February is here! How are your goals coming along?

January seems to go by faster and faster each year. It’s easy to let the important get swept away in the sea of urgent interruptions. It happens to the best of us.

Will you shrug your shoulders and just settle for doing life as usual, or will you find a way to experience tangible change this year?

Here are some thoughts for you to consider as you make your dreams one step closer to reality (and especially if you’ve already hit a road bump):

Failure doesn’t mean you’re done. Failure means you’re NOT done.

During a recent sermon at a local church, a pastor discussed the futility of setting goals, sharing each one he failed to attain the previous year. Does this mean we should avoid setting goals to not experience failure? Is he saying goal-setting is a waste of time and effort?

Here’s the concern: how can anyone accomplish anything meaningful if they don’t at least experiment? This could extrapolate to something like: “I failed to meet my exercise quota, so I shouldn’t bother with exercise at all.” Failure doesn’t become permanent until you allow it to. This leads to the next point to help you keep a productive frame of mind:

Failure is a necessary component in the cycle of success.

The cycle of success is:

Try -> Fail -> Evaluate -> Adjust (and repeat as necessary)

True, failing doesn’t guarantee eventual success. But good luck finding someone successful who never experienced failure. Successful people don’t fear failure. Nor do they let it define who they are. Rather, they extract the feedback from their failure, make adjustments, then take one step closer to their intended outcome. Repeat the cycle enough times, and you’d be surprised at where you end up. As John Maxwell says, “Experience isn’t the best teacher. Evaluated experience is.”

Of course, achieving success can be difficult for someone who has never experienced it. What should people do if they don’t achieve a desired outcome, despite several attempts and adjustments? Rest assured, this is the last point:

Find someone who has solved your problem.

Yes, the world keeps changing. And yet, nothing is new under the sun. As long as we’re human, the challenges we face don’t change all that much. They’re just new to us. Chances are, someone else has gone through what you’re going through. Between what your budget is vs. what they charge, wisdom is knowing when to ask for help. One common leadership lie claims you have to achieve things on your own, or it doesn’t count. Whether you seek a community, a mentor, a guide, a helper, or some combination of the above, don’t let pride or shame get in the way of perfectly good and legitimate support.

If you need help moving yourself forward, feel free to schedule a call using the link below. Whether you need my direct help or a referral within my network, I’m here for you.