Thinking about skipping those new year’s resolutions? You might want to think again. Turns out 67% of wealthy people set goals whereas only 17% of poor people do. 80% of wealthy people focus on reaching a specific goal whereas only 12% of the poor. The pattern indicates that if you take the time and write down your goals like rich people do, you will be more prepared and organized to achieve them this year.
After you apply what you read below, be sure to run an exercise like this with your team at work.
How do you choose which goals will create the best outcomes in the coming year? Let’s start with determining what your potential is. You’re living it right now because your potential is the sum of your skills + resources + behaviors. Yep, potential is not something we strive for, it’s what we live every day. To increase what you are going to be capable of achieving this time next year you need to set goals that focus on increasing each of those three areas. If there is a specific part of the equation that you, or others at work, think is holding you back the most, set goals on that specific area first.
3 ways to increase your potential this year.
Upgrade Your Skills: Do you have the skills needed to be the best at the job you are doing at work or do you need to improve a particular skill this year? Are there new software programs you need to learn? New communication skills you need to develop in order to say, negotiate more effectively? Is the industry you are in changing? Who will be paid the most in 5 years in your industry and who will be obsolete? Which side of that equation will you fall on? I great place to be in professionally is to have the types of skills that are in high demand. If yours aren’t, start here to increase your earning potential by the end of the year.
Increase Your Resources: Think in terms of people first. How broad and deep is your network of professional relationships. How many high level people would answer your text within an hour of hearing from you? What is your reputation in your industry and at your company? Who are you connected to on LinkedIn? Are you in debt to people for favors they have done for you or are they indebted to you for all the times you have helped them get what they needed or wanted? Setting a goal in this area to build the best possible relationships this year with people other people respect and admire can seriously increase your professional stock.
Modify Your Behaviors: Do you embrace change? What are your habits when it comes to wanting to learn new things and be curious? The highest paid professionals today, and in the future, will have behaviors that make them lifelong learners. Long gone is the time when you can go to college and be done with the classroom. Nope. According to Jonas Prising, Chairman & CEO of ManpowerGroup, “Going forward, we’ll need a generation of workers who are hungry to learn and eager to keep pace with the times. They will pioneer new ways of combining business and technology to be more productive, and they’ll update old work models to match.”
Are your behaviors setting you up to maintain a high level of energy throughout the day? To stay current and relevant in your workplace you will need to stay alert and open to new ways to bring value and contribute in ways that keep things moving forward for you, your department, and your organization. That takes consistent energy output and the skill of mastering your time this coming year.
If you haven’t had a chance to flip through Time Mastery: 7 Simple Steps to Richer Outcomes you can find it on Amazon or Audible.
Need some ideas to get started? Try one of these.
Make your phone or iPad your new university. Always have a podcast, audible book, or digital download ready for when you have 10 minutes say waiting in line or on your drive to work or waiting for a meeting to start.
Keep a book or magazine anywhere you know you spend 5-10 minutes a day. I read the entire bible one year in 10 minutes a day. It’s how I consume a book a week.
Pack your lunch. It’s hard to get in a habit of preparing and having ready for those hectic mornings a healthy lunch to take with you, I know from experience. It is, however, one of the best ways to ensure that your sugar levels remain constant throughout the day which will help keep your mental capacity high. Make sure it has enough calories so that you don’t come home at 6pm starving and over eat late at night.
Meditate 7 minutes a day. The research continues to mount about meditation being one of the healthiest things you can do for your brain and wellbeing. Gratitude is the antidote to anxiety (which there is no shortage of at work). To combat stress, make 7 minutes as you wake up and listen to this guided gratitude meditation.
Move. Stop setting these huge “I am going to work out an hour every day until I loose 10-20 pounds” kind of goals. That’s the definition of yo-yo exercise and diet programs. Kill yourself for 3 months, loose the weight, and then go back to your old habits. Rinse, repeat.
If you don’t do something physical right now, start with a goal of doing simply moving 5-10 minutes each day. Start with walking, or dancing to your favorite music, or doing situps. Anything. Build a habit, then add to it once you are consistent with it. The outcome of exercise is to make you healthier. Diet will take care of the weight. Moving will relieve stress. As a leader the stress is what will kill you.
How to stay on track to ensure you increase your potential this year:
Make a deal with an accountability partner. Find someone you can trust and is reliable to hold you accountable to your goals this year. Give them $200 cash and tell them to keep the money if you don’t reach the goal you have set with them by a specific time.
Plan to fail. Yep. Fail. What will you do if you an obstacle comes up? It will. How will you handle a setback? You will have one. Create a goal knowing that there will be challenges along the way and develop a plan for when those things happen. If you set a goal to improve your skills in time management and one week the whole world goes to crap, what is your plan to get back on track?
Many top performing CEO’s and other leaders utilize executive coaches to ensure they set the right goals to reach their outcomes and stay on track on year to reach them. How much will it cost you or your organization if you don’t reach your goals this year? We can help. Contact us at (540) 776-9219 or [email protected] to get started immediately to ensure that you have your best year yet.
