When is the last time you sat down to think about what you wanted out of life?
If you’re like most people, you can’t remember a time besides the obligatory New Year’s Resolutions that are set and forgotten just as quickly.
The true power of goals is in figuring out where you want to be in a year. Or three years. Or five years. Or FIFTY years…
And constantly working toward getting there.
Goals change though. They take on a life of their own. As you plot out the path of where you want to be, you’ll find that there are things that will pop up which alter your destination.
There is something SO powerful about focusing on a goal. Its resolve is unmatched by any other force.
When you find a focused person, you’ll know.
They are calmer than normal people. They are quick to turn down anything that deviates from that focus. Their allusiveness makes them attractive to others who are open to it.
Derek Sivers, the founder of CD Baby, once wrote a blog post, “If I’m not saying ‘Hell Yeah!’ to something, then I say no.”
Not to mention, when you have a very clear path laid out, you will ALWAYS be able to check yourself. Every new idea, every new thought, and every new opportunity can be weighed according to your path.
It’s like having a personal mission statement (which is part of the Daily Log in the GSD Journal). You weigh everything coming and going from your life according to that mission statement.
Is this thing – this opportunity – something I agree with?
Will it get me where I’m going?
Will it stand in the way of my desired outcome?
These are all internal dialogues that you will begin to have once you choose a goal… Once you pick your destination…
The first thing you need to do, no matter where you’re at at this moment, is to set goals for yourself.
And if you don’t like the word ‘goal’ because you’ve got a certain affliction thanks to New Year – that’s ok too.
The word ‘goal’ is pretty cliché anymore. You’ve set goals for yourself in the past, right? Maybe you made it a goal to pay off your car early. Or to lose 15 pounds by summer.
Did you achieve that goal?
Maybe yes.
Maybe no.
But it’s ok, right?
It’s just a ‘Goal.’
In our fast-paced world, goals are easy to leave unachieved.
My preference is the word, “Destinations.”
A destination is something that you actually get to.
If you’re planning a trip, you get to the destination because it’s mapped out. You know where you’re going. There are detours along the way – but you’ll get there if you’re on the road long enough.
Now, there is a specific process I use when I am planning. I set long-term goals and short-term goals. Often, the short-term goals are considered milestones or action steps. As those milestones are ticked off, they lead toward long-term goals.
For instance, let’s say you’re trying to grow your business online… You might break the long-term/short-term down like this:
- Long-Term: General $55,000 online by selling my photography as prints through Shopify
- Short-Term:
- Create and list all photography on the site
- Integrate print on demand options with Printful.com for fulfillment
- Integrate merchant and bank account to take payment
- Mail offer to my email list
- Share finished photos of my art hanging on the way on social for friends to buy
Now, once these short-term things are mapped out, all that’s left is figuring out where to put them in your calendar…
And that, my friend, is the next section in the GSD Planner…
One important thing to consider is this…
If you knew how to achieve a goal, it’d already be done, right?
It’s important to understand that you will not know each and every step to get to where you’re going. You’ll be forging a path into the unknown for big chunks of your journey.
So, if your goal is to live in a big, beautiful house in the best school district in your city; it’s safe to say that you don’t know how to do that just yet…
You’ll be holding that goal in your mind and discovering the steps it takes to get there at the same time.
In that way, your goals will unfold before your eyes. You have to trust that the path will be presented to you AND that you’ll be able to see it.
And for me, the best way to ensure that I can see the right opportunities is to map them out and then write in the GSD Planner every day.
Click here to see the Get Shit Done Planner (and get a FREE Hat!) >>
Inside the Get Shit Done Planner, there is a full breakdown for how to step through goals and habits all the way through accomplishing them in your day-to-day…
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Talk soon!
— Jason
PS. There are only 71 journals left of the initial 100 we printed… Order today and we’ll get one rushed out to you!
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