The clock for the second half of 2018 has just started ticking.
How’s it going for the goals that you set out to achieve this past New Year’s Eve?
There’s no judgment in that question, just curiosity.
Whether or not you’ve overachieved or underachieved on your 2018 goals, now’s the time to summon your inner Bill Belichick and make your halftime adjustmenfts. Anyhow, there’s more learning from failure than there is from success. The most successful advisors learn as much or more from their unsuccessful behaviors as they do from their goal achievement.
This article is intended for those of you who want to tweak your behaviors through year-end. Heck…some of you may even want to go full-on Nick Saban and change horses midstream.
Either way, what follows are some ideas that might help you transform a so-so year into a good year…or a good year into a great one.
What are we waiting for? Let’s get going:
1. Stop at 3
You know what I see as one of the biggest barriers that bedevils advisors who don’t accomplish their goals? They simply forget what they’re working on. If this is you, make it easier on yourself, and limit the number of your goals to three. Too many goals are overwhelming and can dilute your attention. Focus your concentration on one, two or three goals. No more.
2. Go month by month
Considerable research suggests that setting goals too far in the future doesn’t align with how your brain wants to be rewarded. Your brain is a sucker for acknowledgement; it wants to hear “attaboy” and “attagirl” for goals that are achieved right now. This spikes the dopamine high that you get when you get something that you want, e.g., a good workout, a kiss, or a goal. This is why most diets don’t work. The goal of many diets is to lose weight. Yet, your brain doesn’t automatically know when you’ve lost half a pound, so it doesn’t release the dopamine hit that reinforces the positive behavior. Try this:
- Set forth some mini-goals. Identify just one thing that you’d like to accomplish by the close of business today.
- Then, set just one thing to achieve by the end of July.
- Then, for the remainder of the year go month-by-month with one goal for each of the remaining five months of the year.
3. Change your environment
This is a timely tip because one of the best times to change a habit is when you’re on vacation. Have you ever noticed this as you’re returning from an out-of-town trip, when your head is filled with the most brilliant plans and goals? Charles Duhigg wrote about this in The Power of Habit. Our brains are excellent at connecting an environment with a specific situation, and even little adjustments can have outsized effects. I’ve noticed this when I’m writing an article and have writer’s block. I’ll try sitting in a different chair, or will go to a different room entirely. Seeing new sights and perspectives may make it easier for you to mix things up and come at your objectives from a different angle.
4. Create a to-do list…and tick things off the list
This is an obvious one, yet sometimes it’s the obvious solutions that go unconsidered. Set up a small to-do list of no more than three goals to complete for today. Make a point of physically ticking off each task as it is completed. Do you feel that? That’s the dopamine rush. And every time that your brain gets a sniff of this pleasing neurotransmitter, it wants more. This is how new habits are created.
5. Don’t tell anyone
One of the risks of telling your friends and colleagues about your aspirational goals is that it can give you a sense of premature completeness. This study corroborates this effect. I did this myself a few years back when I told a bunch of folks that I was writing a book. Of course, everyone I told this to loved the idea. (With one notable exception!)
For a few weeks, I felt like a legitimate author, yet I think that I completed only a desultory chapter or two and then ran out of juice. The point is this: Don’t do what I did and go blabbing your desires and aspirations to all your friends. Set a goal in the quiet of your office, and maybe tell one or two trusted folks who can give you nonjudgmental feedback and support. Then, you can tell all of your buddies after the fact what glories you have achieved.
6. Treat your procrastination as a gift
What if you flipped your perception around and began thinking of procrastination as a benefit? All procrastination happens for an underlying reason. It’s a symptom, not a cause. If you have been putting off goals, it might be useful to heed that as a warning signal. Maybe you have something going on elsewhere in your life that is distracting you? Or maybe you’re not taking care of your diet and fitness, and are physically and mentally tired? Whatever it is, stop judging yourself and look underneath for the ultimate source of your procrastination…and take care of it. (Also, you might want to try this genius tool, created by a bona fide genius, that beats procrastination.)
7. Check for excitement—maybe your goals are boring?
Your goals might be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Action-Oriented, Realistic and Time-Bound), but they also might be dull. And uninspiring goals are not motivating. If this is true, rethink your goals through the prism of motivation. Ask yourself, “How will my life be different when this is complete?” or “Why is the outcome of this goal important to me?” When you can identify a strong why, you can stay more motivated when the going gets tough.
8. Do the most important thing
For many advisors, it’s all too easy to be busy. You can fill your day with endless activities, but are you really working on what’s most important? It’s soooo easy to work on everyone else’s tasks and requests, without ever considering ourselves first. Instead, take a few minutes every morning to plan your priorities. Ask this question, “What’s the one most important thing that I could complete today?”
9. Seek inspiration, not humiliation
It’s great when we complete goals, but if you find yourself falling short and beating yourself up as a result of your perceived shortcomings…or “failures”—who needs that? Your goals are meant to inspire you to create a business that you love. If the opposite result is happening, what’s the point? Goals are tools that are supposed to life you up, not cudgels to beat you down.
10. Join a Horsesmouth coaching group
Coincidentally (seriously, I
just thought of this), I’m leading this Horsesmouth coaching group that begins next month, in August. In fact, we’re having a webinar this very day (July 10, 2018 at 4 p.m. EST) covering one of the themes of that coaching group: How to train your brain toward better behaviors, including goal achievement. Please check it out if you’re interested.
You can sign up for the free webinar here.
Take a self-coaching moment
Finally, might I suggest the following list of coaching-type questions that might help you get back on track? For every goal where you’re behind (or completely off-track!), you can ask yourself the following:
- Is this goal still important to you?
- If it’s still important, do you still want to do it?
- What would it take for you to get it done?
- What help do you need? Who can you ask for help?
- What benefits would you be enjoying when you get this completed?
- How do you feel about your sense of ownership related to this goal?
- Are you willing to recommit to getting this done?
- And when would you like to have this completed?
I trust that you find this helpful.