steps to large goals: if you have big goals, write down all the smaller goals in between.
- Take inspiration from others: see what others have as their goals that also resonate with you.
- Ask questions: Where do you want to go? What do you want to do? Who do you want to be?
- You’re not committing: this is just generating as many ideas as you can, we will choose later.
So the second step in the process is to come up with over 50 goal ideas and write it all down.
This isn’t the time to be a critic or realist as we are so inclined; this is the time to be a dreamer!
3. Choose Your Time Frame
At this point, you should have a list of over 50 goals of things that you would like to achieve.
The next step in the goal process is to assign a time frame to each goal i.e. a number in years.
Ask yourself: how many years do you think it would take you to achieve this particular goal?
Is it a 1 year goal, 2 year goal, 5 year goal, 10 year goal and so on? Write down what you think.
We overestimate what we can do in a year, and underestimate what we can do in a decade!
Once you have assigned a number in years to each of your goals, shuffle them around in order.
Put the ones you would like to do in 1 year first, then 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, and so on.
You may find you have a big list of 1 year goals; we overestimate how much we do in a year!
Move some of the goals around until you are happy with the list and the time frames assigned.
There is a saying that says: You can have/do everything that you want, just not all at once!
4. Choose Your Top 10 Goals
The next part of the goal setting process is to choose your top 10 goals to work on next year.
There are no right or wrong answers but to help you choose here are some helpful guidelines:
- The No-Brainer: this is the goal on your list that when you look it makes you think ‘hell yeah!’
- The Just For You: this is the goal that is just for you and no one else; it’s ok to be a bit selfish.
- The Moonshot: this is a goal that scares you a bit makes you think: I don’t know if I can do it?
- The Quick Win: this is the goal you can’t believe is still on your list, that you need to get done.
- The Comfort Zone: this is a goal that makes you uncomfortable, but you know you should do.
- The Wild Card: this is a goal that is totally random and not related to anything, and that’s ok!
In the original process it says choose 4 goals, but I think that’s too little which is why I say 10.
However, if you feel 10 is too much to achieve in 1 year then choose 4/5 and see how it goes.
5. What is Your Why?
Before you go and start implementing your goals, you need to ask yourself; what is your why?
What this means is: why have you set these goals for yourself? How will you be better off?
The reason this is important is that you will use this why for your motivation and persistence.
If your why isn’t big enough, then you may be inclined to give up when the going gets tough.
So for each of your top goals write a paragraph for each one explaining why they are special.
And next year, when some of the goals get difficult, use these paragraphs as a quick reminder.
To find out more about this process, you can check out Alan Donegan’s Goal Setting Process.
It’s a great source that goes into more details, such as ‘who do I have to become for this goal’.
Do you have your own process for goal setting? Please let me know in the comments below.
If you have enjoyed reading this article, you can check out my other articles on lifestyle design.
If there are any other lifestyle topics you would like to discuss, let me know in the comments!
