It’s the first Monday of 2021 and we have Monday motivation on the brain at Rightside. We know staying on track with goals is on the forefront of your minds in January, so we are doubling down on the content this month around goal setting. We’ve partnered with some great coaches from all facets of life to get their advice on setting goals and keeping up with them. Every Thursday, we’ll be posting those conversations on Instagram so be sure to check that out.
For the January blog posts, we decided to pull some of those coaching insights and create posts around tips & tricks to achieve your goals.
We learned so much from our conversation this week with Maggie Gomez, a certified financial planner, whose work is based around helping people gain control over their finances regardless of net worth. She shared a ton of great tips on setting financial goals, but one that really stuck with us is to become clear on your “why.” Your “why” is the reason behind the goal. The more connected you are to your goal and your desire for achieving it, the higher likelihood of success.
There is a book called, Find Your Why, written by Simon Sinek, David Mead, and Peter Docker that helps you to do just that. Below is a summary from Sloww of the Individual Why Discovery Process. To help illustrate these concepts, I will use the goal of running a 5K in 2021.
- Gather Stories and Share Them – By looking to our past, we can find experiences and moments that have shaped who we are and can start to identify patterns. Using the goal of a 5K, I think about the times I was in better shape and how I felt. I think about the feeling of training and finishing past races. I also think about my kids and the energy required to keep up with them!
- Identify themes – While you may find many patterns and feelings, there will be a few that pop up more than others and that you can really identify with. Those core themes will drive your why statement.
- Draft & Refine A Why Statement – According to the book, “Try to make yours: simple and clear, actionable, focused on the effect you’ll have on others, and expressed in affirmative language that resonates with you. One sentence is the absolute lowest common denominator. One sentence is usually more honest. And if you can wrestle your WHY into one sentence, you’re much more likely to remember it—and to act on it.”
The Why Statement should be in this format:
“The first blank represents the contribution you make to the lives of others. The second blank represents the impact of your contribution. Often the first draft of a Why Statement sounds a bit generic. While you are sitting with your WHY, try to unpack the words to find language that is more authentic to you, that more completely captures your feelings. You really want to love the words, especially the words of your contribution.”
For the 5K example, here’s a sample Why Statement: To train for and run a 5K, so that I can feel more energized and keep up with my kids.
I would love to hear some of your why statements for the goals you’ve set for yourself in 2021! I hope y’all have a great week and a great start to 2021.
Take care and be well,
Emree