Aim High

Part 1

Every morning I look at my to do list, I give myself a couple of easy ones to start, warms me into the day, makes me feel good.

The days I’m most effective I tackle the hard things first, the item that makes me uncomfortable just reading it. When I do that, it makes me feel REALLY good – it feels like it’s going to be a great day.

Part 2

Christie and I got away to the Strathbogie ranges on the recent long weekend and went walking in the mornings. It is beautiful up there. We walked down the local road to a bridge in a gully, a decent walk. I was tired afterwards and it felt great. The next day we went down to the bridge and were having a fantastic conversation so we kept walking, we walked all the way into town and back, about triple the distance. I was exausted afterwards but the sense of achievement was really satisfying.

On the third day we set off as normal. We were at the bridge in no time, easy, is that all? We walked into town again. We had set a new normal. Speak to anyone young in an organisation who is above where they should be and they will have a story of being thrown in the deep end early on in their career – they redefined normal early on in their journey.

Part 3

SMART Goals

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time Bound

Helpful, but… – Do they need to be achievable? The effect I’ve found with this model is you set goals you can meet. It feels good, success is hitting the goal. Is it? Is that going to make you better?

The goal needs to be achieveable in the true sense of the word – it needs to be possible. But it should make you feel damn uncomfortable when you set it. It should make you nervous, move a little in the chair, get the heart rate up – it should feel unlikely. The truth is we underestimate what we are capable of, we put a lid on what we can achieve, we give ourselves permission not to push.

Part 4

Once you are running a marathon you are out there in public view with everyone around you – you don’t have a choice anymore you keep going to the end, you find a way. The sports analogies are low hanging fruit, but this applies to your career and your life. Put yourself in the position you don’t have a choice, you just have to get it done – you will surprise yourself.

I’m trying to set more ambitious goals that make me do hard things. Last year in business we set a goal that seemed absurd at the time – we aimed high and it made new things possible. I’m trying to think of goals a little differently – set a goal that is uncomfortable, and it is not a failure if you don’t achieve it, it will reset what’s possible and make you better.

Part 5

In summary;

• Start thinking of goals differently – make the goal a target and success pushing for it
• Set a goal that makes you uncomfortable, that seems out of reach
• Push for it – tell others about it to keep you accountable
• Have the courage to pursue it, but always cap the downside.

Where did I get these ideas? This blog is a combination of things I have read, heard, pondered, and in the end weaved together. At the end of each post I will do my best to provide some rough references, please let me know if I have made mistakes, as I most likely will;

• My own experience
• Talking to overly successful people I’ve found along the way
• Peter Thiel – Zero to One
• The Tim Ferriss Podcast

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