October is the time to set goals for 2021. Not December. Certainly not January 2021.
And NOW is the time to assess goals we set for this year.
Are you on track? Yes? Splendid.
No? Still time to pivot. Let’s not arrive at October 2020 and wonder, “How did the year get away from me?” Take stock now.
Keep your goals in your face. I post mine everywhere – fridge, wall where I hang my keys, calendar.
I come up with phrases that inspire and motivate me. They are short and crisp, which makes them easy to remember. Here’s one:
Books.
Body.
Blog.
When I find myself getting off track – engaging in activities that fall outside of my stated scope – I recite my mantra out loud. Within each – Books, Body, Blog – I have specific goals.
Books
Finish and publish four this year.
I’ve already published one.
Body
I’ve got a few pounds to lose. More than that, I want to clean up my health act. I don’t have a laundry list of behaviors. For me, list making is an administrative project to manage not a productivity practice.
Instead, within the Body section of the “Books, Body, Blog” mantra I also recite this sub-mantra:
Breathe Hard.
Lift Heavy.
Walk Long.
Blog
This year I launched and continue to play with a new direction. More:
Original artwork.
Storytelling with graphic design, audio and video.
Voices in addition to mine.
Then, I turn them into simple graphics, print and post everywhere. Also, I keep a copy in my fanny pack, which I’m always wearing except at home:
So.
It’s June 2020. Are you on track for the goals you’ve set? If not, what are you doing about it?
Showing up is a growth mindset that begins long before you stand at the race start, in front of venture capitalists, or type the last sentence of your book. Prove yourself an exception in a world where people talk more than act.
From Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels: “We don’t go on because we’re ready; we go on because it’s 11:30.”
You probably already know what your knack is. Others have observed it in you. You’ve observed it in yourself, though you’ve yet to claim it. Now’s the time.
Respond directly to each goal, one moment at a time rather than react to thoughts about the goal. This hyper focus on the present leaves no brain space to ruminate on imagined fears.
It’s more productive to return to a project feeling successful rather than channeling difficulty. How do you end a project session on a high note? By completing a pre-determined goal for the session.
Want More Fizz in Your Life? Shake Things Up! “Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.” – Helen Keller
If you’ve broken any promises you’ve made to yourself, now is the time to make up for it.
If you don’t have five positive people in your life in general, and who support your goals in particular, then find them in books, magazines and on video.
Live each day like it’s your last because one day, it will be.
“Life will only change when you become more committed to your dreams than you are to your comfort zone.” – Billy Cox
“The price of self-destiny is never cheap, and in certain situations, it is unthinkable. But to achieve the marvelous, it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought.” – Tom Robbins