Values Based Goal Setting for 2023 | Episode 244

Scott McCarthy [00:00:00]:
In Episode 244 of the Peak Performance Leadership Podcast. I go solo again and we’re gonna talk about the pyramid of goal setting. That’s right, it’s all but goal setting today. Are you ready for this? Alright, let’s do it. It welcome one, welcome all to the Peak Performance Leadership Podcast, a weekly podcast series dedicated to helping you hit peak performance across the three domains of leadership. Those being leading yourself, leading your team, and leading your organization. This podcast couples my 20 years of military experience as a Senior Canadian Army Officer with world class guests to bring you the most complete podcast of leadership going. And for more, feel free to check out our website@movingforwardleadership.com.

Scott McCarthy [00:01:00]:
And with that, let’s get to the show. Yes. Welcome one, welcome all to the Peak Performance Leadership Podcast. It is your Chief Leadership Officer, Scott McCrafty. And welcome to the final episode of 2022. I know you’re thinking to yourself, bonkers. And guess what? I am also thinking bonkers because we say this every year. The year went so fast, but it really did.

Scott McCarthy [00:01:32]:
And I guess the biggest thing for me is I’m extremely grateful for the year that the podcast has had this year. And it’s all due to you. Thank you to listeners. We have hit new heights, new numbers. We launched our Mastermind community that is thriving with its members who are just doing some amazing things. And I continue to get these great guests wanting to come on the show. And why? Because that is you, the listeners from your just simply passing around the show episodes, tagging me in your social media to recommending guests. Heck, I’ve even had gotten introductions of guests done to me.

Scott McCarthy [00:02:18]:
And yeah, it’s so great to have you all. So today in the final episode, what I wanted to do is get you squared away for 2023. And you’ve been listening to the show for a number of years. This is nothing new. We always focus on goal setting for the end of December and the beginning of January. Why? Because I want you to get the current, the upcoming year rocking. That’s what we want and that’s what we’re going after. So today we’re talking about the methodology that were used in Leader Growth Mastermind for goal setting.

Scott McCarthy [00:02:53]:
So if that’s something of interest to you, if you’re looking for a group, an accountability group, a group that holds you accountable, someone to help you get through this, someone to group of people that you can lean on for support, ask questions to, and not have judgment or fear of any kind of judgment or any of that. Negativity, this mastermind is for you. Because that’s what we do day in, day out. We are there for each other. And you can learn more at leaddomboss. Sorry, leaddomboss.com mastermind. And yeah, I’m going to leave that slip of the tongue in there because you know what? Accidents happen. No one’s perfect.

Scott McCarthy [00:03:40]:
And you’re going to hear about it. In this episode anyway. Ladies and gentlemen, why don’t you sit back, relax, and enjoy my methodology on goal setting here today. Leaders everywhere. How’s everyone doing? It’s your Chief leadership, Officer Scott McCarthy. And thanks for jumping on and checking out this video. So tonight here in the community, we’re going to talk about goal setting, setting goals for 2023. We’re right at the end of 2022 now.

Scott McCarthy [00:04:29]:
So this is the time. The time is now for us to start thinking about 2023 and start really planning what we want to achieve in 2023. Now, I’m going to basically run through quickly framework that I teach and I use and I enable the members of the Mastermind community, the leader growth mastermind on goal setting. So I’m going to run you through it, okay? Quickly tonight. And the goal here is for you to basically have a quick understanding and to help you kind of think about 2023 as we are. Just what? Not even we’re about two and a half weeks out from 2023. So most of this, if you haven’t thought about your goals for 2023, it’s time now, let me say that again. It’s time now to think about your goals for 2023.

Scott McCarthy [00:05:30]:
All right? So first off, why set goals in the first place, right? And so many people out there just kind of just go through life without really setting any goals, without really going after things that they want to achieve in their life, but rather they just kind of go through, go through the motions, go through the just go through life, really. And they’re not really setting themselves up for success in the future. And that’s sad, really. It’s important for you as a leader to set some goals. It’s important for you as a leader to really go after things that you want to achieve in your life. This framework also works for your teams. It also works for your organization. So that’s all.

