Goals, not wishes
Having a goal means you can (and want to) measure something you set to achieve. You can check if you reached the goal or if you didn’t (and being the case, what you can do about it). But what’s in a goal? What makes you set that specific goal and not other.
You set personal goals according to what matters to you, which areas you’d like to improve, and the same goes to business goals. You need to find the areas your business need to improve.
Things change because you work for it and not because you wish for it.
Reaching the end of 2022, I started thinking about goals — something I’ve never done before. At best I’d eat the twelve grapes without much excitement but hopeful that each of the twelve wishes would somehow come true along the next year… I know, it’s just dumb! Things change because you work for it and not because you wish for it.
So what changed?
One of the books I read these last months was “The power of the habit” by Charles Duhigg and it got me thinking about my habits, both personal and business wise. How to grow in all areas of my life: how to be a better man, husband and entrepreneur, how to feel more accomplished. I guess I had changed some habits even before I realized or done something about it. It’s not that hard when you have a goal, or as Charles Duhigg puts it, a reward.
Does age matters? I’m 48 years old, and they say age gives you wisdom (guess I’m not old enough). They also say that when you start to enjoy food you didn’t like before, you’re getting old! But I believe that it’s not (only) an age thing… For the last 12 months I started writing more for one of my businesses and started noticing my ideas got clear. It also forced me to research deeper into subjects in order to write the correct things. I also started reading more and found that the more you learn and discover, the more you realize you don’t know!
OK, so how about if, during 2023, I had a set of goals and a way to check my evolution along the year? Then I remembered another book I read this year…
Living Backwards
Along 2022 I read “Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon” by Colin Bryar and Bill Carr. Where the authors share that most products and services at Amazon start by the press release in order to describe how the customers will discover this new product or service. This forces you to think like a client and start going backwards doing pricing, requirements, etc. Seemed like a really interesting idea. They set their goals using a SMART methodology (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely). That was something I could also use for my endeavor in 2023! So the theme “Living Backwards” emerged as something that could be used for my goal setting for the next year (a first). And, as Charles Duhigg pointed out in his book, a habit has a higher chance of sticking if it’s shared with others, so I’ll be sharing with you how things will evolve along 2023 (you can follow me to get future updates): how did I grow my businesses, how I got to feel better with myself and more accomplished.
“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” — Winston Churchill
Take the journey
So, what’s this journey all about? Why should you stick around during the next 12 months? I started my digital marketing career at Microsoft after leaving my computer science degree at Universidade de Lisboa. Currently I’m an entrepreneur (own two companies) that want (need) to grow. Personally, I want to deal better with my feelings and insecurities, be a better husband, want to read more, start running again (but I have a heart condition that makes this more… challenging!). Anticipating some of the topics, I will surely share lots of stuff about entrepreneurship, digital marketing tactics, my business decisions, personal development and personal branding.
Where do I want to be by December 2023?
Sharing this journey will hopefully be a win-win: You can help me by sharing your experiences, and the things I write about can also help someone else. Leave your comments, share your experiences, and take this journey with me…!
Next update will be about the goals (not wishes) I’ve chosen and why.
