Could This Work For You, Too?

We're in the last few weeks of the year - have you heard any advice about goal-setting recently? 😂 Of course you have! Social media and the news are filled with tips and tricks to help you make 2024 THE year that you do that thing. The process of goal-setting is one of my favorite things to do. I love dreaming and thinking What if I...? But, there's one thing that I've realized that will virtually guarantee failure: If I don't actually want to achieve that thing. It's probably true for you, too. Losing weight, running a 5k, starting a business, building a social media following, connecting with old friends, whatever. If you don't actually want to do that thing, you almost certainly won't. Pressure from others or thinking you should do it are almost never enough to get you to the finish line. Wanting it is even more important than believing. Believing certainly helps, but I've done tons of things that I didn't believe that I could do - running an ultra-marathon, completing a triathlon, flipping a house, owning my own business. I did all those things even though I didn't know I could. But I wanted those things. In fact, I can't think of a single meaningful accomplishment that I didn't actually want. Wanting is key.

I sometimes like to use a different phrase for goal-setting. I say personal challenge. I love personal challenges. Goal-setting seems a little boring to me. But a personal challenge?! Sounds exciting! Sounds like an adventure! Sounds hard! Sounds fun! I'm in! Could this work for you, too?

A personal challenge could be short-term (days or weeks), medium term (month+), or long term (year +). I'll give you some examples of what I've done, and maybe you can gain some inspiration from my experience.

Short-Term Personal Challenges

• Linked In Challenge: Can I post on Linked In 10 days in a row? (I did. It was hard. And terrible.)
• Can I run 10+ miles every day for a week straight? (Yes. I was tired at the end but not injured)
• Can I go a few extra days without grocery shopping? (Yes, but it requires some "creative" meals)
• Can I go one week of normal life without using a car? (Haven't tried this yet)

Medium-Term Personal Challenges

2023 was FULL of these. In fact, I did a 30 day personal challenge every month (with various degrees of success). Some of them were:

• Do a strength workout every day
• Write for 20 minutes every day
• Call a broker every day
• Limit email-usage to a narrow window of time
• No chocolate
• No refined sugar

Long-Term Personal Challenges

• Can I run at least 1 mile every day for a year? (I ended up doing 400+ days straight)
• Can I run one ultra-marathon (26.2 miles+) every month? (TBD in 2024)
• Can I be a guest on 50 podcasts in a year? (TBD in 2024)
• Can I go one year without using a car? (still in the thinking stage)
• Can I go one year without buying any plastic? (still in the thinking stage)

I'm continuing to learn every day about what works in order to achieve these personal challenges. From my experience, here are three key ideas that dramatically increase the likelihood of success:

1) You have to want it. Be internally motivated. Pressure from friends, family, and social media are terrible motivators. These people can help us out along the journey, but motivation from within might be the single biggest determining factor of success.

2) Emphasize inputs over outputs. We can control inputs. We do not directly control outputs. If I want to close two deals in 2024, closing the deal is the output. I don't ultimately control that. What do I control? The number of deals I underwrite and visit, the number of brokers I call, the number of offers I make. Those things are my focus.

3) Arrange your life for success. Be intentional about your preparation and habits so you set yourself up for success. Imagine my personal challenge is to go for a walk every morning. This is what I would do in my life to significantly increase the likelihood of being successful: 1) Set out my walking clothes and shoes the night before; 2) Decide on my route and what I will listen to the night before; 3) Wake up and leave before anyone else in the house is awake. Create the optimal conditions for success.

I hope your goals and personal challenges are fun. I hope they excite you. I hope they bring you closer to the person that you know you can be.

What are you working on? Let me know. I'd love to hear about your goals, dreams, and personal challenges.

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