I’m a big advocate of settings goals. So, I was very surprised and intrigued when I got an email from Jeff Goins with the subject: Planning for the New Year: Why Goals Are a Waste of Time

In it Jeff writes:

Goals don’t work, and resolutions are a waste of time. For the first time in awhile, I’m not going to bother with any silly plans or projections for the new year.

What you need instead is one crucial ingredient: resolve. Not resolutions; resolve. The willingness to commit to a new way of living.

How do you do this? By creating hew habits. (Leo Babauta taught me this.)

I did this — stopped setting goals and started creating new habits — this year, and it made all the difference.

He goes on to list the many successes he had in 2011 with this approach.

Jeff is a very insightful guy, and this strategy obviously worked for him. Because it’s so radical from my own way of doing things, my mind hasn’t been able to let it go.

Good Habits are Productivity Multipliers

Good habits are productivity multipliers because they help you do things quickly without thinking about them. You probably have habits and routines for all sorts of tasks like mowing the lawn, to cleaning the house, to cooking a meal, to checking and responding to email.

Let’s say I want to visit my friend who lives 50 miles away. If I step out my front door and start walking, no amount of goal setting or will-power is going to get me to his house before dark. What I need is a new way of thinking, a new way of living, a new habit. I need to stop walking and bike it. (Or even better, tap into the power of automation and external power sources and drive a car.)

In that respect, I think Jeff is right. Often what keeps us from achieving our dreams are bad habits and poor organization. We need better systems.

Not the whole story

But with all due respect, I don’t think Jeff gave us the whole story in his blog post.

Some of the accomplishments Jeff listed included launching a new blog, getting a book deal, publishing a few ebooks, changing jobs, and running a half-marathon.

The habits that produced these results?

• Started getting up early
• Over-committed and over-delivered
• Reached out and made new friends
• Practiced generosity

Those are great habits to be sure, but if you do those things will you end up with a popular new blog, a book deal, and a medal for completing a half marathon? Not necessarily.

Somewhere along the way Jeff must have set goals for launching a new website, getting a book deal, completing a half marathon and the rest. He may not called them resolutions, or set a specific date or even written them down. But at some point those became goals that he decided to pursue. (Right Jeff?)

Walking may be inefficient, but if I don’t know where I’m going, neither a bike nor a car is not going to get me there faster.

If you want to succeed, it’s important to have both clear goals and good habits.

I think the reason why Jeff’s article has stayed on my mind is because I may be where he was last year. I’ve got a pretty clear idea of what my goals and dreams are. I need to put more attention on developing the habits that are going to empower me to get there.

What do you think? Are goals a waste of time? Have you set goals for 2012? Are you putting more emphasis on clarifying goals or developing better habits?

If you want 2012 to be better than 2011, this is a critical week to making that happen. Next week, the craziness of the new year will start back up again – work, school, kids activities, meetings, church stuff. This is the week to prepare. Here are…

6 Steps to Making 2012 Your Best Year Ever

(And thanks to a thesaurus, I got all of them to start with the letter D)

1) Downtime

If despite your best efforts to manage life before Christmas you still ended up wearing yourself out with decorating, shopping, parties, school programs, baking, and so forth, the first thing you need to do is rest. When I am really tired, I have little capacity to dream about the future. The present problems seem to big. The risks are too great, the pitfalls too many, the effort required too great. Rest is required above all else to get in a frame of mind to start thinking about the next year in a positive way.

2) Dream

Everything that exists was created twice. First it was created I the mind of the person who created it. Then it was physically implemented. If you want to have a great 2012, it starts with visualizing specifically what you want 2012 to look like.

Do you see yourself taking that next step in your career? Do you see your family being closer? Do you see yourself being more loving, more patient, more focused, more giving?  What get’s you excited and makes you’re heart beat faster?  How do you want to change the world next year?

3) Discuss

After you dream a bit and before you commit to pursuing those dreams, talk about those dreams with the people who would be key in helping to make them become a reality. Talk about your dreams with your spouse, your kids, your boss or business partners, your trusted friends who encourage and advise you. Pray about them.

