High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 299: Why We Need Goals Not Resolutions

Episode Date: December 30, 2019

“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” Bill Copeland   High performers set goals not resolutions. They get clear on what they want and spend time reflecting on their wishes and dreams. They write their goals down. They follow through with their goals and keep them in mind during the year.   Phrase this Week: “I am gritty. I stay focused on where I am going after in 2020. I put in the hours necessary for success.”

Welcome to High Performance Mindset with Dr. Sindra Kampoff. Do you want to reach your full potential, live a life of passion, go after your dreams? Each week we bring you strategies and interviews to help you ignite your mindset. Let's bring on Sindra. It's time for High Performance Mindset with Dr. Sindra Kampoff this morning, and Sindra joins me in studio. Good morning. Good morning. It's great to be here as always. Good to have you in. Hope you had a good Christmas.

Oh, it was amazing. Relaxing. Now it's not so relaxing outside, is it? It is sort of treacherous here in Minnesota this morning, specifically southern Minnesota, where we're getting some nasty road conditions and more snow. It's that time of year, right? It's that time of year. I was going to run outside when I got home, but I think I'm going on the treadmill. Forced to the treadmill. Control the controllables.

Exactly. We can't do anything about the weather. Well, I like today's topic because I mentioned this earlier today, setting goals, not resolutions. Let's start with a quote, and it's a good one. I like this one. Bill Copeland said, The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life

running up and down the field and never score. That is a good quote. Nice job, Bill. Okay, so this is a great topic because I've been thinking a lot about this. What do I want to do in 2020? What do I want to perhaps change in 2019? But I don't want to call them resolutions. And this basically, we take this right back to the very beginning with your book. And we'll get to that in a moment. Let's start with an example quick on setting goals, not resolutions. So Starbucks is one of the most recognizable symbols, right? But without perseverance and goals, this coffee giant would have never existed. Did you know that Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks, went to 242 banks looking for an original loan? And after years of rejection, he was able to secure $400,000 from a doctor and two individual investors. So the brand now employs over 291,000 people.

Only two-thirds of those are in the United States and 30,000 locations worldwide. That is crazy. So he was just grinding away until he got what he wanted out of the deal. And I would have thought, you know, after a couple, he would have just said, okay, this is doable. 242. That's crazy. So that is, like I said, taking it right back to the very beginning when it comes to your book,

Beyond Grit, being gritty is what we're talking about today. So let's talk about grit and what that is when it comes to setting these goals. So grit's really knowing what your goals and what you're going after, knowing why you're pursuing them and sticking with them despite adversity and setbacks. And I think the start of a new year is a great time to think about what you want. Perhaps you've already committed or thought about a new year's resolution, which is a good start. But really the key is that resolutions kind of tend to be all or nothing. They tend to be black or white.

We sometimes state them in a way that what we don't want to do instead of tend to be all or nothing. They tend to be black or white. We sometimes state them in a way that what we don't want to do instead of what we do want to do. And perhaps that's why, TJ, that only 8% of people who set a news resolution actually keep it. Interesting. 8%. Yeah, because I was thinking about that. I was like, yeah, okay, there's a lot of negativity sometimes. I want to do less of this or I want to quit that instead of I want to be, you know, something a little more enriching, I guess. Good. So what do you suggest we do instead of set resolutions? So you might think it sounds the same, like resolutions or goals, but really there's differences. And so we want to set goals instead of resolutions.

And I think this is a great time to really ask yourself, what do you really, really, really, really want? But asking that question can be really difficult for a lot of people. And I think, TJ, we really get in our own way. We kind of let fear get in our way of really thinking deep down, what do we want? And I think our lives are too important to lack direction. So it's important to think about that right now. So we're going to go over some strategies that will help us out, because let's just take as an example, this has to be the most common of them all when it comes to the beginning of a new year. I want to lose weight. Let's say you have a number in mind. Let's say it's a large number like 50 pounds.

That's a big, big number. Absolutely. It's also terrifying to think, how am I ever going to lose 50 pounds? Because you don't wake up the next day and have lost 50 pounds. It is a slow process with lots of dedication and lots of commitment. And grit. And grit. How do we strategize this?

What's our first strategy? So a goal should scare you a little and excite you a lot. Okay, so kind of what I mean by that is our goal should be a little difficult, just slightly out of our reach. But when we write them down, we really want them to be specific. So we want to try to be detailed and measurable. They're better if they're detailed than vague goals or do your best goals. And that's going to help keep your motivation high

because goals should just be slightly out of your reach to move past your comfort zone. I like it. A second strategy. The second strategy. Very few people do this. And that is to ink it, not just think it. And what I mean by that is successful people write their goals down. A study of Harvard alumni 30 years ago, they asked students at Harvard how many of them had their goals written down,

and only 3% did. And then 30 years later, they found that that 3% made more money combined than the 97%. Wow. So we want to make sure, you know, this week we write our goals down for the year, and we want to write them in a positive way, not a negative way, like what we want to do, not what we don't want to do. And your third and final strategy? It's a good idea to set multiple goals, but not too many. So I was working with this client a couple years ago, and I first talked to her, and she said she had 30 goals for the year.

That was way too many. It's a lot. Too many. Because, you know, it's too much to focus on, and it can put too much pressure on you. So instead, just three or four goals for the year, and it could be fitness-related, relationship-related, finance, work. It could be a lot of different things. But I think the key is to write it down, post it, and ask yourself this week, what do you

really, really, really want? And we mentioned three particular strategies today. We could probably go on for a long time. Yeah, we could. I just don't have the time for that. But what's your final point today in setting goals, not resolutions? So spend some time reflecting on what you really want to accomplish this week and use this opportunity to reflect on what happened in 2019 that was awesome,

what do you want to move forward to in 2020. And we want to set these goals, not resolutions, to increase your chances of success and make sure we write it down, post it, and follow through. All right. And in summary today? High performers set goals, not resolutions. They get clear on what they want and spend time reflecting on their wishes and their dreams. They write their goals down and they follow through with these goals to keep them in mind throughout the year. And our power phrase to wrap it up with today. I am gritty. I stay focused on where I'm going and what I'm going after in 2020. I put in the hours necessary for success.

Write them down. That's a good one. Write it down. Goals, not resolutions. And if you make small goals to achieve on your way to the ultimate goal, it's fun to check them off as you go. So write that down. If we want more information or want to get in contact with on your way to the ultimate goal. It's fun to check them off as you go. So write that down. If we want more information or want to get in contact with you, listen to the podcasts or pick up the book or the workbook and the workbook, how do we get in touch? You can head over to Dr. Sindra, so D-R-C-I-N-D-R-A dot com, and you can find it all over there. When did we start doing this? I think...

When did you open the center? Like six years ago. Can that be right? Yeah, it could be. I mean, it seems crazy. I know. Crazy. You open the center? Like six years ago. Can that be right? Yeah, it could be. I mean, it seems crazy. I know. Crazy. You're back next year, right?

Yeah. All right. 2020. We're going to celebrate next Monday. It's all coming into focus now. 2020. Get it? Thank you, Cindra.

Thanks for having me. Yep. Happy New Year. That's High Performance Mindset today on The Country Club on Minnesota 93. Thank you for listening to High Performance Mindset today on The Country Club on Minnesota 93. Thank you for listening to High Performance Mindset. If you liked today's podcast, make a comment, share it with a friend, and join the conversation on Twitter at Mentally Underscore Strong. For more inspiration and to receive Sindra's free weekly videos,

check out DrSindra.com.