All of us want to live a life that matters.

Ideally, we want to look back at the end of the year and know that we’ve done everything possible to reach our potential.

But, how do we make that happen?

From my experience, if there are gaps between where you are and where you want to be, it helps to get clear on your process for making progress.  Because if you aren’t where you want to be, chances are, your process is broken.

And, if you have a process that is somewhat working, knowing how to improve it so that it helps you knock it out of the park, can be a real game changer.

That’s certainly how it was for me.

I had never been taught how to do “goal setting”.  So I would just read blog posts and listen to what other people were doing and then piece something together.  It was basically a mess of tips and tricks – definitely not a proven process.

Then a few years ago, my friend and former business partner, Michael Hyatt, mentioned that he wanted to share his year end process with the members of a membership that we had built together.   I thought it sounded like a great idea and the more we thought about it, the more we realized that this was more than just “one lesson”.  And long-story short, it blossomed into a course called 5 Days To Your Best Year Ever.

Now here’s the interesting part…

After we filmed all the course content, I actually went through the materials myself. In fact, my wife and I did it together.  And by intentionally going through the lessons together,  EVERYTHING changed.

One of the first things I learned from Michael was how to set compelling goals. In order to do this, it helps to know your ‘Why’.

I remember Gail Hyatt (Michael’s wife) once telling me, “When you lose your why, you’ll lose your way”.

That’s because . . .

Your Why Brings Your Goal to Life

 

And I remember the first time my wife, Amy, and I sat down to work through Michael’s process together. It was such an eye opener.

When we were finished we had such clarity about the deeper meaning behind all that we wanted to accomplish.  It wasn’t just “to make more money” or “to spend more time with the kids”.  The meaning was much deeper.  It became “to have more money to give to people and causes we’re passionate about” and “to become the biggest positive influence in shaping our kids attitude and perspective”.  That shift was directly connected to the “why”.

And when you know your ‘Why’, your goals become more exciting.

So let me bring it back to you…

Do you know the ‘Why’ behind your goals?

If not, start there.  Otherwise, your goals will become boring words on a page… and you’re much less likely to do anything about them.

Speaking of keeping things exciting . . .

One of the things I find challenging is that I love to set BIG goals… but in the past, I found it hard to know where to get started. And it meant I didn’t end up doing anything. I became stuck 

So . . . I learned to

1)Break Big Goals Down into Smaller Little Goals

 

During 2016, this was SUPER important for me. And truth be told, there were still things I wanted to do, but couldn’t squeeze them all in. But, none of them would have happened had I not broken it down.

For example, I decided that I was going to start a new company teaching everything I knew about launching, growing, and scaling a membership site.  And I had BIG financial goals that I wanted to hit.

But staring at the big financial goals just made it feel out of reach.  

However, once I started to break things down, it became more manageable.  

First I needed to get experience teaching the content.  So I started hosting small workshops.  And filling them became a smaller goal.

Next I needed to get affiliate partners on board to promote the course when it was ready.  So that became another smaller goal.  

Then it was preparing the launch of the course.  Then the course content.

Everything was broken down and little by little, it all started to come together.  And the punchline is, not only did we hit our goals, but we far exceeded them.

I also know the value that comes from only focusing on a few things and doing them really well. So, I’ve learned that it is super valuable to eliminate the excess and first just focus on the essentials.

2)Focus on Fewer Things for Bigger Momentum

 

For me, this is one of THE hardest strategies to implement.

Why?

Because as an entrepreneur, new, exciting opportunities are EVERYWHERE.  And I’m drawn to them like a magnet. It makes the elimination process difficult.
Elimination is hard, but it’s necessary.

And that leads us to . . .

3)Keep Your Eyes on Your Dreams All Year Long

 

One of the little tricks I learned from Michael was to keep my eyes on those dreams all year long.

He taught me that it is super important to keep your goals present. You’ve got to keep them in front of you at all times.

So, one of the things that I did was turn my phone wallpaper into a daily reminder.   In fact, here is a screenshot of the 2016 goals I was telling you about earlier:

By doing this, I would see the goals multiple times a day, right?  That little wallpaper enabled me to keep those goals in front of me ALL THE TIME.

So, that’s a little hack I recommend for you to do too.  Because when you do this, every time you open your phone, your goals will be there to remind you of where you are headed.

There are so many wonderful things I learned from Michael Hyatt when it comes to setting and achieving goals.  But two of the big ones are:

1. Know your ‘Why’ behind each goal
2. Keep your goals front and center

Now here’s the thing…

This is just the beginning.  That’s why I am SO excited that you are going to have a chance to learn from him too! His book, Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals is coming out on January 2nd. It’s an achiever’s guide to living a life that matters and it teaches you how you can live to your full potential.

And it’s also the process that I’ve used the last 4 years to set myself up for a big year.

I encourage you to check it out. I believe it will be a game changer for you. I know it was for me.

Take a look at Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals  and get your copy today.