What kind of feedback are you getting? Are they with you? Do they support you? Are they cautioning you against certain things? Listen as objectively as you can.

4) Decide

Which dreams are you going to pursue in 2012? What are your specific, measurable goals? You can’t do everything. You must make choices. There are costs to pursuing your dreams. Are you willing to pay them?

5) Devise

Devise your plans for how you’re going to pursue your dreams in 2012. You won’t magically reach your goals in 2012 without a plan. Make the plans as detailed as you can, but most importantly, figure out what your very first step is.

6) Do

Once you’ve got your dreams, your goals, and your plans for 2012, just do it! Take that first step. Then take the next step. Then the next. There will be bumps in the road. You will probably have to make adjustments to your plans.  But every journey begins with a first step, including the journey to making 2012 your best year ever.

Where are you in process of pursuing your dreams in 2012?

In Monday’s post about living a life of thanksgiving, Paul mentions that ‘starting each day with gratitude sets the tone for your entire day and therefore also sets the tone for your entire life’.

I’ve found this to be very true.

Over the last few years, like so many people, I’ve experienced some major financial setbacks. And, when times get tough, it can be all to easy to forget just how to fortunate we are to have the things in our lives we take for granted. Things such as our health, family and good friends, electric light and running water… the list goes on and on.

Quite recently a business colleague of mine told me he kept a ‘Gratitude Journal‘, where every morning (and often through the day) he wrote down the things in his life he was grateful for. He explained that it kept him positive and thankful, and (as Paul stated) set the tone for his day.

Well that sounded good to me, so the very same day I started my own journal and have added to it every day since. First thing every morning I sit in quiet thought for a few minutes and write down the things I’m grateful for.

I also read the book regularly to remind me just how wonderful my life really is.

I can honestly say that keeping this simple journal has made a massive difference to my attitude. I’m happier, more content, less stressed, and appreciate the things (and the people) I do have in my life a whole lot more than I did just a short while ago.

And for that I’m truly grateful.

So why don’t you give it a try? It only costs pennies and takes a tiny amount of time, but it makes a world of difference!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

This morning I tweeted:

Good morning! Instead of 1 day of Thanksgiving, how about living a life of thanksgiving?

That’s because I believe as Marcus Tullius Cicero has been quoted as saying:

A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues.

An unthankful person complains. A thankful person compliments.

An unthankful person discourages those around her. A thankful person encourages those around her.

An unthankful person hoards because he thinks he doesn’t have enough. A thankful person gives.

An unthankful person selfishly pushes her own agenda ahead of others. A thankful person selflessly puts others first.

An unthankful person lacks compassion. A thankful person recognizes he wouldn’t be where he is today without the help and has compassion on others who are in need.

An unthankful person disrespects the gifts she’s been given. A thankful person stewards well the gifts she’s been given.

An unthankful person may lie, cheat or steal to get what he thinks he deserves. A thankful person respects the rights of the people around him.

This is why starting each day with gratitude sets the tone for your entire day and therefore also sets the tone for your entire life.

How does gratitude affect your day?

Are you willing to commit to making every day a day of thanksgiving no matter what circumstances you’re in?

This is the first Monday I’ve been in my office since June – 5 weeks ago. During those five weeks I spent 2 potentially life-changing weeks in Kenya serving at the Springs of Hope children’s home. I spent 9 potentially life-changing days on a retreat/vacation in the North Georgia mountains. I read 5 books including 3 which are… yes, potentially life-changing.

But now that I’m back in my office, I face the current of “life as usual.” Everything here wants to pull me in the same direction I was going before – email, meetings, routines, schedules. The lives and expectations of everyone around me.

River and ocean currents are great when they flow in the direction you want to go. But when you want to change course, it takes a lot of intentionality and effort to break free of the current.

People have a lot of “life-changing experiences” that don’t end up changing their life at all, because they continue to go with the flow and stay in the current of their existing life.

If you want your life to change – I mean really change – you have to fight hard to break free of the momentum of the current. Know what you want to do differently & be determined to do it!

Perhaps the biggest challenge is knowing you want things to be different but not knowing exactly what that means or how. That’s where I am right now. Maybe you are too. My next step? To figure out my next step.

