GOAL DIGGER'S GUIDE: Scope Series

August 20, 2015 in Inspiration & Motivation

Periscope might be my new favorite form of social media! It fosters live conversation, authentic voices, and quality information sharing! Honestly, it's been really good for me to record live - it's not something I would ever do before. I'm becoming less concerned with my "ums" or unflattering angles and just able to talk with folks - it's great!

I used Periscope to do a mini series on goal setting based on my workbook - GOAL DIGGER: A Guide to Approaching Your Future with Intention! In this #GoalDiggersGuide Scope Series, I touch on five themes addressed in the workbook! (This is basically a shorter version of the webinar that accompanies the workbook - just a bit more conversational and with less visuals)

Just a heads up for those of you who aren't familiar with Periscope, in the app there are comments that come in at the bottom of the screen during a video. That's why I am looking there and responding to people. (If you replay in the app you can still see those but for some reason they don't download.)

VISION

SMART GOALS

BREAKING DOWN LONG-TERM GOALS

EVERYDAY ACTIONS

REFLECTION EACH QUARTER

BLOG POSTS & DOWNLOADS

Don't forget I have blog posts & downloads for all three parts of the workbook.
You can find them here: Part #1, Part #2 & Part #3! You can also check GOAL DIGGER out here!

GOAL DIGGER PREVIEW: Breaking Down Your Long-Term Goals

July 28, 2015 in Inspiration & Motivation

In anticipation of my upcoming workbook launch, I am dedicating some blog posts to content and worksheets that you’ll find inside GOAL DIGGER: A Guide to Approaching Your Future with Intention.

GOAL DIGGER is a workbook for anyone who wants to work on connecting their long-term vision to shorter-term goals and everyday actions. Or, anyone who wants to think more deeply about their vision and plan to get there!

BREAKING DOWN YOUR LONG-TERM GOALS

A big part of my GOAL DIGGER’S GUIDE is using your long-term goals as a destination and then mapping your steps to that goal. You can do this by creating mid-term and short-term goals to get you to your long-term vision. In this worksheet download, you’ll find a great way to start visualizing this process.

Goals can be broken down into three types based on how long you'll take to achieve them. I use three categories: short, mid, and long-term goals.

Think about goals as building upon each other. For each long-term goal, there are several mid-term goals along the way, and even more short-term goals under each mid-term goal. I created the following chart to help you visualize it:

Using the worksheet download, you can practice breaking down your goals. Write your long-term goals in the very right. Then, think about some mid-term goals that will help you get there. For example, if you want to buy a house in 5 years, you might have mid-term goals that consist of saving a certain amount of money, researching the rental market in your city, becoming part of a first-time-home-owner class or group, looking for a new apartment in the area of the city you’d like to move to so you can "test the waters", learning about the benefits of buying a home with rental capabilities (like a duplex or a double), or things of this nature.

After you have mid-term goals plotted, you can think of what short term goals will help you get there. Using the example of home ownership, maybe one of your mid-term goals is exploring different parts of the city so you can make an informed decision about where to buy. Some short-term goals under that might include looking for an apartment in that part of town (if you really want to go all in), attending community events in that area, researching institutions in that area that might be important to you and your family like schools, churches, gyms, community centers, etc., or looking into property taxes, costs of homes in that area, and other financial considerations.

For a peak at how I might fill this whole worksheet out, click here! (You can see that one one of the examples I shortened the time frame. I'm a proponent of making these activities your own and this is an example of how you can do that.)

Part #2 of GOAL DIGGER contains more details about this process of breaking down goals. To learn more about GOAL DIGGER, visit this part of my website.

GOAL DIGGER will be available later this week! Before it's release, I'll have one more blog post about Part #3 and another free download so you can see all the value that's packed in to this workbook!

After you complete the worksheet, I'd love to know what you think! Comment here or post on social media with the hashtag #GoalDiggersGuide!

GOAL DIGGER PREVIEW: Identifying Your Vision

July 27, 2015 in Inspiration & Motivation

I am excited to announce the upcoming launch of my goal setting workbook, GOAL DIGGER: A Guide to Approaching Your Future With Intention! To give you a peek at what it’s all about, I’m sharing a few blog posts based on the content covered as well as some free printable worksheets!

IDENTIFYING YOUR VISION

In Part #1 of my Goal Digger’s Guide, I share the importance of identifying your vision for the future in order to create long-term goals. Download your worksheet here to see a few of the exercises I use in the workbook and so you can better understand this blog post.

Before you set long-term goals, you need to think about something bigger – your vision! Vision is, simply, who you want to be and what you want to achieve. It is how you see your future self. It’s your “dream”.

Taking the time to think about your vision is essential so your long-term goals align with where you actually see yourself in 10+ years.

If thinking that far ahead feels difficult for you, try to take some of the pressure off and push through it. Here’s the thing. . . .even if your plans change (and, they will – to some degree), having that longer picture in mind will help give you direction.

Even if your vision for yourself changes dramatically in the next two years, you will be more productive in these two years if you have something you’re working toward! If you would prefer to wait until things are “perfectly clear” you might be waiting forever and you won’t be as productive or driven in the meantime because you’ll lack purpose and direction.

On the worksheet download you’ll find two of the exercises included in the workbook that will help you identify and/or hone your vision.

RAPID FIRE BRAINSTORM
The first exercise on this worksheet is a Rapid Fire Brainstorm. I love this parameter-free brainstorming technique. When completing this, simply make a list of all the things you want to accomplish in your life. Nothing is off-limits. Nothing too big, small, or silly! (Just because you write it doesn’t mean it has to happen! This is a brainstorm. You’re just getting those ideas and dreams out of your head and on to paper!) Need some more direction? Take a look at my brainstorm here.

PASSIONS & TALENTS
In the next exercise, Passions & Talents, there are three poignant prompts to get you thinking about what you love to do and what you're good at. In order to identify your vision for the future, it's helpful to think about your passions. To get at what you're passionate about, I like to explore what brings me joy and what makes me feel alive. Again, if you'd like an example, you can see my responses here.

Part #1 of GOAL DIGGER contains more exercises for identifying your vision and goes on to help you create long-terms goals based on that vision. To learn more about GOAL DIGGER, visit this part of my website.

GOAL DIGGER will be available later this week! Before it's release I'll have some more blog posts (complete with free downloads) so you can see all the value that's packed in to this workbook!