A breakfast of eggs and goals
Start your day by setting your goals.
This essay is in response to this week’s Startup Edition topic, “How do you set goals?”
Most people believe that if we want to achieve more in life we need to set goals. I won’t disagree with that, but I don’t think the problem is setting goals — the problem is evaluating and editing your goals. For me, this is a daily process.
Much like our day should begin with a healthy breakfast, I’m going to try and convince you that your day should begin with healthy dose of goal-setting.
My Daily Habit
On December 4, 2012 I started a new habit I call “8 for the Day.” In the 293 days since then I’ve completed the task 205 times for a 70% success rate. It is simple process to explain.
- I write down the 8 goals I want to accomplish that day (I figure if I can’t get 8 things done in an 8 hour day than I’m doing the wrong things).
- Of that list, 6 items are “professional” goals and 2 would be described as “personal” goals. Personal goals can be ‘go for a run’ or ‘date night with my fiance.’
- The next morning I check off the goals I accomplished, see how I did, reassess, and then create a new list for the day.
- On Saturdays I flip the ratio and set 6 “personal” goals and 2 “professional” goals which may be as simple as ‘pay the bills.’ This is an effort to encourage weekend fun and discourage weekend work.
- On Sundays there is no list making. We need time to rest and a day free of lists.
Why It Works
It’s not hard to create a New Year’s resolution or annual goals for your company. It is hard to stick to those resolutions and goals — day in and day out, good day and bad day, nice weather and bad weather.
Doing the “8 for the Day” has been a great exercise for me, and it truly is that — an exercise. When you force yourself to do something daily it not only becomes a habit but it allows you to grow and reflect. Here are a few things I’ve learned:
- Consistency is key — it takes time to build habits but the daily exercise of setting goals is key to habit formation. Stretch that muscle and you’ll find it bleeds itself into other aspects of your life.
- Breaking down goals is critical — annual and quarterly goals are fantastic, but they can appear too far in the future and unreachable. If you break your goals down into monthly, weekly and then daily goals you know how to spend your time.
- Flexibility is needed — each day brings new challenges so it is important to know yourself, know your environment, and evaluate what is important to do you every day. Be ready to adapt.
- Tracking is valuable — I’ve recorded my progress for all 205 days I’ve done “8 for the Day.” This data has brought insights into my habits, goals, and productivity. Thanks to this I’m able to adjust and become more successful over time.
Why “8 for the Day” works for me is it is a system I developed and adopted. No matter how you want to set your goals find a system that fits you and can become a habit.
Everyone likes something different for breakfast, for me there is nothing better than eggs and goals.
I also write a daily newsletter about focus and productivity called the Point Letter. Subscribe here to join others in getting to the point.
Visit Startup Edition to read more on this topic from other entrepreneurs, hackers, and designers.