For me, that means scheduling time to be alone – to pray, to think, to journal. And not allowing the current of the busyness of “life as usual” to sweep me down stream.

Have you had a “life changing experience” that has yet to change your life? Post a comment & stand with me against the current of life as usual. What’s prompted you to want to change? What’s your next step? If your next step is to figure out your next step, how are you doing to do that?

[image by runneralan2004]

Yesterday we here in the U.S. celebrated the 4th of July, Independence Day. We Americans love freedom!

Most Americans will tell you we’re the freest country in the world. In many respects we are. We enjoy broad freedoms of speech and expression. We have the freedom to follow whatever religious beliefs we choose. For the most part we have the freedom to live wherever we want, associate with whoever we want, and pursue whatever sort of work we want.

While we’re free from most external constraints, millions and millions of us are abusing our freedom and losing it. We’re creating our own personal prisons with invisible bars.

1. Personal debt – Abusing our freedom to spend & borrow.
2. Unfulfilling jobs - Locked in because of fear and debt.
3. Addictions – Abusing free access to alcohol, prescription drugs, pornography.
4. Poor heath – Self-inflicted through obesity, smoking, STDs.
5. Over-commitment – Misusing freedom to control our own schedules.
6. Guilt – Living in the past, bound by regrets and “what ifs”
7. Loneliness – Using our freedom to abandon relationships and community rather than work through issues and problems.

Underlying all of these are the dynamic duo of personal imprisonment:

8 ) Pride – The belief that we can handle all of these things on our own or that we can’t possibly know that we’re struggling with one of these things.

9) Fear – The belief that the devil we’re living with is better than taking a step into the unknown to escape it.

Personal and Societal Problems

What’s sad is that these problems are mostly self-inflicted. And while we might refer to them as “personal problems,” when they reach epidemic proportions as they have in our culture, they affect everyone.

For those of us who recognize that these are societal problems that affect everyone, there’s often a strong desire to fix the problem. We try to legislate and reduce the freedom that’s being abused. Or we condemn and ostracize those whose self-inflicted problems become public.

We are quick to point out the speck in our brother’s eye, while ignoring the log in our own. I say if we’re really concerned about these self-inflicted problems coming from abuses of freedom, let’s start from the inside out.

• Me - Take personal inventory. Where have I been abusing my freedom and hurting myself. Where do I need to get some outside help?
• My family – Am I encouraging and supporting my spouse to live responsibly? Am I raising my children to understand the responsibilities that come with freedom?
• My friends & extended family – Who do I love and genuinely want to see make the most of their life? Who have I earned the right to speak frankly too.

These are huge issues that we can’t afford to take lightly. Let’s reduce the emphasis on trying to change and regulate other people and instead focus on living the best life we possibly can. And let’s not do it out of fear of the negative, but rather because each of us matters. Each of us was created for a unique purpose.

You are too important to get caught up in and stay stuck in any of that junk!

[image by move-at-light-speed]

As a writer, I can appreciate the importance of keeping a journal. It helps me think of new things to write about. It helps me to figure out how I write best. And it helps me on the days when I’m suffering from writer’s block, because I can flip through it for ideas.

So how does this apply to self-improvement? Well, I think that using a journal can be useful to other people besides writers. After seeing how useful it’s been for me, I was thinking that there are other applications for it. A journal’s primary purpose, after all, is self-reflection, and through self-reflection we can become better people.

Here are a few ways you can use your journal as a self-reflective tool to live a better, more fulfilled life.

Create a List of Goals

A journal is a great place to keep a list of all the goals you have in life. You can split them up into categories that apply to your own personal and work situations: relationship goals, personal goals, job and career goals, and so on. From this list of goals, you will be able to create more concrete tasks, such as daily tasks, that will help you eventually reach these goals. Use your goal journal to reflect on how well you’ve done in striving to meet your goals and what else you can do to accomplish them. Create checkpoints where you evaluate your goals and then see if you need to adjust them based on unexpected changes in your life. A goal journal could be a great tool in keeping yourself centered and focused during your life.

