The Thinker's Corner - Recalibrating goals

Hi everyone!

I worked out yesterday that between January 15th 2022 and January 2nd 2024 I accumulated around 2,395 Hive Power worth approximately $850 USD. Which is great and amazing and the incredible power of the Hive blockchain, but I've also come to realise that the HBD Savings is a powerful tool that I can potentially use to fund my gFam project.

Considering I'm already using the Hive blockchain every single day, I'm really going to try and create a lot more content in order to earn more HBD for my HBD savings. There is so much going on around the Hive blockchain, so I'm intending to explore and interact and create more. One of the cool projects I've found is the Dreemport site that is amazing at sending traffic to sites like gFam... they also have challenges for content creators, and so this post is my entry to @kenechukwu97 Thinker's Corner challenge.

Photo by Juan Rumimpunu on Unsplash

The challenge prompt is:

However, what if we are already halfway through 2024, and nothing seems to be working as planned? What if your attempts to achieve your goals are yielding uninspiring results?

I have a few thoughts about this.

One of my favourite ideas in this space is all about developing systems and processes instead of goals.

Instead of having a goal of say, gaining 5kg of muscle this year, I would instead create a system where I would create a weight training program. The goal of 5kg of muscle is totally arbitrary, it's just a random number, and what happens if I meet that goal? I just stop?

By creating systems or processes, you can set yourself up to achieve what you're actually wanting to achieve; to be stronger or fitter or feel more attractive or whatever.

The additional benefit of setting up systems is that you find yourself fine-tuning your system as you go. If your system becomes going to the gym every day at lunchtime, then you might end up doing cardio some days and weight training other days, which could improve your fitness and mental health, or maybe you find a buddy to train with and adopt their schedule.

So many goals are just so arbitrary, but if you think of building systems then you can continue for as long as it meets your needs.

In regards to my desire to earn more HBD to help fund other projects... instead of aiming for earning a specific amount, I should instead set aside an amount of time per week to create useful posts in order to earn that HBD and Hive.

Obviously I have to understand that in order to create extra content, I'll have to give something else up, I can't create an extra hour per day, so I'll need to decide what am I doing now that will receive less of my time and attention.

In answer to the specific question about how to react if various attempts are yielding uninspiring results, I really do think that by working on fine-tuning the system you've created to really work for you helps keep you on track. If the system isn't working at all, then try a new system. Try 30 different systems if the first 29 don't work for you. When you think about it, it is unlikely that the first thing you try is going to be the most successful thing for you.

In this example, instead of creating a goal of gaining 5kg of muscle by December 31st, creating a system where you meet a buddy at the gym every lunchtime, you'll gain a bunch of different benefits. In that light, the goal becomes irrelevant, because you're actually having an enjoyable time and getting fitter.

Photo by Gabin Vallet on Unsplash

The team that I work with talks about SMART goals all the time.

That is goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. I like this approach as well... it all comes down to being very specific about what is that you're trying to achieve.

Your goal might be to be better at customer service. Okay, great.

The first thing to do is find something measurable that relates to that goal. You want to be super specific, so something like +5% increase in smiley face reactions on the end of call survey by December 31st. What are things that you can adjust to try and achieve that goal?

I do think that companies do tend to obsess about improving particular metrics but forget about the Relevant part. Maybe you could get a +5% increase in smiley face reactions by making the smiley face bigger... you'd achieve that measurable goal but it would lose its relevance by what you were trying to achieve in the first place.

So... those are my thoughts on goal-setting. What about yourself? Do you throw away all your goals by January 3rd like a normal person because you realised your day was already way too jam-packed?

Thanks for reading!