About a week ago, I had the opportunity to sit in on a goal setting exercise with some other local small business owners, and it was eye opening! Going into the exercise, I really had no idea what to expect. A friend of mine invited me to join him, but he was the only person there that I knew! Walking into a room full of strangers can be daunting enough, but imagine walking into that room, then sitting down with those strangers to discuss all of the goals that you have for the year! AWKWARD... Suprisingly, there was no awkwardness (is that even a word? I think I just made it up...). We all worked individually on our own formula for setting those goals. We worked using Michael Hyatt's Best Year Ever (BYE) Formula. This is a book that I would recommend reading because it explains this formula pretty well. I took out of the library and it was the first book that I read in 2019. (More on that in a moment).
The Reader's Digest explanation of the BYE formula is that we need to set goals that are SMARTER (S-Specific, M-Measurable, A- Actionable, R-Risky, T-Time-Keyed, E-Exciting, R-Relevant). Goals that are set up this way allow you to truly see why the goal motivates you, while also allowing you to keep yourself on track. Taking a couple of extra minutes with each goal allowed me to understand exactly what I wanted to accomplish and why it was important to me.
One of the largest benefits of having your goals documented is that you can use them to guide your actions throughout the year, to help you to reach your goals. For example, one of my goals this year is to read at least 5 books per quarter, and a total of 24 on the year. This is probably not a realistic goal for me, UNLESS I change some of my habits. One of those changes will be going to bed earlier at night to allow for 30 minutes of reading before going to sleep. Another change will be not spending my time scrolling through social media on my phone but instead spending that time with a book in my hand. Having a book in my hand rather than my phone will allow me to role model to my daughters the importance of reading, and hopefully hold off their desire to get a phone! Hey, I can dream can't I?
If you would like to share your goals for 2019 with us or have any questions about setting goals for this year, please let us know. We would be happy to be a part of making your 2019 a HUGE success!
Movement is my medicine,
