A few years ago, a group of scientists set out to test if blindfolded participants could walk in a straight line.
The short answer: no. They often walked in small circles of less than 20 meters in diameter (here’s the link to the study with the brilliant title Walking Straight into Circles).
Here’s my favorite quote from the study:
We could look at our goals as external directional references. Now we have something in the future that we can walk / work towards.
And if we track our goals, we learn if we’re making progress towards this external point we have defined and if so, how quickly.
Goals can help us move in a straight line vs. moving in circles and that’s why they are so important.
Here’s a quick tool to plan your upcoming year:
The big question: What might your most impactful year look like?
Focus on three things you want to have by the end of the year. Here’s the simple template for answering this question:
- I have…
- I have…
- I have…
With each “I have…” statement, you bring this external reference point to the present moment. It can motivate your to move forward.
One thing to focus on...
… is specificity. Sometimes it might be challenging to be specific. But if you spend a few more minutes defining what it is that you want to have by the end of the 12 months, your months, weeks and days will be so much more impactful.
One thing not to focus on...
… is revenue as a stand alone goal without any additional context. You can absolutely have a revenue metric on top of your “I have…” statements. Revenue is more a consequence of what you create. So focusing on what you want to create / have makes reaching the revenue target less abstract. And goal setting is the process of getting from the abstract to the specific.