This Is How I Reached My Goals

Proven Behaviors, Tools and Tips to reach your goals

Creating a set of goals is relatively easy, actually achieving them is the hard part. The key to reaching goals is setting up a structure to support your efforts. Last year I researched tools, tactics and behaviors to support my goals Here’s what worked.

1. Self Journal

My Wife and I live by our Self Journals.

I start each day, by completely allocating my day, by 30 minute task increments. These tasks filter up to three wildly important goals I am working towards. I check my calendar for any meetings I have, and check my task list that I left for myself the night before. I then take a moment to write out three positive things that are happening in my life. I am not verbose in any of this, its mostly a few words and bullets.

2. Deep Work

Last year I read Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport and it profoundly changed how I approach my work. Newport defines two styles of work:

Deep Work: Professional activities, in a distraction-free environment that pushes your cognitive abilities

Shallow Work: Non-cognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted

When scheduling my day, I focus my “deep” work in the morning between 7:30 and noon. I use this time to focus on my clients’ goals/problems/planning and developing solutions for them.

During my “deep work” I have several rituals to keep me focused:

• I put my phone on “Do Not Disturb“ mode.

• I pop in my ear buds and spin up a quiet acoustic guitar play list.

• I turn off all notifications on my laptop. I don’t check email, ESPN, the WSJ, Facebook or anything else.

• I wear a watch so that I can see the time at a glance and how I am progressing on my schedule.

• I keep my journal opened and beside my laptop so that I can be reminded of what I need to be doing, and for adding any to do’s as they pop into my head.

I normally have lunch at the end of my deep work session. And then shift over to my “shallow” work, where I focus on administrative tasks.

3. Rest

Another book that has been a big influence on my work is Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Pang.

Between 3pm and 8pm, I focus on what Pang would refer to as “rest”. My goal during this time, is to lose myself in the minutiae of daily life, clear my head. This is time for my subconscious to churn through my earlier work. I may take a walk around the neighborhood, workout at Decatur Crossfit, cook for the family and/or help the boys with homework.

I then close out the day, by listing out actions items and thoughts for picking back up the next day, in my Self Journal.

At the end of each week, I check my leading metrics (things that I can control, and will influence lag metrics, which are my goals). E.g., I want to get 30 new clients this year is a lag metric. Meeting perspective clients is a leading metric. And I take the opportunity to list out any wins/losses and lessons learned. I also take the time to update my score board, so that I have a reminder, both of my goals and how I fare as I am working towards them.

This may seem like a lot, but once you start seeing progress, its incredibly satisfying. And the tactics and planning have all been tried out and tested. It’s a great recipe for success.

Are you intentional in your daily routine, that has a proven track record of driving to success?

Tata and Josh's Surprising Connection

Tata Built a winning team

In Atlanta, the big sports phenomenon is the Atlanta United soccer team, an expansion team in the MLS. The team is headlined by an internationally renowned head coach “Tata” Martino, who built the team from the ground up, using young, and generally untested players. Led by the dynamic duo: striker Josef Martinez and midfielder Miguel Almiron. The team beat NY Red Bulls (NYRBs) last week to proceed into the championship match this Saturday against the Portland Timbers.

Tata Always has a strategic plan

A friend of mine described the playoff game as “pretty ugly”. Given that the United had won the first of 2 legs 3 - 0, the onus was on the NYRBs to come out and score more than 3 goals. With that in mind, Tata, created a game plan around strong defense, with counter striking possibilities to Martinez and Almiron. This meant, in all likelihood that the NYRBs would possess the ball, have more passes and attempt more shots. While the United would abide the onslaught and use meager chances to create tremendous upside, sending individuals on runs to the goal, essentially unassisted. During much of the game, it did look, “ugly”. However, the plan unfolded exactly as Tata foresaw. This “ugly” plan yielded the opportunity for Atlanta United to proceed to the next round of the playoffs.

For each game— and the season— Tata had a strategic plan, created around his players strengths, working towards “goals”. It allowed individual players the freedom of play and expression, but directs them towards the “win”. Rather than the players descending into ball hogging, fruitless passes and being frustrated by playing hard but not bringing home a win.

Here is an interesting article on entropy, and reminds me that a system left unfettered, will descend into chaos.

How’s your financial plan and track record?

Like Tata, I enjoy working with professionals and families that are at the beginning stages of their financial game but have potential and the commitment to follow a smart plan. Do you want a strategic plan tailored to meet your short and long term goals? Do you want a coach that will keep you accountable so you reach those goals? If so, I want to help you plan and grow your wealth so you can live better.

