It’s that time of year when people start talking about setting goals and being inspired. Today I invite you to consider a different approach – listen in to 15 minutes of “just me!” talking about a new way of thinking about how to achieve absolutely anything you want to achieve!
This Week on So You Want To Start A Business Podcast:
A few weeks ago I interviewed 2 extraordinary women – Cat Long and Jo Auburn – who have started an incredible business called Our Trace – super shout out to Cat and Jo – cycle back to episode 144 if you want to listen again, or if you haven’t listened already.
There is always such wisdom in the conversations with the guests on my podcast and one of the things that Jo said has truly stuck with me
“Don’t look up …. too often”
This is what I want to talk about today in the context of you being able to achieve absolutely anything you set your mind to and setting goals and what does “don’t look up … too often” actually mean?
We’re told that we “need to set BIG Goals” and there are even some coaches who talk about Hairy Audacious goals and here’s my perspective on that …
What I’ve seen over my years of working both in small businesses, & startups and in the corporate world – those huge goals can be SO demoralising … soul destroying and not really inspiring in the way they are supposed to be
“Set those goals and get excited” they say
When people wake up every day and they look at these BIG GOALS …. They feel how FAR away they are from achieving the goal.
This is a type of self sabotage and demoralising ….
Here’s the thing – having a target out there in the distance gives us direction, lets us know why we are doing what we do, where we are going ….
The truth is that to achieve the goals there are these underpinning behaviours … and a series of small milestones, the incremental steps and pieces that help you to know that you are moving forward to the direction to the goal…
Please notice that I use the singular goal – not the plural goals! Having too many goals, I have found, leads to nothing being done particularly well.
Please also notice that in this episode I tend to use “can do” rather than “must do” or “need to do” (well, most of the time) do let me know if you hear a “need to” sneak in! Language is one of my other projects i.e. as regards the language I use – all aligned to my One Goal.
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Listen in to this episode to hear more or scroll down the page for the full transcript of the podcast
This Episode
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My guess is you are here because ….
My guess is that you are here because you are a business owner and you want to make more money, get more profit and pay yourself what you deserve.
You want to have confident conversations when it comes to talking about money
You want to make business decisions based on data and facts
… so that ultimately you can build financial autonomy through business success.
I’m here to help you.
Everything I do in my business, every decision I make is based on this question:
Will this contribute to help you, my listener take the steps to create a successful, viable and robust business so you can achieve Financial Independence?
This is why I do what I do
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Full transcript of How you can achieve anything you truly want:
Hello my friends and thank you for joining me today
Welcome to the podcast ….
I am your host Ingrid Thompson and my business is Healthy Numbers My mission is to teach business owners to understand how money works in their business
This is super important because …. when you understand how money works in your business your life changes completely and forever
you are able to have confident conversations about money, you make business decisions based more on data and facts and dollars and this – as I said – changes your life completely and for ever!
Are you ready? Let’s go
What we are going to talk about today?
Being resourceful and achieving anything you set you mind to …. As I record this we are starting out in 2021
Maybe you are thinking about setting goals and if you hadn’t been thinking about it, you’re probably seeing things in your Insta & FB feed and … and it’s the start of a year and people are saying:
set those goals and get super excited about these big outcomes …. That’s not what I’m going to say to you today
A few weeks ago I interviewed 2 extraordinary women – Cat Long and Jo Auburn – who have started an incredible business called Our Trace – super shout out to Cat and Jo – cycle back to episode 144 if you want to listen again, or if you haven’t listened already.
There is always such wisdom in the conversations with the guests on my podcast and one of the things that Jo said has truly stuck with me
“Don’t look up …. too often”
This is what I want to talk about today in the context of you being able to achieve absolutely anything you set your mind to and setting goals and what does “don’t look up … too often” actually mean
We’re told that we “need to set BIG Goals” and there are even some coaches who talk about Hairy Audacious goals and here’s my perspective on that …
What I’ve seen over my years of working both in small businesses, & startups and in the corporate world – those huge goals can be SO demoralising … soul destroying and not really inspiring in the way they are supposed to be
“Set those goals and get excited” they say
When people wake up every day and they look at these BIG GOALS …. They feel how FAR away they are from achieving the goal
This is a type of self sabotage and demoralising ….
Here’s the thing – having a target out there in the distance gives us direction, let’s us know why we are doing what we do, where we are going ….
The truth is that to achieve the goals there are these underpinning behaviours … and a series of small milestones, the incremental steps and pieces that help you to know that you are moving forward to the direction to the goal
Let me give you an example … we were driving back from our holiday a few months ago and the road signs said Sydney: 1000KM and that felt SO far, then the signs said 920 km and then 790 km … these small accomplishments gave us the sense we were making progress
Another example – some years ago I was working with a lovely woman and she wanted to lose weight – 5kg and she’s been telling me this the week before “I’m going to start my diet next Monday”
I arrived at work at 11am – my usual start time – and she said “I’m so glad you are here. I need to go get a pastry at Michelle’s ….”
