After 52 weekly episodes in 2020 here, we are again in 2021 starting the year off like it was yesterday. Despite the challenges that 2020 put forward, now is the time to be reborn with a fresh set of goals and objectives to make 2021 your best year yet. Here’s how: goal
Re-defining your future – starting again
If you’re like 80% of the Australian population, chances are your New Year resolutions didn’t even make it past Australia day. This scary statistic really highlights the importance of intention and goal setting at the start of the year with a more scientific approach in order to achieve your goals. As host Andrew Baxter mentioned in both S1E1 and now here again in S2E1 – you need to have a very clear idea of what you want and a very flexible game plan to match it.
As we saw through 2020, life can certainly through some curveballs at you – knowing what exactly it is that you are trying to achieve with a succinct roadmap to get there is your best bet for staying on track this year in 2021. This isn’t just about what you want either – it’s why you want it. Given you probably have some time off throughout the holiday period, our recommendation is to sit down with a blank sheet of paper and really map out what is and why you are trying to achieve. For anyone who hasn’t yet watched S1E1, rather than us give you an episode of Deja Vú go and watch the episode for yourself via YouTube or Spotify.
The importance of a flexible approach
One of the main points that host Andrew Baxter highlighted in our first episode was the importance of having an approach to achieve your goals that is flexible. Yes, it is true that “any road will take you nowhere” (so you need direction in order to get what you want) however sometimes you need to flexible in how you get there in order to adjust to external factors. The elephant in the room here is of course COVID-19 which inhibited many people from achieving the things they set out initially in 2020 given every possible variable was thrown at them. The trick is to keep the fire in the belly and the desire to achieve as in the instance that something is a ‘must’ rather than a ‘want’ – you’ll find a way to get there whichever way it is.
Setting the right kind of goals
Goals are a scientific process says Baxter and quite frankly, success leaves clues. The person you become along the way that is worthy to achieve that goal that’s the noble part, When it comes to goals it’s not the actual ‘thing’ or ‘number’ that you achieve. The goal is merely the carrot dangling at the end of the stick – the person holding it is the important part. Due to this, in order to set the right kind of goal, it’s more so an ability to set out a process and stick to it in order to actually achieve that goal. Let’s take the example that you want to be able to deadlift 150kg at the gym – it’s not the number you should be thinking about, it’s the number of times you go to the gym each week.
By virtue of going to the gym routinely apart of your process, you’ll become a better person by doing so and achieve that goal by virtue of that anyway. Rather than having ‘deadlifting 150kg’, instead of having ‘go to the gym 5 x per week’ – something that will make you feel fulfilled and engaged when you do eventually reach that 150kg, albeit in a much more process orientated way. This is merely a hypothetical example, however, is the method we recommend implementing with ANY type of goal.
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Managing excuses
Excuses are merely stories that we tell ourselves. From time to time, even as though the most goal-orientated person, we can catch ourselves internally telling stories and creating our own excuses in our heads which inhibit us from getting where we want to be. Like anything, not both, either you have the goal or you have excuses that need to manage when it comes to goals. Host Andrew Baxter says that achieving big goals require you to stand out from the crowd to which most people have an inhibition to do so given it usually goes against social norms. Not having enough time, not knowing where to start, not trusting anyone, or being too busy are probably sayings you’ve heard from your friends and family when they haven’t quite what they initially set out to do.
Thus, for anyone with any form of meaningful objectives, beware of the excuses you tell yourself and be sure to dare to be different! If you can nail this amongst the other factors we’ve covered in this broadcast, 2021 has the chance to become your best year yet.
