Stomach full of knots, feeling a bit (okay, a LOT) nauseous. I wanted to make like an ostrich and bury my head in the sand.
It was July 2009, and I was staring at my revenue numbers for the year to date. I wasn't even close to being half-way to my goal, which was disheartening since it wasn't a big number to begin with (I was in rebuild mode as a result of the 2008 financial crash).
Although I was doing a lot of things right, I felt helpless that so much was out of my control. I kept thinking "What if I never get there?"
Instead of burying my head in the sand, I decided to take stock of where I was through a simple 5-step goal review process that goes like this:
- Recognize achievements.
- Review the gap.
- Reflect on what can be learned.
- Reassess goals and strategies.
- Recommit (to finish strong).
And then I wrote down the following phrase on a bunch of post-it notes and put them everywhere I could (on my bathroom mirror, next to my office phone and in a desk drawer I opened daily):
"NOW is the time. You've failed only if you quit."
This served as a simple reminder to stay focused and keep going (even when things felt hard and I worried that I'd fail).
What about you, Friend? We're a bit more than half-way through the year, which means that it's the perfect time to take stock of your goals.
That's why this week's Life & Law Podcast episode covers the 5-step goal reassessment framework mentioned above.
And then figure out what phrase or word(s) will help motivate you to keep going (and hit reply to tell me).
There's never a guaranty that you'll achieve all of your goals but you certainly won't get there by giving up or going about things half-way.
Go all-in (it's worth it).
XO,
P.S. Wondering if I achieved my revenue goal? Nope, I didn't (that year). But the work I did set the foundation for exceeding it the next few years (getting me over $1MM and then to $2.5MM+ before I retired from law).
