6 Secrets to Achieving your Goals in 2023

As we ride out the remaining week or so of this year, have you thought about what you want to achieve in 2023?

When you've got clearly set and well-defined goals, you remove decision fatigue and gain clarity.

Is what I am working on helping me towards my goal?

Whatever you focus on, expands.

Once you’re aligned on what’s important and you remove the rest, you become a lot more focused.

Here are 6 things that will help you achieve a higher level of success when setting goals.

1) Why - you need to have a why and purpose behind why this goal is important to you. If you want to run a sub 20min 5k, why?

Get to the heart of it. If it’s just because you want to, then you’re probably not going to put in the required level of effort over a sustained period. But if your why is by running more often and quicker you are maintaining the health of your body and mind for years to come, which will help you lead a more fulfilling lifestyle where you can help others, then this type of why will help you to come back for more.

A why keeps you going through adversity and set back. Know why you do what you do. If the why is not strong enough, drop the goal and find something that has more meaning to you.

2) Priority - hopefully knowing your “why” will allow you to prune some of your less important goals. Identifying the critical goals you want and removing the rest is refreshing.

Be realistic with the number of goals but ambiguous with those few goals you choose to pursue. There is a lot of evidence around goal setting that if you have too many you end up getting distracted and not achieving anything. It’s better to focus your time and energy on taking 10 steps in one direction, rather than one step in 10 directions.

Lesser important goals become a distraction, delete them off your list and focus on the things you are most hungry for and that you have a strong why behind. It’s hard but it’s critical. Ambitious goals need your 100% focus and energy, this creates momentum and a compounding effect.

3) Plan - goals are great as they give you a target to focus your attention on. But goals alone aren’t enough. You need a plan, what are the 10 steps that you need to take to hit your goal this year? They can be rough for now, but write them down and get started. Be flexible and constantly evaluate. If things are not working as expected, don’t be afraid to try something different. You’ll be amazed at how much you learn just by turning up and taking action. Your newfound perspective from taking action helps you recognise your original plan is no longer serving you and that you need a new one.

4) Consistency - Focus on consistency, not intensity. When I was trying to run a sub 19 minute 5k I failed miserably for years. I couldn't break 19:08.

A few Parkrun times:19:34, 19:08, 20:33, 19:29, 19:14, 19:23, 19:29, 20:06, 19:24, 20:59, 19:40I was trying to accomplish this goal and crack the code. Some weeks I would do 3x 5k runs and Hill Sprints. On other weeks I would do nothing.Then I decided to focus on just turning up consistently. 3x runs every week for several months at the beginning of this year.Then on the 30th April, I ran 18:07. Followed by 17:55 on 16th July.Consistency was key.

5) Accountability Partner - maintaining the consistency of the small steps towards the larger goals can be challenging. Having an accountability partner will really help you succeed. This could be a mentor, a coach, a partner, or even a leader at work. Having a regular check-in with someone on progress can help you execute and get more down.

6) S.M.A.R.T - When setting your goals, be super clear so you can narrow your focus. Set SMART goals. “I want to be a better leader” is not a SMART goal, goals should be SMART. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound. Try “I want to achieve an Employee Satisfaction score of 97% by 31st March 2023.” Your starting point might be 80% as an example.

All successful people and organisations have goals. Without them, it’s difficult to have a defined purpose and something to strive for, you’ll begin to stagnate and struggle for meaningful accomplishments.

Working towards a goal allows us to go on a journey of growth and development. All humans feel a sense of fulfilment when they are growing and progressing.

As you take stock of your performance both professionally and personally for 2022, what ambitious goals can you set and begin working on as we enter 2023?

Have a great Christmas!

David

When you are ready, I can help you right now with Leadership mentoring or advice ↓

Resources Of The Week

• YouTube - Simon Sinek on Why you Win with Consistency. Simon talks through why all the small things and the daily occurrences help you achieve your goals. Not one-off events.

• YouTube - Gary Vaynerchuk on Quantity - Gary talks about how quantity teaches you a lot of things quality doesn’t.

• Book - Hello Stay Interviews by Beverly Kaye - The idea from this book is simple: ask people how they like their jobs and what would keep them there. Don’t wait until someone resigns to have an interview and see if they’re feeling fulfilled. Ask them now. What do they like about their role? What do they dislike?

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