Contact me if you are interested in learning more.

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How to Set Financial Goals as a Couple

9 Steps to Setting Family Financial Goals together As a Couple

It is important to set goals that you can work on as a couple. Being on the same page with your joint finances helps to strengthen your money situation and your relationship. As a follow up to How to Talk about Money with Your Spouse, we are taking things to the next level: Setting your family financial goals.

“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” -Pablo Picasso

1. Organize your goals by Time frame

I like to break goals into short, mid and long range time frames:

Short term goals: < 1 year

Mid term goals: 1 - 5 years

Long term goals: 10 - 20 years

2. What are Short term goals?

What is going on in your life, that needs to be immediately addressed? Maybe you have been putting off a house project, but you don’t know how to get started. Maybe you want to plan a family vacation, for some good quality time or you need to you have money sitting in an 401k from your last job and you need to roll it over but your not quite sure what to do with it.

Short term goals are generally fairly easy to envision. You know your current self, so you know what you need to do. However, writing down your short term goals and talking about them, will help in actually getting them done.

3. Mid term goals

Mid term goals tend to be a bit tougher than short term goals, because you know what they are, but you know it is going to take more time and effort to get there. You will need to monitor your progress and you will need a plan. Mid term goals are things like: Planning to start a family, paying down debt, saving up for a down payment on a house or switching careers in the next few years.

4. Long term goals

“A goal is a dream with a deadline.”

-Napoleon Hill

While mid term goals are difficult because they require work, long term goals are more challenging because they seem ephemeral, variables can change as time passes and they are difficult to envision. You may not know what really matters to you, yet. You may foresee changes in the future that could impact your goals. Or maybe you just can’t imagine yourself in 10 years. Long term goals require some real thinking, discussion and envisioning. You may need to dig in and dream a little!!

5. Brainstorm, then compare notes

Now we have defined what we mean by the different time frames for goals. How do you actually have a discussion around your shared financial goals? First, realize that this discussion may prove to be harder than you thought. For example, you may find that your goals are not aligned (at all).

I am a fan of the sticky note method: Using sticky notes, spend 5 minutes separately jotting down as many short term goals as possible. Write it all down, even the absurd … brainstorming is not a time to “cull the herd”, dream a little and have fun!! Then come together and share your sets. As a team, now is the time to really start to evaluate what makes sense. It is also a time to stop and appreciate the unique perspective of your sweetheart. DON’T go about bludgeoning, like baby seals, your sweetheart’s ideas. Be open minded. Then iterate through mid and long term goals.

6. Don’t jump into solutioNing!!

The point of the discussion is to create a set of goals. A plan to accomplish those goals, should come after the set is created. Too often, a goal may be jettisoned early in the process because it may seem hard, or because there is no clear path to achieving it. Don’t let that hinder you. Goals are meant to be hard. They will force you to plan and work.

7. Prioritize

“Most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year, and underestimate what they can do in 10!”

-Bill Gates

It’s time to determine if the entire set is reasonable. If you believe you can reliably reach all of your goals, it’s possible you were not audacious enough. I say live a little, be bold!! If on the other hand, you have gone completely nuts, now is the time to start getting realistic. Start by deciding how much you have to fund your goals. Then break up the funding as a percentage of short/mid/long term goals. A good recommendation is: 25% - short, 35% - mid, 40% long term. Now is the time to edit, get rid of things that you can’t fund. Or deprioritize them to a future discussion. My mantra in these discussion is: if I can’t prioritize them now, maybe they are not really worth prioritizing at all. This is where the planning really comes into play.

8. Share your goals with friends and family

Now that you have your set of goals, unpack them in front of friends, at dinner or over drinks. How do they feel having rolled them around in your mouth, are you still resolute in what you have? Did you get any good opinions? Additions? Good Ideas? Do you now have some accountability partners? Did you inspire your friends to have a similar discussion? Incorporate good ideas into your plan. But don’t necessarily allow someone to dissuade you from something important.

9. Rejoice!

You made it through the discussion. Having these crucial discussions with your sweetheart will fundamentally strengthen your relationship. Too many times, we hold back, in order to not offend or hurt our significant others. When you shared insights with your friends, did the two of you have to work together defending your aspirations? Having struggled through the discussion, will ultimately make your relationship stronger.

