5 goals for the new year.
I recently wrote about the importance of goal setting. I asked you to share your goals with me, and thank you to those who did just that. I want to share my goals with you. A part of this is accountability. One of the really undervalued pieces of a financial planning relationship, or any relationship, is the accountability aspect. When you share our goals with other people, you are more likely to reach them. The American Society of Training and Development found that people are 65 percent likely to meet a goal after committing to another person. Their chances of success increase to 95 percent when they build in ongoing meetings with their partners to check in on their progress.
Just like Warren Buffett suggested, I made my list and then only focused on the 5 top items. They are structured to improve my life in the 3 areas that I prioritize in life which are in order, health, family, and business.
1. Get in the best shape of my life
This is important to me for a couple of reasons. I am 46 with a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old at home. Not only do they require lots of energy now, but if I want to be the coach for their sports teams in a few years, it will require me to be as active as someone 10 years my junior. The other reason is that there is no doubt that I am more productive and happier when I am focused on my health. This goal has 2 measurable
a. Get back below 200 lbs
I did this as my 2020 goal and was below this weight until about august. I prioritized other goals at the end of the year and moving houses, followed by the holidays and several weeks when our daycare was closed, made it easy for me to make suboptimal eating decisions. Time to get dialed back in. 200 lbs is just an arbitrary number, but I moved better 10 lbs ago.
b. Get to level 71 in Beyond The White Board
BTWB is a training app I have used for the last 15 months or so. It is CrossFit based, which as you know from my previous post 3 Things CrossFit has Helped Me Understand About Planning and Investing is my preferred workout style. For me to get up to this level will require that I get harder, better, faster, stronger vs my current self. The only person I am competing against in my goals is myself.
2. Spend more time relaxing and unplugging
This measurable for this is to take 142 days off this year, That just means no work on weekends, 26 Fridays plus 3 other weeks off. My goals are to fill that with more time with my family, reading and learning. It also will require me to be even better at systematizing, delegating and training my staff.
3. Have an even better relationship with my wife.
The measurable for this is 52 date nights. Date nights are something that my wife and I have worked on since the birth of our first child together in August 2018.
Date night does not have to be something extravagant or even outside the confines of our house. It can be as simple as a takeout dinner that is just us after the kids go to bed on a Friday night. Having that us time, something that is in short supply with two kids and our careers, is the best way for us to grow stronger together in our marriage.
4. Be more productive and less stressed
The measurable for this is to journal every day. You may think this is an odd measurable, but there is strong research that shows journaling can reduce stress, strengthen memory and increase productivity. Journaling is a practice I have attempted to pick up and failed at multiple times over the years. I have tried various forms, and I am committed to finding one that works this year.
I am starting off the year by using the Bullet Journal. I even joined a book club of my fellow advisors at the Advisors Growth Community to learn how to use it better and again to have an accountability partner for this exercise.
This method piqued my interest because as they state, “The Bullet Journal method’s mission is to help us become mindful about how we spend our two most valuable resources in life: our time and our energy.” I think this sounds right in my wheelhouse.
5. Grow my business the right way.
The measurable for this is to find 12 perfect clients. 1 a month is about the right pace for the amount of time we spend in the onboarding process.
I don’t want to run the biggest advisory practice in the world. I don’t think I could effectively serve 250 clients like some advisors I have seen. I want to have 100 -125 clients that I am excited to work with every day.
The perfect client for me is an under 55 yr old business owner that has a full plate and, while they probably could do all the stuff I do if they set their mind to it, realize that their highest and best use of their time is spent focused on their health, family, business, or whatever else makes them happy in this world.
Keep sharing those goals with me and if I can help you in reaching your goals for 2022 please let me know!