For many years now I’ve looked forward to the end of year period as essential reflection time for the year passed, and planning for what lies ahead. It’s a kind of mental reboot, where I close down all the windows and open tasks taking up ‘RAM’ in my brain, and start afresh with a clean sheet and renwewed mental space.
After the festive parties, the secret santas, the gift exchanging and indulgence, I secretly can’t wait for the downtime in between Christmas and the New Year to look back at everything I accomplished and learned in the previous 12 months, and to set new ambitions and targets for the new year, and years, to come.
I credit this practice with helping me to set sights on and achieve some of most rewarding and ambitious goals in my life: Career moves, living in different countries, learning languages, fitness and mobility goals, launching ManBodySpirit.com, growing The Power Up and more.
Of course, everyone has heard of New Year’s Resolutions, but as most of us have experienced, sticking to broad statements like ‘eat healthier’, ‘lose weight’, ‘learn Spanish’, etc is rarely succesful in the long-term, no matter how determined we may feel when we set them. Research has found that 80% of New Year’s Resolutions fail, most of them already by 19th January.
There are, however, other tried, tested and more effective ways of setting goals and targets that are more likely to give us the results we want to see – and several of these are covered in this week’s edition. Over the years I’ve trialled, tweaked and combined a number of these to come up with a system that works for me, one that takes perhaps one afternoon of commitment once a quarter, plus 30-60 minutes to check in every Sunday to make sure I’m on track.
This is what works for me and my specific lifestyle, but what works for me might feel like overkill, or not detailed enough, for you.
So to help you find a system that works for you, this week’s edition ofThe Power Up is dedicated to the topic of effective goal setting. I’ve curated a range of different approaches and perspectives to give you options to consider and a method you can try as we prepare to head in to 2022.
In this week’s issue:
- Forget SMART Goals: 5 unconventional Goal Setting methods to try instead
- Are the goals you’re setting truly yours, or might you be experiencing mimetic desire?
- 4 habits to help achieve our goals
- Instead of setting goals, try identifying themes
- What’s your goal-setting personality?
- The science of setting goals
- How to achieve any goal 10x faster
- Why New Year’s Resolutions are a capitalist trap
Plus plenty of bonus content too.
As ever, I hope you find something in this issue that helps you approach your goal setting for 2022 in a more nuanced way, and that that, in turn helps 2022 be your best year yet.
Have a restful and restorative festive break, and enjoy…
ON GOAL SETTING / FEATURE
Forget SMART Goals: 5 unconventional Goal Setting methods to try instead
There’s mountains of advice and methods for goal setting, some of which you may have tried before with mixed results.
Radical change often requires a radically different mindset, and this article introduces a few unconventional goal setting methods you won’t find in any MBA curriculum.
ON GOAL SETTING / PSYCHOLOGY
Are the goals you’re setting truly yours, or might you be experiencing ‘mimetic desire’?
We hear a lot about goal setting, but hardly anything about why we are so obsessed with goal setting in the first place.
Many of us relentlessly pursue goals — which we take for granted as positive — without pausing to ask ourselves whether we should, or if the goals we’re setting are truly good for us.
Behind nearly every goal are systems of desire, and it’s important to understand the factors at play in these systems of desire, before we jump to defining and measuring goals.
ON GOAL SETTING / HABITS
4 habits to help achieve our goals
Although almost everybody can name some goals they’d like to achieve, the reality is that many goals go unrealised. And although there can be many external factors that thwart our efforts, too often it’s actually our own minds that get in our way.
To help us stop being our own worst enemies, this article curates some top tips from TED speakers to help us toward the success we want for ourselves.
ON GOAL SETTING / SPIRIT
Instead of setting goals, try identifying themes
From a rational perspective, goals seem like a good way of getting what we want. They’re tangible, trackable, and time-bound. They give us a point to move toward and a nudge to help us get there.
But on a day-to-day basis, goals often lead to anxiety, worry, and regret rather than fulfillment, pride, and contentment. This article proposes an alternative – that we focus instead on defining key themes that inform our daily actions.
ON GOAL SETTING / PERSONALITY
What’s your goal-setting personality?
The writer of this piece is a health and nutrition coach who has identified three common goal-setting personalities through her work. Each with its unique powers and pitfalls, which it helps to be aware of.
So which are you? Are you a Go-Getter, a Systems Analyst, or a Manifester?
R E C O M M E N D E D
The Clever Fox Pro Planner
I find that setting and keeping track of my goals with a physical journal or planner helps make them more tangible and keeps me better on track than digital tools.
This well structured and premium faux-leather pro planner from Clever Fox will help you set, review and keep track of goals, tasks and your monthly and weekly agenda. It even includes a budget tracker, and fun stickers to customise your planning process.
R E C O M M E N D E D
Refind: Get the essence of the web, every morning, direct to your inbox
Staying on top of the latest stories and content from thought leaders is an important part of my daily routine. And happily, tools like Refind make that easier than ever.
Simply set your content preferences, including preferred publications and influencers, and Refind will deliver you a daily digest of links to highly relevant stories.
B O N U S
C O N T E N T
Don’t wish for happiness. Work for it
If you want to improve your well-being, you need to make a plan and act on it. says Arthur C. Brooks.
How to keep calm over the holiday season
The end of the year can be an opportunity to pause and process, although that can be easier said than done. Here are top tips to create the right conditions.
The science of setting goals
Stanford professor Kelly McGonigal shares 4 research-backed tips to help us craft and carry out successful goals.
Video: How to achieve any goal 10x faster
The importance of clear focus on fewer things to ensure faster progress towards the things that matter most.
Why New Year’s Resolutions are a capitalist trap
Why resolutions don’t benefit us so much as they reinforce the idea that we are not enough.
Achieve your loftiest career goals with these four simple steps
How with practice and a conscious attempt to Forbes outlines the basic principles for goal setting followed by some of the most exceptional people.
“What man actually needs is not a tensionless state, but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal, a freely chosen task.”
VIKTOR FRANKL
