Where you are today – mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally – is a result of what you did last year. Your destination in life is determined by your direction. And your direction is what you think and how you act. Goals help you set your direction, to get where you want to go.
So, where will you be this time next year?
It will be the sum of the results from what you determine today.
–For you personally, what will be your accomplishments and victories?
–For your organization, what will be the things that will give you the greatest sense of joy and accomplishment?
You can know right now, or at least within the next couple of days.
How? By designing those results ahead of time.
This Month of January
Because, pre-determining your future, personally and organizationally, beats all other methods. You can do it anytime, but now is a great time to start. This renewal is part of the rhythm of our lives. It’s the “New” Year. A “new” month. It’s the “first” month of that new year. And, it is the beginning of the first month in the new year. Because it is built into our language and our experiences, it’s a great time to build “new” into our lives.
This annual rhythm circulates this same time every year. That’s why this month is called January. Named for Janus, the Roman mythical god of the doorway, it begins our calendar.
By Loudon Dodd – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
Janus has two faces, one looking to the past and the other looking towards the future. It pictures an evaluations of what has happened in the past, and a determination to face the future.
Goals versus Resolutions
For each of us, this new year is an opportunity for evaluation, perspective and planning a new beginning. I’m not talking about resolutions, but determining your future. Those that picture their personal preferred future, and then work each day to achieve it are among the small percentage of people who live their lives by design rather than by default. These aren’t resolutions. These are determinations. Goals. A resolution typically involves a wish without action, sort of a “That would be great!” with no plan to get there. It predictably results in…well, not much. Resolution thinking is the thinking that sees the local gym packed with people in January and then plenty of room to park in February.
But, goal-setting accomplishes a lot more, with a way to track your progress and make adjustments along the way. Clearly defining your goals does more than accomplish a certain feat. It accomplishes a better you.
The Most Important Thing Goals Accomplish
The most important part of a goal? It isn’t what you get. It’s who you become.
A GOAL is to Grow Oneself, Accomplish Later.
–Rich Halcombe
Accomplishing your goal grows you. You become a different person in the acquisition of the goal. Consider how life would be if you lost that fifteen pounds? Your life would be different. Your clothes would fit differently, people would make positive comments about how you look. Standing, walking, sitting and getting into a car would all be different, easier. YOU would be different. (I know this because I did it two years ago.)
Financially, for example, if you had the bills paid, no credit card debt and money in the bank, life would be changed. Accomplishing that would grant you a sense of confidence you don’t have now. If (or rather, when) something goes wrong, you have the money to cover it. Your confidence would increase, along with a sense of ease about you. You would be different.
Above all, your goals grow you. Setting goals recognizes you will have to grow into them. If you don’t have to grow into it, it isn’t really a goal. If you do the same things in the same way a year from now, you know what you get. The same life. Doing the same things in the same ways results in the same income and relationships and health that you have right now.
So, this start of a new year is an opportunity to chart a new course for a new life. The turn of the calendar page is one of the regular rhythms of life. “New” is built right into how we frame it: The “start of a new year”. January 1st is New Year’s Day. It necessarily includes the word “new”.
“New” because it’s a beginning, the commencement of a new chapter in the story of your life. Only one page has turned since the previous day, yet it opens to a new chapter, an opportunity to change the direction of your life, or to escalate your present path.
Yet it can be overwhelming. Thinking about becoming someone different involves a whole lot of stuff. Suddenly, tons of options of goals come tumbling at you. How do you sift through the many options to focus on what needs the most attention?
The Personal Sphere
One tool I use is the Personal Sphere. It developed from the tail end of the Christmas story in Luke’s gospel, chapter two. It’s where we find ourselves right now in the week or so after Christmas. Luke 2:52 says, “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and all the people.” Out of all the ways the Bible could have described Jesus’s life, it chose four different, but interconnected, ways:
Wisdom= intellectually, including financial intelligence
Stature= physically, our health
Favor with God= spiritually, how we connect to God
Favor with people = socially/emotionally
As you can see in the picture below, these four areas affect everything else, the areas of life where we operate. For example, when you improve emotionally (favor with people), your relationships with your family improve. Your work life can also improve as you recognize the ways your speech and demeanor affect others relationally. So, when we grow ourselves, our goals are accomplished, meaning we become accomplished, touching every area we touch.
The more you grow the inside of the sphere, the better your results and more impacting your life will be on the areas outside yourself. Improve yourself and everything around you gets better.
So for you, where will you be next year intellectually? Physically? Spiritually? Socially/Emotionally?
As you look at what you want to be and have next year, list your desired outcomes based on the quadrants of the Personal Sphere. Doing it this way makes them less overwhelming and more workable.
As an example, an intellectual goal might be: I will get an “A” in Spanish 101 at the local community college in the fall semester 2019. It is specific. And, you know when it is accomplished.
How about physically? “I will run four miles in under thirty minutes by September 30, 2019.”
Likewise, a spiritual goal might look like: “Invest fifteen minutes a day reading Scripture, praying and journaling.”
Another way your life could radically improve in a year is in the social/emotional area. One way of doing that is to take a seminar on listening skills. It did wonders for me.
Your Life Can Be Better a Year from Now
So, for you, what will your life look like on January 1, 2020? The thing we do know is that it is a result of determinations you make today. After all, where you are today results from what you did or didn’t decide last year. Anyone who has experienced a better life has taken this route. It all happens within a given time frame. This year can be your year. Of course, you will have to change some things and learn some things. But, isn’t that what you really want?
But, you really can change your life.
In the comments, let us know a goal you have for the new year. What quadrant of the Personal Sphere (wisdom, stature, favor with God, favor with people) does it improve?
Who We Are
LeaderINCREASE helps leaders get clear on where to go and understand how to get there, with less hassle. We understand that choosing to make a difference as a leader isn’t always the easiest.
We focus on providing leaders with resources they need to make a difference and become actionable leaders for their organization. We look forward to helping you achieve your goals as we have done for many others.
