As our attention is now squarely on the start of the new year, our excitement rises about the goals that we’ve set.
In our article series over the past few weeks, we’ve tackled the tools you need to achieve the goals that you have – no matter what they are or in which area of life they reside. The key to goal achievement is getting the mental frameworks together to support you in achieving the things you want in the new year.
We’ve talked about goal clarity, the current reality and goal context. Today we dive into the resources necessary for achievement. These include the resources you have around you and the resources that you have inside of you.
Resources come in varieties. When we think of resources, we commonly consider resources physical in nature. If you were going to bake a cake, you would look for the resources – the ingredients and tools – necessary to bake the cake. Flour, eggs, butter would be on the resource list. A mixer, a dish and the oven would be crucial. You would also need to know how to make the cake – either a recipe or access to knowledge stored in your mind if you’ve very experienced.
Let’s take this same approach to tease out resources to bake a cake to achieve our goals.
Your resources
Just like in our cake example, ask yourself what all do you need to achieve the goal that you have set.
Let’s take your main business goal. You likely are expanding upon a previous set of results. If you made $1 million last year, maybe you’re looking to grow to 1.25 million this year. Or, if you have a team of 10, maybe you want to expand to 20. Either way, you’ve had success to get you to the benchmark of where you’re currently at. So, you have ideas about what it takes to get you to where you want to go.
Your external resources are just that – resources that are outside of you. That consists of the people, tools, models you need to achieve the goal. Do the tools, models & people give you the resources to achieve the goal? If not, what are you missing?
A coaching client I’m working with had a goal to grow the number of people on their team. After years of not being as successful as they would have liked, they realized that they might need a person to help push things along. They found someone – a resource for them – and provided the other resource for growth. They are poised to double in the first half of the year alone.
The other resources that are missed are just as crucial as the physical ones. We need the mental resources. The great news about the mental resources is that you already have all that you need for success inside of you. If that doesn’t currently ring true, then you simply need help accessing your own resources.
Another client was venturing off into a new endeavor. They knew the business well. They had built a really successful business prior and wanted to do it again, this time with more alignment on personal mission and values.
This client needed to access the mental resources to marry the business building resources that they possessed with the missional resources they wanted to stay true to. Plus, they needed to add in the confidence that it will all workout as desired.
Do you need confidence to hit your goals? Actually, no. You don’t need it. However, your goals are much more attainable and the work is much more joyful when you pair the pursuit with confidence in yourself. Again, these mental resources are already inside of you, you simply need to access it.
Is it right to achieve this goal?
Sometimes we lack confidence, because we haven’t squared the goal with ourselves.
How does your goal change your world? How does it change the world? Similar to the questions around the context in which our goals live, we need to make sure that our goals are both good for our world and the world.
The pursuit of anything requires change. If you want to fit in different size pants, you must change. Those changes will affect the people around you. Maybe you cook differently in your house. Maybe you go to different restaurants. Maybe you spend more time working out than you did before.
In 2024, my wife Kristen made a decision to live in a more clean way. This clean living extends to the foods she eats (and doesn’t eat), the clothes she buys & wears to the household products that we use. Clearly all of the changes she wished to make impacted the lives of our girls and me.
The question that my wife needed to ask herself is “is it right to live more cleanly for me and the people around me?” Her answer is a resounding “yes” because of all of the benefits that she believes will result from this change in lifestyle. It is good for all of us. Because of her confidence in the positive nature of the changes she made, she’s able to continue these changes when it becomes difficult, ask extended family and friends to make accommodations for her and our family and has even influenced people to make changes in their lives to eat & use items that are more clean.
Her ability to have such an effect on people comes as a direct result of her believing that her goal of living cleanly is right for her and her world.
Take the first step
We’ve come to the final section of this 4 week odyssey of goal achievement. No goal is ever achieved without action.
The journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step. The new pants size begins with the first meal or the first workout. The business growth begins with the first move towards that end.
Your first step indicates the presence of the resources you need to make it work. Taking this step is the first confirmation that you have all that it takes to succeed.
If you are not able to take the action, that is a key indication of lack of resources. Go back to the list of physical and mental resources necessary and decide what you need to add. If you’re baking a cake and missing the flour or the bowl or the knowledge, you have to find all of those to start.
Much like a cake, your goals will take resources, actions and time to come to fruition. And making the next step is the key to enjoying the success that you’re destined for.
Here’s to you in the year that is to come. Maybe you find the resources to make you the success that you are deserving to become.