“I thought you were starting your diet today”
“Oh I did … and it’s 11am and I’m not any thinner – look my pants are still tight”
And off she went …
Now we might feel like this is funny … and this is exactly what happens when setting goals in business.
We set this big goal and after a week, or a few days or maybe even a month “It’s not working”
And people leave that behind and move onto the next thing and the next thing … or give up! And take their business down a different path.
Quit that program and look for the next guru, “the next big thing”
When we think about the behaviours that underpin achieving your goal –
Most business truly comes down to just a few key behaviours – in fact I’m going to go completely out on a limb here and say ONE key behaviour …
I’ve just reread – for I don’t know how many times – The One Thing and it is such a terrific reminder that this is the essential behaviour – focus on the one thing that I can do right now to … and this is where you put what you are working on
So when you think about that BIG GOAL – that’s going to take maybe 5 years or longer – who has seen the comments and tweets etc articles about “30 years to make the Queen’s Gambit” one of THE most watched Netflix series
So let’s take that big goal and think about it in this way…
what it the one thing I want some day
then bring it back to 5 years and ask
based on my Some Day goal – what is the one thing I can do in the next 5 years
then one year goal –
based on my 5 years goal – what is the one thing I can do in this year?
Then monthly goal
Based on my 1 year goal what is the one thing I can do this month?
Weekly goal
Based on my monthly goal what is the one thing I can do this week?
Daily Goal
Based on my weekly goal what is the one thing I can do today?
Right Now
Based on my daily goal what is the one thing I can do right now?
So you see that’s how you take that BIG GOAL and bring it back to what you can do today
Let’s go back to Jo’s comment: “Don’t look up … too often”
You might look at that Some Day goal from time to time …. “Not too often” as Jo says
The goal you absolutely want to look at most frequently is “Based on my daily goal what is the one thing I can do right now?”
Which cascades up into “Based on my weekly goal what is the one thing I can do today?”
Can you see how this completely changes the way you approach everything … your business, your life … my work colleague could have asked “what is the one thing I can do right now to …. “ and this is the critical part of this – what is the daily goal?
The daily goal might be for her – to eat what I plan to eat today
So instead of running to the pastry shop – she decides to make herb tea, or eat an apple – what was on her plan
This is exactly what we can do in business, in everything – what is the one thing I can do to …
I want to talk a little about how to keep this focus –
Focus is a matter of deciding what things you are not going to do
Confession time – I’m a people pleaser … SO easy for me to say “yes, I’ll help you with that…”
Being able to say “no” is critical to staying focused on The One Thing you want to work on
2 examples of things I have just said “no” to
Another behaviour that affects your focus: Your Health habits – enough sleep, eating well, moving, time for family, for cats or dogs, or birds or plants and nature, time for friends
OK, so we say “no” and we are in good health – what else?
The ENVIRONMENT – does your environment support you?
I know I can spend 3-4-5 hours absolutely focussed and achieve more than in 2 longs days of constant interruptions and distractions
Maybe the one thing you can do right now is to take stock of your environment – the place you work in, the way you set yourself up, timers, only what you’re working on in front of you …
This year I have a goal, I’ve taken that goal and I’ve asked myself the questions … and I know what I need to do right now, today and this week – that’s where I am for now. My big goal is still sitting out there – and I know I can and I will achieve it – or even some thing better
Every day I have my FOCUS time as I start my day. I know I’m most alert in the morning, so that’s my best FOCUS time. I have a planner – in a notebook where I commit to what I can do today, right now
I’m curious about you …. What have you set your mind to? You truly can do anything you want to do?
Always, important to remember to Be kind to yourself and as we’ve talked about many times, reflect on your achievements – pat yourself on the back when you make things happen, of course not everything will work out, that’s perfectly OK
If you take a look at what you’ve done and where do you can tweak for tomorrow … for next week
So let’s summarise here – let’s have that BIG (Hairy if you like) goal … let’s map it back – to right now, to today, to this week …
I’m on this journey as well … is this easy for me? It’s certainly getting easier and I know the more I truly keep myself on The Green Line – as we sometimes call it- the more focus you have, the more you ask ourself
“Based on my goal for today – What is the one thing I can do right now to …. “
And you fill that in …
Ok, that’s us for today
Rewind and listen to some of it again and truly set yourself up for what you can do right now – and see how that connects to your next step,
If you have any questions please ask me I answer all my own emails ingrid@healthynumbers.com.au
If you know someone else who needs to hear this right now, share this episode with them – share it with all your friends, share it with your team, with your family, your business colleagues and other business owners you know who would benefit from hearing this message
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We are all business owners and working towards greater financial autonomy and independence and financial tenacity!!
What action are you inspired to take today ??
Till the next time – Ingrid Thompson saying thanks for being here