Today is 1/1/11. Today is the first day of a new year. Will today be the first day of your new life? What will you do today to dream big and play big? :-)
While you can certainly choose to start living your life bigger at any moment, the popularity of New Years resolutions and goals make today a perfect time to start. So set some time aside today to figure out your big dreams and make your plans to play big this 2011. I'm taking both today and tomorrow as a personal retreat to realign with my greater purpose and to set both outcome goals and process goals for the new year.
What's the difference between outcome goals and process goals you ask? Well, outcome goals are where you dream big. Outcome goals are about the end results that you want in your life, such as "I make a six-figure income", "I weigh my ideal weight", "I am close with my family and friends", "I am happy", etc. Process goals are where you play big. Process goals are the hows of getting to your dreams or your outcome goals, such as "I make at least 25 sales calls a week", "I exercise for 30 minutes at least four days a week", "I schedule get-togethers with my friends every week", etc.
Process goals are what you have control over on a day-to-day basis. You can't magically decide in a moment to all of a sudden lose 15 pounds, but you can decide in a moment to get up out of your chair and do some squats. Your process goals are not just intermediate steps to your bigger vision - they are action items that you can choose (or not choose) to do. So if one of your outcome goals is "I earn $200,000 this year", your process goals would not include "I sell over 5,000 widgets each month" because selling 5,000 widgets is not an actionable task that you can make an immediate choice to do. Instead, your process goals would be actions like "I hand out over 30,000 brochures to qualified prospects every month" or "I suggest at least one upsell item to every customer I talk with".
You may be thinking, "Well, that distinction between outcome & process goals is great - but I have no idea how to get to my dreams. I don't know what actions to take so I can't set process goals." Don't worry! You don't need to see the whole path to take the first step. I know that it may be overwhelming or disconcerting to start toward a huge dream when you don't know how you're going to get there. Or you may have a dream or an outcome goal that no matter what processes you put in place, you're still not guaranteed to reach your dream, such as "I meet the man of my dreams". I'm one of those types of people who likes to plan - and it's really hard to plan when you don't know how the heck to get what you want.
Even if you don't know each and every action step to your dream, you can still start taking some steps. If you don't know how to get to your outcome goal, make a process goal to ask several knowledgeable people about what you can do to reach your specific dream. Or if you don't know which action items will get you what you want, make a process goal to start down a path even if you don't think it's the best way to go. For example, if you're trying to find the perfect guy, decide to go out to a book club even if you don't think there will be many men there. By starting to take action, your mind will be primed to be looking for opportunities. Remember, life is just one big journey of learning and adjusting course. If you try one process path and it doesn't work out, then just switch paths and try another way. You may even end up changing your outcome goals too as you refine what it is that you really desire in this life!
So if you haven't already started jotting down some goals while you were reading this post, grab a piece of paper or open up a new document file, and write down at least three outcome goals that would make your life better. Then under each of your outcome goals, write down several process goals or actionable items that you can choose to do to move forward toward your dreams. Don't be afraid to dream BIG and play BIG! The only way you're going to live a bigger and better life in 2011 is to dream bigger and play bigger than you are now.
Are you still reading this post? Go write your goals! :-) I'm off to go write mine!
************************************************************************
If your goals include making more money (and whose goals don't include that?!), I would highly recommend Fabienne Fredrickson's Mindset Retreat program. Fabienne's programs are usually focused on helping solo entrepreneurs, but frankly this money mindset program is great for anyone and everyone! Whether you work in a cubicle or you own a business, you probably have fears and self-imposed barriers that are holding you back from where you really want to be. In the Mindset Retreat DVDs, Fabienne really delves into what's keeping you from dreaming bigger and playing bigger. I've learned so much already (and I'm only on day one of three!) I'll often play different bits of the CDs as I'm getting ready in the morning to move into the "dream big, play big" mindset and start my day off right. So if you're ready to dream big and play big in 2011, check out Fabienne's Inner Game of Abundance Mindset Retreat program. And let me know what your big dreams are and what you're doing to play big in 2011!
No comments:
Post a Comment