Scott McCarthy [00:06:33]:
That’s first things first. Now, let’s throw out a few stats, shall we, regarding to goal setting and really how you’re going to achieve goal setting in general. So many people out there, first off, don’t achieve their goals. They are basically setting themselves up from failure right from the get go. So here we go. Here’s a couple of things for you to think about. If you write down your goals, you’re 42% more likely to achieve them. For those who set actual goals, actual tasks, sorry.

Scott McCarthy [00:07:25]:
For their goals, initiate weekly progress. To their supportive peers, they tended to achieve 40% more than those who did not. Research shows that you’re 76% more likely to achieve your goals if you write down action commitments and share weekly progress reports. So the two last ones are really getting after group accountability, accountability in general, right? You’re being accountable to others about what it is you’re going after, so on and so forth. So keep that in mind, all right, as moving forward. So let’s talk about the framework that we use, that I teach and we use at the leader Growth Mastermind. So what I want you to do is picture basically a pyramid of triangles. You have three triangles across the bottom, the middle one’s inverted.

Scott McCarthy [00:08:18]:
You get two kind of the base, and then you have one at the top. The one at the top is your goals and dreams. That’s the pinnacle, that’s the top. Those are the things that you want to go after. The bottom is the base is what’s going to enable you to get to the pinnacle. Right now, let’s talk about the middle one first, and that is values. You see so many people out there don’t think about their core values and don’t think about goals in terms of their values and how they relate to their goals. So the moral of the story is here, if you connect your goal with your core values, you’re more likely to achieve them.

Scott McCarthy [00:09:13]:
I’ll give you an example. So the end result, what you’re looking for here is a values based goals statement. The easiest one that people always use, of course, is losing weight, getting in better shape. So let’s say you have a goal of losing 20 pounds. What’s more powerful, I want to lose 20 pounds, or the values based goal statement of I will lose 20 pounds this week? So I said I can show the example for my family and live a healthier life for them. Which one do you find is more powerful? Obviously the latter when you tie your goals to your value. So in this case, in this case, family is obviously a core value of the example person, right? So when you tie it, your goal to your core value of your family, you’re now more likely to achieve it. So that’s what you want to do when you think of the goals you want to achieve for this year, think about your values and what are your core values.

Scott McCarthy [00:10:33]:
Now we have an exercise that we run through in the Mastermind community where we actually go through it and we pick our core values and we make sure that basically we’re aware of them and we make statements around them. Okay, so just something for you to keep in mind. Now, when we go to the next step, the next step of the whole goal setting process is your planning and your actions or your execution. So what you want to do here is first step, obviously figure out what goals you want, connect them to your values by figuring out your core values and then develop your goals. Values based goal statement. So now you look at, okay, I have goal of doing this, goal of doing that, and the goal of doing the other thing. My question to you now is who has already achieved what it is you’re looking to achieve? Because I’m going to say something which could be earth shattering to you whatever it is that you’re looking to achieve, someone’s already done it, right? You’re looking to lose weight. Congratulations.

Scott McCarthy [00:11:58]:
There are 50 million weight loss success stories out there. You’re looking to write a book. There’s plenty of books out there. You’re looking to run a marathon, marathons galore. You’re looking to do this, you’re looking to do that. I guarantee you there is someone who has already done it. So the moral of the story is this. What you want to do is go find someone who’s already done what you’re looking to do to achieve and go, what did you do? Pick their brain.

Scott McCarthy [00:12:33]:
Pick their brain. Find what actual task, what I refer to as tactical actions. I e. Things that you do, you can do in order to basically achieve what it is you’re looking to achieve. These could be daily actions, weekly actions, maybe monthly, depending on what kind of goal it is. But the moral of the story is this. You want to look for those tactical actions, those things that you can touch, feel and do so that you can go after, which support you in going after your goal. You’re like, Scott, where do I find these people? I don’t know anyone.

