"No Karl. Creating a goal spreadsheet titled "draft goals" is not a stretch goal."
A month into the New Year and no change. Are those inspirational resolutions that seemed so promising on Dec 31 still sitting in a word document titled “draft goals?”
For as many years as you can remember, you’ve set annual stretch goals only to ignore them when the “real” work begins. So what will be different this year? If you try the same approach, probably nothing. So, how about this: Rather than making excuses 11 months from now for the changes you haven’t implemented, how about instead, you don’t. Don’t try change. Change is hard, fraught with uncertainty, and well, so “2018.” Instead, do something smaller, not so ostensibly daunting, but yet just as impactful: Amplify…expand… share. More precisely, just do more of the good stuff you already do. No extraordinary “change” necessary.
We’re creatures of habit. Sometimes bad habits; but more often good. So if you’re stuck, start with the change you know. Identify the things you already do that are effective, rewarding, and impactful and just do those more. Simple math proves that doing more of what is good will leave less room for the bad. And that, my friends, is indeed change.
Don’t know your “good?” Just ask. Ask co-workers, friends, family. They know you and they know (trust me) what good you possess and the good you do. And this is a much, much easier conversation then asking someone what you should “change.” Nobody really enjoys that conversation (except maybe your mom). People love giving compliments (it feels good, try it) and that is precisely what they’re doing.
Need some more specific next steps? Try these:
Ask five people to identify five things you do well.
Each day pick one of those skills or behaviors as your daily focus.
In situations where you could choose an alternate approach (bad), exhibit your day’s focus behavior (good).
The next morning take five minutes before opening email, or getting lost in your Twitter or Instagram feed, and write down the positive focus behavior you practiced and the impact it made; however small.
Acknowledge that lots of “small” adds up to something big.
Rinse, repeat.
Ok, yes. I get the irony. This still requires some “change.” But come on folks… work with me. Think of it as binge watching – just bingeing the best you. Not that hard. And before you know it, you’ve made an impact. Before you know it, you will have transformed.
You already possess positive skills, behaviors, and approaches. It’s thrilling to learn new things and stretch your actions and behaviors to create success; it can be exhilarating but sometimes tough to begin or even know where to start. If you need a little nudge, look no further than your own awesomeness. It’s a great place to start.
