2021 Impossible Goal Setting: 6 Questions to Ask Yourself

2021 is SO close. That means if you haven’t already, it’s definitely time to set some goals for the next year.

I recently led a workshop on goal setting, and I thought I would share the most important questions I asked my attendees.

1. What is your biggest, most impossible vision for your life? (Beyond this year, the next 5 or 10 years).

   • What do you really, really, really want? (Be honest)

   • If you’re struggling to answer, think about the categories of relationships, career, health, love, hobbies.

   • What are other people doing that you secretly love to do? 
     

2. If you could only achieve 3 things that would get you closer to that vision this year, what would you want them to be?
   

3. Which dreams are NOT coming true this year in order to make space for these ones? (Make an anti-goal list).
   

4. Why is each of your three goals non-negotiable? Why are they important to you?
   

5. What are you willing to do to make each of these three things happen?
   

6. Of those things, what single action would GUARANTEE that each goal happens? Set that as your action step!

Standards

Tony Robbins says "I don't have goals, I have standards."

When something is an absolute MUST, you find a way.

What standards will you set yourself?

How I Plan to Hit My Goal This Month

I set a goal to hit 3000 members in this group by December 31.

And I'm going to do it.

Not because I'm sure how (I'm not) – but because I've decided to.

And even as I'm writing this, I'm thinking, "What if I don't make it? And I've just TOLD everyone I'm going to?"

That's all the more reason I am going to make it – because now I have to keep myself accountable to my word.

The best thing ever was sharing my goals and dreams with the internet.

Not just my hopes – but my solid plans: "I will do X by Y date."

It held me accountable like nothing else.

Even if nobody in the world cared if I did push ups that day – I cared.

I wanted to be the kind of person who does what she says she's going to do.

Even if I wasn't that person yet.

Declaring the kind of person I wanted to be to the world COMPELLED me to become that person, for fear of embarrassment.

Here is my plan for 3000 members:

• I'm going to try a bunch of different things – and see them all the way through.

• I'm going to spend time journaling on my CERTAINTY that it is going to happen. Because when I'm in that certain energy, I'm no longer paralysed by HOW it is going to happen, and I can actually start thinking of solutions.

• I'm not going to give up until it happens. Even until the last minute.

• I'm deciding to work on it daily.

• I'm prepared to go back to the drawing board 100 times if I need to.

Gulp.

DO it girl.

You've got this.

(Don't mind me, just giving myself a public pep-talk 😂)

Impossible is a Feeling

Someone on Instagram sent me a message saying "You can't say it was impossible to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. That's not impossible, is it now?"

You know what? It felt impossible to me.

And that's what matters.

Achieving impossible goals has NEVER been about doing something flashy or impressive.

It's been about challenging myself beyond what I think is realistic.

It's about pushing my limits and becoming the best version of me.

Your impossible goal is worthy.

Whether it's to leave the house today, or go to the moon.

It doesn't matter. As long as you're challenging yourself to become the next level version of you – you're crushing it.

Goal comparison will just tear you down.

Don't let it.

She Opened a Bookshop

As of this weekend, my wonderful client Keira's bookshop, Reading Roots, is officially OPEN! 📚📚📚

📖  2 months ago, this was still just an idea.

📖  7 weeks ago, she put in an offer to lease a building.

📖  3 weeks ago, she didn't even have the books to sell.

📖  1 week ago,  she still didn't have a key to the shop.

On Friday, she opened her bookshop at 29 Market Place, Wetherby, United Kingdom, AND she hit her opening day sales goal.

9 weeks, you guys. 9 weeks was all it took to go from dream to reality.

During a global pandemic.

UNREAL.

My mind is officially boggled.

And she faced a million challenges.

They wouldn't give her the keys, the RAM in the till got stolen, the letting process was a nightmare, there was another nation-wide lockdown that set her back several weeks, and she lost a loved one ❤️

Any of these things alone would have been a good enough reason to give up.

But she didn't. Every single week in our sessions, she showed up ready for creative problem-solving.

She made it happen, despite the tremendous obstacles.

Keira, I honour you for your incredible persistence and strength.

Impossible things can happen, if you decide to go all in.

Keira's success can be evidence that you will be successful too.

You can open a book shop in a pandemic, or ski across Antarctica, or launch a tech giant.

Just like Keira – all you have to do is decide.

Congratulations, Keira. You did it! 🎉🎉🎉

New Zealand's First Peak Performance Coffee

Today, after a ton of testing and product development, my brilliant client Chanelle has officially launched Win Your Day – New Zealand's first peak performance coffee! ☕️

(She invented this coffee blend from scratch, you guys! And it's infused with nootropics and superfoods to give you all the benefits and none of the jitters).

SO stoked for you Chanelle, you've put in soooo much effort for this.

Check out her gorgeous website & buy her coffees here.

Support her on Instagram here.

500 Days of Blogging

Today I'm celebrating 500 days of blogging in a row!

I set out to blog every day for two years straight (730 days).

On day 48, I almost gave up. It just felt like the task ahead was too big.

(I remember because I wrote a blog post about it that day).

