Well hello Friends! 

I hope you guys had an amazing week!

A few days ago, I shared a bonus episode called Starting Strong. 

And in that, I shared three filters to keep in mind when choosing your goals for the year. So, if you haven’t had a chance to check it out, do go back and give the episode a listen. Because it’ll be super helpful context for what we’re discussing today which is “One Big Impossible Goal.”

A few years ago, my thinking around goals changed. 

You see, in the past, I mostly based my annual goals on where I was in that moment. And mostly, if I’m being honest, they were about fixing or next leveling something about myself or my life that I wasn’t entirely satisfied with. So, it was the usual stuff like eating healthier or making more money or finding the next level job or whatever.

On the one hand, that made sense because it was kind of like giving myself an annual tune-up. I mean, nothing wrong with doing a little course correction, right? 

And that’s probably true so long as that’s not ALL you’re doing. If those little course corrections are just part of the goals picture for the year, then using some of your effort to make strategic adjustments to certain aspects of your career or life makes total sense.

But here’s the thing. 

If you approach ALL your annual goals like that, it’s limiting. Because that means you’re basing everything on your present self. On results you already have that you now want to tweak. 

That’s why I say it’s limiting. Because it’s only focused on the parameters of where your life is right now. If you base your future goals solely on where you are…then that means your future can only be a slightly better version of where or who you currently are. 

And while that sounds fine at first glance, the downside is that it means that everything that isn’t in your life right now – anything completely new or transformative – is off the table. 

And since this is the start of a brand-new year, I think it’s worth asking yourself an important question: Why settle for a tweak when you can transform?

I know transform sounds like a big scary word. But it doesn’t have to be. 

We’ve all transformed a lot throughout our lives. We’ve learned new, life changing things like how to walk when we were a toddler. Or how to read and write in elementary school. How to drive a car when we turned 16. How to be a parent when we have kids. How to master a new job skill.

But somewhere along the line as we get past early adulthood things change. At least for most of us.  

It’s like once we’re out of school and we settle on a path – the job, the relationship, the kids, the city, the friends – we start to settle into those boundaries.  

I think most of the time we don’t even think about it. Or realize it. It just happens.

For more, give the episode a listen.

Do you have a question you'd like to have addressed on the podcast? Want to give us some feedback or suggestions? Click here to send us a text.

Follow us on Instagram @thepurposefulcareer.
Learn more about Next Level, our monthly membership at https://www.thepurposefulcareer.com/nextlevel.