The C-words of Goals

The C-Words of Goals

As we continue our series on goal setting, we can continue to help you dive deeper into what "good goals" look like and how we talk about them in our homes.  We'll add on a few vocabulary words as concepts or principles to make your goal setting and achieving more effective, efficient, and standardized.  As you work on making new goals...or making your old goals better, hopefully, you can find a few takeaways to help you live out your best lives.  Hopefully, the thoughts below can help tease out some principles you and your family can think about as you work to make your life more intentional...and consequently meaningful.  Think about the following sentences in the context of you and your family.

Commitments...by yourself and from others. "You'll practice 2 minutes per day, every day.  From us, it's a safe space to try, you'll need up and we'll still adore you... And we'll help you practice."

Consistency...you'll show up...again and again...and you'll practice properly...same form every time, same routine.  (Practicing either the wrong thing or the right thing the wrong way leaves training scars).

Connections...this is connected to a bigger desired end state of being able to juggle all the moving parts in relation to each other.  

Consequences..."If I miss a practice day, I'll do double days for 3 days." Set meaningful consequences to keep you or get you back on the proverbial treadmill.  

Celebrations..." We will go see a circus if we ___ get ___ done by ___ " - make meaningful milestones to stop and celebrate.

Curbs...left and right limits help us with guardrails that keep our goal progress on track.  "I won't say yes to any new volunteer opportunities until we get to the ___ milestone." 

Canyons and Known speedbumps or road blocks...what will be the hardest part for you? Try to pick out what will trip you up...and make a plan before you get there.

Calendar milestones...check progress for course correction.  Where should you be at the 30, 60, 90, and 180 day marks?  Are you on track?

Components...break down your big SMART goals into smaller parts.  Instead of the "teach kids how to catch a ball," break it down to a system of scheduling 30 minutes every night for a month to practice.  Celebrate by going to a baseball game.  

Check-ins...track progress and process pieces.  How - graph, chat, checklist, checkbook reconcile, scale measurements, etc.  Take time to do some measurements before you get too far down the road. 

Cancel...Mechanism for the off-ramp... evaluation points for cutting and failing forward.  What are the conditions that tell you it's time to cut your losses?

Cost, currency, cutbacks... like Jericho, size it up before construction. What is the currency...hours, dollars? How many? Is it worth it? What trade-off or opportunity cost is required/ that you're willing to give?

Closest unit to current selves... one x/day more real and doable than 500/ by New Year's.  We overestimate what we can do in a day/week/month and underestimate what we can do in a year/decade/lifetime.  

Category...which Zig Wheel and how does it interact with the others?  Great CEO...is it at the cost of your marriage?

Communication...do you need to message this to others for understanding and buy-in?  Are your spouse and kids on the same page?

Contagious or catching...companions...can you loop others in?  Will bringing in accountability or other team members help?  

Calving...will this goal have potential for offspring, good and bad, intended and otherwise?  Will your hobby grow into a small business?  Do you want it to?  Happy accident?

Colorful enough to be inspirational...incorporate your "why" into the goal itself.  "Cut expenses" is less empowering for sacrifice than "reduce expenses by $xx, so that we can do YY by this date."  

Conditions...what has to be true to say yes?  "Our small business has to be making $xx per month for us to consider stepping away from the full-time job."  

Consume, contribute, create cycle - goals should help you grow.  At first, we only consume something, then hopefully we contribute to the conversation, and finally are creators.  In other words, the crawl-walk-run cycle should be an integral part of your goal-setting journey.  Hopefully, you get to where you stop consuming and start creating in whatever circles you invest in.

The last... cherish each 4-year-old snuggle, one will be your last.  Not morbid, at some point, it just gets weird if you wrap up your 20-year-old for bed.  The "last" of each thing happens. Even football players coming out of retirement... we each want one more last.  Don't stop
cherishing them along the way...not just the firsts (e.g., first steps, words, etc).  

With you in the arena, from ours to yours...Happy Trails!

Call to Action: 

• Pick out a couple of the principles above and write out how you'll implement them in your goal system.
• 1 - ___________________ 
• 2 - ___________________
• 3 - ___________________
• Discussion: Consider what you/your family could/would/should (level of commitment) and start/stop/sustain (action) in changing your system.

Further Reading, Motivation, and References:

- Goal Verbs - look at other goal words to make your goals more meaningful.