But I'm so grateful to my past self that I didn't stop.

I've found my writing voice, I've documented all of my goals, and I've built an audience of thousands of monthly readers.

Most importantly though, I've become the kind of person who can stick at a goal.

I've developed grit.

Grit = passion and perseverance for long-term goals.

Grit isn't luck, or talent, or how much you want it.

Grit is the act of getting up when you fall down. Grit is screwing up and trying again. Grit is keeping going, even when you don't see progress.

And I'm not there yet. I've still got 230 days to go.

But I'm determined.

I'm going to make it.

It's inevitable.

Because I've decided I'm the kind of person who hits her goals every time.

Celebrating Her Debut Exhibition

A few months ago in our first coaching session, my client Laura Wilson told me about her impossible goal of becoming a Professional Artist.

I remember her saying she couldn't see how it would be possible.

Could she actually charge money for her art?

Would anyone pay for it?

Where would the customers come from?

This weekend, after a million roadblocks, she had her DEBUT ART EXHIBITION, selling her photography prints in a gallery in Auckland, New Zealand.

She turned down a well-paid government job offer for this.

She faced difficult conversations with her parents for this.

She packed up and moved across the country for this.

And now, her effort is paying off: She's already making a part-time income from her art. Whaaaat?!

She has an actual exhibition and a website, with actual prints people are actually buying, with actual money.

And we're not even done yet. Next step in our coaching: Taking her from part-time to full-time.

I'm bursting with excitement and joy for you, Laura!

This is just the beginning.

Buy Laura's prints here.

Follow Laura on Instagram here.

My December 2020 Goals

December is upon us – and in the past, I would have used this month to ‘wind down’ from the year. But this time, I’ve got a different approach. I’m thinking about ramping up to 2021. What do I need to do NOW if I’m going to hit my goals in 2021? I haven’t even set solid goals for 2021 yet – but I’ve got a general vision of where I need to go. So December is my run-up.

With that in mind, here are my December Goals:

1. Find my Donna.
   If you’ve ever seen the TV show Suits, you’ll know that Donna is the badass executive assistant to a hot-shot lawyer named Harvey. She anticipates his needs ahead of time, she works super quickly, and she knows anyone who is anyone. This month, I’m looking to hire someone to help me handle the behind-the-scenes of my business as it grows and scales. Since I’m a High Performance Coach, I love working with other high performers – and I’m excited to have THE BEST executive assistant ever. If you think this might be you, email me.

2. Grow my Facebook group to 3000 members.
   I’ve taken some time off actively growing my Facebook group (we’re currently at 2408) while I had a massive season of onboarding clients, but now I’m reading to get back to the mission of the group: to help as many women as possible achieve their impossible goals.

3. Batch-create my content once per week.
   For the last 499 days, I’ve blogged on this website. 99% of the time, I publish my content on the same day as I write it. However, I’m finding time management a bigger challenge recently (hence my desire to hire a Donna), so I’m going to try batch-creating my content once per week, and then releasing it day-by-day. It’s a test really, to see if it frees up more time in my day, and to see if getting into “zone” when writing helps me create more valuable content.

4. Walk/run 2x a week.
   I’ve been a bit slack with my exercise recently, while I’ve been focusing all of my energy on other goals. However, I want exercise to be a priority to me, so I’m ready to ease back into it.

5. Make the process of achieving all of these goals enjoyable.
   I believe we can hit any goal we set our minds to – as long as we are willing to do whatever it takes. Anyone can hit a goal if they grit their teeth and bear it. But I don’t want to hit my goals that way – I want to have fun achieving them. So I’m taking my goal setting to a whole extra level, by only choosing pathways to achieving my goals that are actually enjoyable.

What are your December Goals?

November 2020 Goals Review

• Get all the systems in my business sorted. Ahhh my systems are SOOO MUCH BETTER. I feel like I can breathe now. I've migrated all of my clients onto a new system, my hard drive is backed up, my invoicing systems are on track and I'm channeling my inner "Donna" from suits to stay organised (until I actually find someone like her, and then I will hire her!).

  The thought that helped me the most: When I'm organised, I'm more relaxed.

• Do my physio exercises 3x a day. I did not do this – not because I didn't try, but because I discovered that this actually causes me extra pain in my shoulder. Doing it three times a day is overdoing it, and because of that, I even had to skip days. Not ideal. I've learned that once a day is better. It's frustrating because I feel like my progress is so slow, but I also know that the healing process is happening. I just have to keep going.

  The thought that helped me the most: Michael Jordan would do it.

• Go to bed by 12am every night. I'm actually so happy with how I did. I made it a priority to go to bed by 12, and I did it, nearly every night! Whaaaat?! I did, however, adjust this goal to be weekdays only. And that feels good. Weekdays, 12am bedtime. Weekends, 1am (because I get to sleep in!).

  The thought that helped me the most: I ENJOY going to bed on time! (Sometimes I have to remind myself that it's actually a pleasure to get into bed, and that I'm not missing out if I don't stay up).

How did your November goals go? What thoughts helped you the most?👇