Write Away Your Troubles

Another good use of a journal is to write about your troubles. Often, writing about your troubles is a great way to release tension and anxiety. You can write things in your journal that you probably wouldn’t be able to speak aloud to another person, and this can be extremely therapeutic. Also, in writing about your troubles, you might be able to stumble across some possible solutions! Yes, reflecting on your troubles forces you to perhaps again experience painful emotions, but in the long run it will be worth it.

Dream Journal

I know many people who keep a dream journal by their bedside, so that way they can immediately write down whatever they dreamed as soon as they wake up. A dream journal is a very creative way of clearing your head of last’s night’s sleep. This can be beneficial if you are a creative type; however, even if you’re not, it can be a useful way of preparing you for the day. As soon as you wake up, take five minutes to write whatever comes to mind. That way you’ll feel refreshed once you get out of bed; you can leave your dream behind you. Also, it’s sometimes incredibly interesting to reread dream journals a few months later. They can be inspiring.

Letter Box

You can turn your journal into a letter box. This means that each entry becomes a letter you write to someone in your life, whether that person is a close relative or love interest or a random person you encountered on the street. Write a letter or multiple letters to these people. Use the journal to tell them your secrets. Of course, you won’t actually send the letter. Instead, writing the letter and reflecting on your personal interactions with others could help you become more aware of how you fit in with other people. It could help you change your behavior and act more compassionately towards others. It could help you learn how to protect yourself from unwanted pain. Essentially, reflecting on relationships with others is what makes you human.

Daily Reflection

Finally, you could simply use your journal as a means of reflecting on your day. Right before you go to sleep, try to write in your journal about one good thing you experience and one bad thing you experienced. Then finish your entry by thinking about one thing you would like to do when you wake up. This simple, but effective way of going from one day to the next could really keep you living strong.

Research studies have found the average person spends between 16 and 55 minutes a day looking for misplaced items. What do we spend our time looking for?

• Keys
• Remote controls
• Socks and shoes
• Documents
• Passports
• Tools
• Cosmetics
• Phones

Over the course of a 70 year lifetime that adds up to 1-3 years lost!

It’s a shame because that’s time we don’t get back. And it’s an even bigger shame because it’s completely avoidable.

You can eliminate wasting more time looking for lost items using this simple 3 step process.

1) A place for everything…

First, you have to determine or create a specific place you’re going to keep everything, and I mean EVERYTHING.

• Create a place to hang your keys.
• Create a put your purse/wallet.
• Create a place to put the remote controls.
• Organize a place to put your shoes so you know where each pair goes.
• If you have a work bench or tool box, create a specific place for each item.
• Ladies, find a way to organize your cosmetics rather than stuffing them all into a bag or box.
• And most important of all, create an intuitive filing system so you can find any document in a moment’s notice and know where each new document goes.
• Create places for everything in your work environment as well.

2) …and everything in its place

Second, discipline yourself to always put things back where they belong as soon as you’ve finished using them. This is where most people (including me) fail. You get home from some place, and you’re in a rush so you just set your keys, your phone, or your wallet somewhere, you get distracted, and start into something else. Later you forget where you set them down.

There will probably be occasions where you just don’t have time to everything back where it belongs immediately. For that reason, I suggest setting out an “In Basket” near the door or on a counter. When you’re in a rush, dump everything in your “in basket.” But for this to work, you’ve got to empty your in basket and put everything where it belongs regularly

3) Get the team on board

Steps 1 and 2 work great if you live and work by yourself, but if you’ve got a spouse, kids, or co-workers you know what happens – other people move stuff. One of your kids takes the remote to the bathroom with him and leaves it there. Your wife grabs a screwdriver to fix something and it never returns. Your coworker decides to “borrow” the paper cutter. It’s a big challenge when it comes to items that are owned and used by a group of people.

So, step three is to make sure everyone who uses an item knows its place and is committed to putting it back as soon as their done using it. For some things, you may want to go with some sort of check-out system.

Discussion:

• What do you find yourself spending the most time looking for?
• Which of these 3 steps do you want to make the greatest improvements?
• If you’ve already cut down the time you waste looking for things, what have you done that’s made the greatest impact?

