How to measure goals – X marks the spot

Before taking a break during the Christmas and New Year season, I wrote a couple of blog articles about goal setting. The first you can read here which is why I believe goal setting is overrated along with the second one being about what Super Mario can teach us about goal setting.

Ultimately I believe that the focus on goal setting is backwards, it sucks. Every NBA team wants to win a championship, every business team wants to grow sales, increase profits, and have happy customers, and most families want to stay together. I believe many of the targets are obvious.

What gets neglected most is the identity piece. Answering the questions below will help shape character because if the inner man isn’t prepared to “do”, then the “doing” will simply fall short.

What type of person do I need to become in order to x?

What type of company do we need to become in order to have great quality and customers that love us?

What do families that stick together do in order to stick together?

Who is greater than what. Who is even greater than why! Spend a ridiculous amount of time answering the “who” questions because that speaks to character. I believe we can walk into our visions and dreams without spending much time thinking about them because we’ve decided that we’ve worked on the inner man. There cannot be a gap between soul and purpose, vision and heart – full alignment of person is what I’m talking about.

But perhaps you’ve identified a more long range desire such as “I want to become an author” but also then developed your who behind it – “I will a disciplined writer by writing 1 blog post every Wednesday”. The “who” piece is the focus. The character trait of discipline is the core building block which will actually unlock doors to other areas of your life. The example could be writing, or it could be exercise or anything. Decide on the long range target, but spend your time in the detail of the minutia of “I will make x sales calls per day by 12PM”. The focus of consistency and discipline will payoff more then the outcome.

But how will you measure it? How will you measure the daily/weekly habit actions? This is where many people get hung up and spend more time deliberating than taking real action on the habits. It’s the equivalent of wanting to workout but then spending all your time searching for the perfect shoes, perfect yoga pants, and perfect water bottle – just do!

Here’s my advice: Keep it simple!

You can use as something as simple as calendar, write out your key focus habits per day, and draw a big red X through each day you complete your key habits. And don’t miss twice! The visual gratification of seeing a huge red X build through the month is awesome so don’t break the chain!

Overtime, you can optimize the process and use an app, or a spreadsheet or whatever method will help you build momentum. But the first key part is the doing. Write the blog, push the weight, make the sales call, mentor the person – focus on building the character trait.

I wish I had more for you but from a measurement standpoint, I can’t emphasize enough in starting simple with a blank calendar or notebook. Focus on becoming a person that exercises daily by exercising daily. Focus on becoming a healthy person by exercising daily and eating great foods.

Targets are great. They’re important. But start with the character development piece first, keep your tracking and measurement really simple, and watch your life change one big red X at a time.