Please don’t worry if you hit some road blocks during the discussion, I am here to help. This is tough to navigate on your own. Sometimes the issue is in getting an achievable list. Sometimes the struggle is coming up with the plan to reach the goals. Let’s set up some time to talk!

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3 Hacks to Stay Motivated

Planning for a long-term goal, while super important, feels remote for many people, check out my earlier post about meeting your future self. To stay motivated, I reward myself on a daily, monthly and yearly basis:

DAILY

A long-term health goal of mine is weighing in and maintaining a svelte 169 pounds. To get there I workout at Crossfit 2/week, play basketball and soccer 2/week, and practice intermittent fasting with an eating window between noon - 6pm. Meaning, I dont eat between the 6pm and noon the next day. Fasting helps me reach my weight goal, saves me lots of money and makes me realize I am tough enough not to constantly feed my urges. And it allows me to reward myself — when my eating window is open I treat myself to food I really like (thank you to the current ramen craze).

Monthly

One of my bedrock beliefs is “loving my friends and family.” It’s important to me that I have families come over to our house for Sunday Supper. I cook, the kids run around, and the adults mill about drinking wine, discussing football, the latest Netflix show and Decatur City Schools. For me, wine is a key element of Sunday Supper. I can’t deal with the uncertainty of randomly selecting bottles at the local wine shop. So each month, if I have met my business goals, I treat myself to 6 wines from Garagiste. Jon Rimmerman is the curator of Garagiste and he is all about value and honesty in wine making. I’m a big fan. With wine tucked away in the cellar, I am more likely to kick off the next Sunday Supper.

Yearly

Each month on payday, before we can spend it, we set aside a chunk of cash into a savings account for an awesome ski vacation and the kid’s sleep away camp. The ski trip gets us away from the daily grind, and allows us to team up against the mountain, working together and having a blast. Sending the boys away to summer camp serves two big goals for our family: 1. it teaches the boys independence and 2. it allows Jenn and I to connect and build on OUR relationship. We enjoy this without charging up a credit card by saving throughout the year.

Celebrate the baby steps

The bigger the the goal, the longer it will take to reach. You’ve got to reward yourself along the way to stay motivated. Enjoy life each day, but remember that the difference between a goal and a dream are the action steps you take.

Let’s talk about the hacks you use to keep yourself motivated through the year! A long-term plan is of minimal value, if you don’t have short-term games, that keep you motivated to play the long game. Schedule a quick chat today.

The Problem with the Majority of Parenting and Investment Advice.

I read an article on the Farnam Street blog, 5 Mental Models to Remove (Some of) the Confusion from Parenting and was struck by the similarity between the common pitfalls with parenting and personal finance advice and the approaches we often take: 

 "Few topics provoke more unsolicited advice than parenting. The problem is, no matter how good the advice, it might not work for your child. Parenting is the ultimate “the map is not the territory“ situation. There are so many maps out there, and often when we try to use them to navigate the territory that is each individual child, we end up lost and confused. As in other situations, when the map doesn’t match the territory, better to get rid of the map and pay attention to what you are experiencing on the ground...

...As in any other area of your life, developing some principles or models that help you see how the world works will give you options for relevant and useful solutions. Mental models are amazing tools that can be applied across our lives."

 

Are you caught up in tactics without a clear mental model or strategy?

Many of us save a few bucks every month, stash money yearly in our kids 529s, and invest in our company's 401k plans.  All super good things to do, but will it get you to where you want to be?  Do you have a set of family goals that inform all areas of your strategy?  Here are a few of mine: 

I want my kids to be self-reliant adults who will make a difference to society.  That means I am comfortable if they fail often, as long as they win in the long run.  They play a variety of sports, play violin or the sax and arent bashful about speaking Spanish to a stranger.  If you have heard a 10 year old practicing violin, you know the sound of failure. And we save each year so they can go to sleep away camp for part of the summer, where they learn how to make friends and learn on the fly.

I want the freedom in my own life to make choices not based entirely on finances.  That means I invest part of every paycheck, whether the market is up or down, so that I can create long term wealth.  And we prioritize traveling for new and unexpected experiences.  That means Jenn and I have a weekly family budget and stick to it, even if we have to forgo some fun now.

Are you living by tactics as you go? Have you developed a set of guiding principles? If you haven't, you are not alone. Want to live free of financial burdens and have peace of mind? You'll need a strategy and a plan. I can help.  

Let's talk about your personal financial goals. Contact me to set up your free consultation.