Don’t set goals for 2022 (Do this instead)
Here we are in 2022.
I didn’t set any goals for this year.
And I would strongly encourage you to do the same.
Why?
Because it’s a stone-cold fact: New year resolutions don’t work.
Instant gratification vs. Long term rewards
We, humans, struggle to visualize something long-term.
This is why we always look for the shortcuts rather than doing the work.
Everyone knows that you have to eat better, less, and exercise to lose weight. It’s a proven way to lose weight.
But it’s slow.
It requires changing your habits.
For this reason, we want to believe in magic pills to lose fat fast.
So given the fact that it’s hard to visualize something long term, then it’s even harder to take action upon that.
Most things don’t happen as we expect.
“Everybody has a plan until I punch them in the mouth.” — Mike Tyson
Most things in life are unexpected.
We make pretty plans in our heads or in our calendars. And then boom.
Something we didn’t take into consideration just happens. And then, we throw the towel and abandon our pretty goals.
So many people had good plans on paper who just got annihilated when life happened.
So what’s the solution to that?
Rather than planing out 365 days of unexpectedness, let’s just plan out one day.
– Matt Giaro
If we’re successful in planning out our days,
we will inevitably have a great year.
Another thing worth thinking about:
We may set goals and then realize further down the road that the goal was harder or easier to accomplish.
Maybe, after taking action, we realized that the goal we set wasn’t the right thing to do. Or maybe we realized that there is a better way to do it.
Let’s say your goal is to get your first 1000 subscribers on YouTube.
After making some videos, you just realize that you hate the process.
You absolutely don’t enjoy the process of creating videos.
Instead?
You enjoy writing.
Suddenly, the initial goal of getting 1000 subscribers just seems ridiculous to pursue further.
Because if you do, you’re going to procrastinate.
As you procrastinate, you start feeling bad about yourself.
And then, in the end, you’re going to quit anyway.
It would have been smarter telling yourself to adjust your goal towards something you really enjoy doing: writing!
So, what should you do instead?
Create goals that are easy to visualize and break them down into small actions that you can do every day. Even when the unexpected happens.
This is why daily, weekly, or even monthly goals are way more realistic to achieve.
I actually like 30 days challenges because 30 days are long enough to use your willpower to keep pushing you forward.
It’s also an excellent timeframe to establish a habit.
Habits will take you where willpower won’t.
And for the big chunks and the big projects?
I’m a fan of 90 days timeframes.
I found that 90 days are kind of a sweet spot :
Not too long, not too short.
Long enough to get some momentum.
But short enough so that you can visualize yourself taking action for the next 90 days.
Another benefit of approaching things this way?
You don’t have to wait until next year to set new goals.
So what if, if in the mid of 2022, you just see that you have to adjust your goals?
Well, pretty easy.
What you do is you just adjust your next week’s goals to match what you want to achieve.
This is actually goal setting by iteration.
If you want my help to create a strategic vision for your business as a content creator, feel free to reach out at matt@maningful.com
I’m going to offer a 30 minutes consult for the next couple of days.
As usual, first come, first serve.
Matt Giaro
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