Goals for 2020.
Goal-setting is a blast. Goal follow-through is something else.
I don't lose much sleep over wayward goals. They simply float away, far from mind. So what's the value in setting them at all? I find it to be a rhythm and reset, a way to check in with myself and see what I want to accomplish at this particular point in time, knowing full well that what I want to accomplish might change as soon as next week.
Besides, I've done it for seven years in a row now. Can't break the chain!
You can see previous years here: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019.
My goal-setting framework. Credit to Warren Buffet.
Warren Buffett. Fun fact: He owns Dairy Queen!
I've been doing a variation of the same goal-setting framework for seven years now: listing out everything I might possibly like to do and then organizing and ranking all the goals. This year, I'm evolving things to include a nod to Warren Buffet's famous "two-list" goal-setting framework.
Warren Buffett's "Two-List" Framework
Write down your top 25 goals.
Move your most important five goals to a separate list.
Work on those five goals.
Avoid the other 20 goals at all costs.
In past years, my initial list ends up being waaaay more than 25 goals, so I've got my work cut out for me to narrow things down in 2020. Also, I've never been great at avoiding any goal at all costs. That will be a stretch.
So with a nod to my past seven years of goal-setting and with inspiration from Warren Buffet, here's how my new process looks:
Step One: List all the things I might like to do
Step Two: Get specific about each thing. Turn them into SMART goals.
Step Three: Group the goals into one-year, five-year, and lifetime goals
Step Four: Categorize the goals
Step Five: Pick one goal from each category to focus on. Avoid the rest.
Here goes!
tl;dr - My main goals for 2020
Here's a summary of the goals I ended up with after going through the goal-setting exercise. The full results of the exercise are below, if you want to keep scrolling.
1. Start a new blog and publish 1x per month
If you've read any of my past years of goal-setting, you might notice that I really enjoyed my days of blogging. I'd love to get back to it in some way, keeping in mind the very good advice that a hobby should be something that doesn't pay the bills. I will be glad to make something that in no way will be able to pay the bills. :)
2. Plan a family vacation to Europe
I've had the incredible fortune to travel lots of places with Buffer. I'd like to bring my family along for this year's trip to Europe -- they've never been!
3. Meditate daily for 28 days
Last year, I had a Headspace subscription and used it sparingly. I'd like to change that this year. Everyone keeps saying that mindfulness and meditation are life-changing; time to see if they're right!
4. Pick a date and time for a sabbatical
I'm very lucky to work at Buffer where teammates can go on a six-week sabbatical after working there for five years. My time has arrived, so I'm excited to get something scheduled!
My goal-setting framework: The exercise
1. List all the things I might like to do.
Work for myself
Write another book
Run a blog like I used to do
Travel with the family outside the U.S.
Ski 20 times a year
Memorize the book of James
Meditate / pray every day
Practice the seven sacred pauses
Play in a card game tournament
Read better business books & faith-based books
Monetize a blog
Make my own game (video or board)
Visit Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, or Iceland
Volunteer somewhere
Eat less sugar
Fitness something or other
Have a rockin' social media presence
Get more traffic to my website
Get back into photography
Get better at the piano
See the chiropractor
Take a sabbatical
Live until I'm 100
2. Get specific about each thing. Turn them into SMART goals.
Buy a new domain name for a new business
Submit a book proposal to 50+ literary agents
Start a new blog and publish 1x per month
Plan a family vacation to England
Track all my skiing on a skiing app
Memorize the book of James
Meditate daily for 28 days
Create a reminder card for the 7 sacred pauses
Compete in a card game tournament
Take a business book reading challenge
Earn $100 from a blog via Carbon Ads
Create a game that someone (not related to me) plays all the way through
Plan a trip to Iceland
Volunteer my time to help empower young people
Eat no processed sugar
Lower my body fat % by half
Get 10,000 followers on Instagram or become a LinkedIn Influencer
Grow blog traffic year-over-year by 2x
Take 500 photographs in a year
Schedule a chiropractor exam
Pick a date and time for sabbatical
Track daily exercise 5x per week
3. Place them into timeline buckets: one-year goals, five-year goals, forever goals.
One year
Start a new blog and publish 1x per month
Plan a family vacation to England
Track all my skiing on a skiing app
Meditate daily for 28 days
Create a reminder card for the 7 sacred pauses
Take a business book reading challenge
Eat no processed sugar
Lower my body fat % by half
Grow blog traffic year-over-year by 2x
Schedule a chiropractor exam
Pick a date and time for sabbatical
Track daily exercise 5x per week
Five years
Buy a new domain name for a new business
Submit a book proposal to 50+ literary agents
Volunteer my time to help empower young people
Earn $100 from a blog via Carbon Ads
Anytime
Take 500 photographs in a year (∞)
Compete in a card game tournament (∞)
Memorize the book of James (∞)
Plan a trip to Iceland (∞)
Create a game that someone (not related to me) plays all the way through (∞)
Get 10,000 followers on Instagram or become a LinkedIn Influencer (∞)
4. Categorize the one-year goals
Hobby: Start a new blog and publish 1x per month
Family: Plan a family vacation to England
Health: Track all my skiing on a skiing app
Health: Meditate daily for 28 days
Health: Create a reminder card for the 7 sacred pauses
Hobby: Take a business book reading challenge
Health: Eat no processed sugar
Health: Lower my body fat % by half
Hobby: Grow blog traffic year-over-year by 2x
Health: Schedule a chiropractor exam
Work: Pick a date and time for sabbatical
Health: Track daily exercise 5x per week
5. Pick one goal from each category to focus on. Avoid the rest.
Hobby: Start a new blog and publish 1x per month
Family: Plan a vacation to Europe
Health: Meditate daily for 28 days
Work: Pick a date and time for sabbatical
How I did last year (2019)
Here is everything I said I was going to
... and what I actually did.
Main goals
Submit three book proposals
Record 10 episodes of my own podcast
Well, I went 0-for-2 on my main goals. I didn't come close to the book proposals goal, although I did have a bit of clarity into just how far off I was -- the three book ideas I had all seem less obvious to me than they did before. Might be time to go back to the drawing board.
I did record one episode of a new podcast. My takeaway: Podcasting is hard! Or, at least podcasting is hard in the way that I was trying to do it.
Here are the rest of the goals and the ones that I accomplished in 2019:
One year
Submit three book proposals to 50+ literary agents
Publish 13 episodes of a podcast on iTunes
✅ Read five long books
Re-read 10 of my favorite books
Build a new WordPress theme
Submit a WordPress theme -- that they accept!
Get 10,000 followers on Instagram
Become a LinkedIn Influencer
✅Play a song by ear on the piano
✅Have an eye doctor appointment
Track daily exercise 4x per week
Five years
Get 1 paying customer to a new product I've built
Publish 12 new articles on a brand new blog
Plan a trip to Iceland
✅Ski 20 times a year
Meditate daily for 28 days
Practice three of the seven sacred pauses every day for 28 days
Earn $100 from a blog via Carbon Ads
✅Try a new haircut (color or style)
Anytime
Memorize the book of James (∞)
Compete in a card game tournament (∞)
Create a game that someone (not related to me) plays all the way through (∞)
✅Own a dog (∞)
Volunteer my time to help empower young people (∞)
Eat no processed sugar (∞)
Take 500 photographs in a year (∞)