12) Choose to… <– Things You Don’t Have Time NOT to Do –> 14) Help Others

“I have to work late tonight, honey.”

“I have to go to the store.”

“I have to take Billy to his baseball game.”

“I need to get to class.”

“I need to write this blog post.”

We say things like this all the time, but none of them are true.

There’s almost nothing we HAVE TO or NEED TO do. But we like to say “have to” and “need to,” usually to deflect responsibility from a choice we’re making.

“I’d like to go to lunch with you, but I have to get this work done.” Translation: I’m not going to have lunch with you but it’s not my choice. I have no say in the matter.

Often we say “have to” to others as a gracious way of declining an invitation. We could debate being completely honest vs being gracious with others, but the bigger issue in my opinion is when we allow “have to” to become pervasive in our self-talk.

When you tell yourself you “have to” do soemthing, you are telling yourself you have no choice in the matter, which is simply not true. You are lying to yourself. When you tell yourself that lie, two really bad things happen:

1. You think of yourself as a helpless victim.
2. You overlook other legitimate options.

In fact, a “have to” mentality could be big reason why you are so busy. If you are very responsible or non-confrontational or a people-pleasers you probably have hard time saying no, withdrawing from commitments, or making choices that would disappoint others. Those things could be so difficult that you don’t even consider them options and you feel like you have no choice. But you do have a choice!

So, for example, instead of jumping straight to “I have to work late,”

First, consider the consequences.

What happens if you don’t work late? Maybe you would be unprepared for a major presentation, you’d lose the bid, the company would go under, and you’d be out of a job. So, you choose to work late because you want to make a good presentation, want get the project, want your company to succeed, and want to have a job.

Or maybe if you don’t work late, you just won’t be as far along on a project as you’d like. You’d like to be further along, but now that you think about it it’d be better to deal with that consequence than the consequences of missing another dinner with the family. So, you choose to put off the work.

Regardless of the decision, the important thing is that you are empowered to choose.

Second, consider other options.

Once you recognize you don’t “have to” do something and you have the power to choose, all of the sudden doors are open to all sorts of options. Maybe instead of working late, you could get up early the next day. Maybe you could work late the following evening when your family is going to be out doing other things anyway. Maybe you could postpone the presentation.

You don’t have time NOT to ditch the “have to” self-talk, and instead tell yourself, “I choose to…” Or even “I choose not to…”

What impact do you think going from “I have to” to “I choose to” self-talk has on a person’s attitude and time?

11) Create Checklists <– Things You Don’t Have Time NOT to Do –> 13) Make a Place for Everything

So far everything I’ve written about the Getting Things Done methods for managing time, projects, and action has been focused on the individual – how it reduces anxiety and helps you personally to be more productive. If you serve in any leadership role – at work, as a volunteer, in your family, or in any other capacity – implementing Getting Things Done will have a profound impact on your team.

Here are 5 ways Getting Things Done (GTD) improves leadership and teams:

1) Increased capacity. GTD helps you improve your productivity. As your productivity increases, you’ll be able to better lead and serve your team.

2) Better teamwork. As you become less stressed and more relaxed because you know you’re not forgetting to do things and you know the next physical action step for each of your projects, your team will also become more relaxed. A more relaxed team is more positive. People on the team bicker less and give each other the benefit of the doubt more. There’s territorialism and more sharing and collaboration.

3) More respect. As you gain a reputation for getting more done and almost never dropping the ball, everyone on your team will gain confidence in you. Your boss, peers, and the people you lead will appreciate the fact that they only have to ask for something once.

4) More agility. GTD puts you in a position to quickly adjust to change. When you can adjust to change, the people on your team will gain confidence in their ability to deal with the unexpected.

5) A GTD team. As people on your team see the impact Getting Things Done has on your productivity, demeanor, and leadership, they will become more open to implementing Getting Things Done themselves and you’ll end up with more productive, relaxed and responsible people on your team.

Which of these benefits resonates with you most?  What other ways does a team benefit when its leader is Getting Things Done?