Do You Want to Be More in 24? Stop setting goals today!
Imagine standing in the back of the room at your own funeral. What do you think people would say? Who would be in attendance? If you were to write your own obituary, what would it say and who would be there to listen?
After fully living 65 years, and having started and grown a business over 45 years, there is a lot to look back and reflect on. There were seasons of success, failure, growth, and stagnation. The painful things at the time were most beneficial. Regardless of if you are thriving or in survival mode, be challenged, encouraged, and decide what you are going to achieve. If you are happy with what it would say, you should stop reading now. If you want to hear something more at the end of your life it might be time to start today making better decisions. You are the only one standing in your way.
Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution and haven’t stuck to it? You are not alone. Quitter’s Day is the second Friday in January which is dedicated to restarting those resolutions. Researchers suggest that only 9% of Americans who make resolutions complete them. In fact, research goes on to show that 23% of people quit their resolution by the end of the first week, and 43% quit by the end of January.
My personality has been to pursue what is beyond my grasp and is a consistent motivator. Almost a decade ago I decided I would stop setting goals and instead make decisions. I would add a mantra to my vocabulary, “I want to be totally unrecognizable in five years.” Friends and family who know me best and love me the most say it is true. This new perspective provides a long runway and the ability to revise and periodically update the plan. Life happens all along the way and we need to adjust.
Darren Hardy has been one of my mentors for the past 15 years. He encouraged me to complete the course “Living Your Best Year Ever.” It took me six months to complete, and it should have taken six days. It was my year to go deep. The list I created had 28 categories with 117 individual entries. Last week I reviewed the results. All the “decisions” made ten years ago, were accomplished except one (and that item is in process).
What made this possible were the habits I established that impacted every area of my life.
- Decision One: Write clear descriptions with deadlines.
- Decision Two: List your decisions in order of priority.
- Decision Three: Work on the highest impact decision first.
- Decision Four: Don’t ever quit, even when you want to.
“If you are willing to make decisions about the life you want to live, and put in the effort, your results will be more than you could ever imagine. Do The Work!”
– Jerry R. Meek
To be more in 24, have you considered trying to do less? I will be making three decisions.
1. Grow stronger in my faith.
2. Choose one area of personal growth.
3. Invest more time and energy in relationships with family and friends.
There are many great books about goal setting by Zig Ziglar, Darren Hardy, John Acuff, Brian Tracy, and innumerable others. Regardless of the multitude of resources available, very few people act and apply what they have heard or learned.
This may be your time to complete Living Your Best Year Ever, or it might be as simple as 1, 2, and 3; your three decisions.
“Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run; hurry and scurry put you further behind.”
– King Solomon
Encouraging you to achieve be more in 24,
Jerry
