This past month, the rest of the team and I sat down for a long meeting where we discussed our goals. In fact, we didn't just sit down and discuss them, but we all participated in a group exercise that forced us to REALLY think about our goals.

We wrote down exhaustive lists of things we wanted to see happen in our lives over the next 1 to 20 years. Everyone's goals were different, but the exercise was the same for all of us.

We started with "Personal Development" goals. These are the kind of goals that might answer questions such as:
 
"Who would you like to become?"
"What would you like to do?"
"Where would you like to go?"
"What skills, abilities, or character traits would you like to improve on?"
"What are some fears you want to conquer?"
"Who are the people you would like to surround yourself with?"
 
We then reminded ourselves that goals are really nothing but dreams with deadlines. 
 
So after writing out these long lists of goals, we then divided them into categories based on timelines. We had to decide if we would be committed to accomplishing each goal in 1 year or less, within 3 years, 5 years, 10 years, or 20!
 
There was no need to clearly define HOW we were going to accomplish each of these goals on our list... we just had to think about the goal and what might be a reasonable and realistic time frame to tick them off. 
 
We did the same exercise for "Thing" goals. This was like creating a shopping list of fun! This list included things like a new car, a sailboat, a cottage on a lake, a private chef, a personal trainer... you get the idea!
 
The last category we covered was "Economic" goals. These were goals that had to do with money, income, savings, investments, college funds for kids, etc. 
 
Finally, once our lists of goals were all categorized into time-frames, we each selected our top-3, 1-year goals from each category. The top 3 things that we would be ready to go out and accomplish within the next 12 months!
 
So at the end of the exercise, we each had 9 specific goals to commit to achieve this coming year. 
 
Lastly, we each had to write down a paragraph describing WHY we were committed to achieving these top 3 goals. Reasons are powerful, and it was important that we found the words to articulate why we wanted these things and how they might make us feel if we were successful at them. How might it make others feel around us? 
 
Needless to say, we had a lot of fun doing the activity and we each left the meeting with a more clearly defined set of goals to look forward to.
 
But effective goal setting doesn't stop at the planning stage. Planning is easy. It's the execution that's hard! Just watch as millions of people are going to make New Year's Resolutions, and by February 9th (what personal trainers refer to as "The Fitness CLIFF") they will fall right back into their old, redundant habits and ways. 

They use CLIFF as an acronym for the most common excuses: 

==> C - Can't find the time.
==> L - Lacking a game plan to keep going.
==> I - Ignoring commitment and falling into old patterns.
==> F - Frustrated with a lack of early results.
==> F - Forgetting why they started.

And, as we all know, this CLIFF reality doesn't just apply to fitness goals. It applies to most people's personal goals and business plans too. They hope for a better 2021, but then next year isn't any different.

That's why we practice small, consistent, daily habits - to train ourselves to stick to those little commitments.

If you're a farmer, there are certain jobs you just absolutely MUST do every day without fail. Jobs like feeding the animals. If you don't feed the animals, your livestock will die and your farm will quickly perish. 

Few of us may be farmers, but we all have those daily tasks that matter most. We all have to "feed the animals" before we can do anything else that matters. Get the important things done first. Stay committed. And never use excuses!

As much as 2020 was an awful year for many of us because of this pandemic, I can actually look back and marvel at the goals I was able to accomplish. Just to name a few...

1. I ran my first marathon
2. I bought my first investment property and became a landlord
3. I got to spend WAAAY more time with my kids after 6 months of home-schooling
4. I became a founding member of the first Vedic Forest Academy in Canada

I could keep going... but these are all things that I can chalk up as successes this past year. Some of those items were in fact goals that I had set for myself, and some weren't. Some just happened by fluke!

I also noticed that some of those goals were on my "3-5 years from now" list - and yet somehow I managed to accomplish them sooner than I had anticipated.

I hope that this week's episode will inspire some of you to think about your goals for the future. And with the right amount of discipline, commitment, and hard work...I certainly wish you the most success in achieving them!

Signing off....


-Cap'n Mark