Scott McCarthy [00:13:14]:
So on and so forth. Well, there are plenty of places where you can find them. You can find know, maybe it’s friends, maybe it’s family members. There are plenty of coaches out there that will gladly guide you, of course, for a fee, right? Books could be another way. Podcasts. There’s so much out there, you just kind of have to look, open your eyes and go, okay, who are these people that have achieved what it is I’m looking to achieve and how do I go about doing it? So from there, you’re looking to three to five actions type thing that support you, getting to your goal. That’s what you’re looking for, that’s the money. And then what you’re going to do is plan it.

Scott McCarthy [00:14:01]:
When are you actually going to go after doing these things? How are you actually going to schedule? Schedule it so that you know exactly when it is you’re doing whatever it is you’re doing. Back to the example of the person wants to lose 20 pounds. When are you going to work out? How are you going to track your food consumption, et cetera? These are tactical actions, right? So that’s what you want to do. You want to plan it, you want to schedule it. And then the final thing is just go after it. Execute. Now, I know this sounds really easy, and yes, execution can be very difficult, but the moral of the story is this you want to go after it, you execute. When you build a solid plan, execution becomes easier because you just follow your plan.

Scott McCarthy [00:14:58]:
Now, things change. As we say in the army, no plan survives contact. And this is where the final part of the pyramid, the final triangle per se, comes into play, and that is mindset. Your mindset is what’s going to make you or break you throughout this whole process. So you have to keep mine. The first thing you want to keep in mind in your mindset is constantly prioritizing. Excuse me, as I take a little sip there. You want to be constantly prioritizing.

Scott McCarthy [00:15:34]:
You’re going to be looking at when things pop up, eating at your time. You want to look and see, okay, what is the priority now? Is my workout a priority? Is hanging out my friends a priority? If you haven’t been working out, then yes, your workout is your priority. But it’s going to be your third workout of the day, the eigth of the week, and it’s only Wednesday. Maybe you can take a little break from the workout so that you can go ahead and kind of connect with your friends and family. Because if going after your goal is detrimental to your way of life, to your health and sanity, you’re not going to achieve it. So the whole mindset of keeping your priorities in hand, constantly looking at, okay, what is the priority right now? Another example, maybe you have a child and they’re up in middle night, they’re sick, and you had planned for the next morning to get up early to do a run. If you’re up at three to four to 05:00 A.m., do you think you’re probably going to have energy in the tank to go for a run plus do everything else you’re supposed to do that day? Probably not. So the moral story is this is that you want to prioritize.

Scott McCarthy [00:16:58]:
Maybe that’s a recovery day. You just prioritize sleep because you know that’s going to help you in the long run. That’s going to help you down the line. Okay, so constantly when these conflicts pop up, look and determine, okay, what is actually the priority right now? Moving next, this is one can be a bit controversial, but I will stick to it always. And that is motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever. So many people get tied up on motivation. Motivational Mondays and Motivation And I need to get motivated.

Scott McCarthy [00:17:38]:
I need to yes, you know what, motivation is great, but it is only great for a very finite period of time. I feel motivated now. I’m going to go harder at my workout. I am going to read more, I’m going to do this or I’m going to do that, et cetera. However, motivation only lasts so long. I’ll tell you, when I went through my Master’s, my first Master’s program, and I was doing it on my own, I ended up doing it for three school years. And the first year I was super motivated. I was like, oh, yes, it’s new, exciting, can’t wait to do it.

Scott McCarthy [00:18:17]:
Going to definitely do better to my undergrad. And I was motivated. Let me tell you. When the beginning of year two came around, I was not motivated. But what happened was I was disciplined. So through that first year, I developed the habits and routines to get my schoolwork done, to make sure that I was doing what I needed to do. So that when year two came around, when I wasn’t motivated, I still had the discipline ingrained in me to get back in my habits and routines to get my schoolwork done, to enable myself to take care of everything else I had to take care of, including working a full time job, living alone, et cetera. So the moral story is this motivation is temporary.

Scott McCarthy [00:19:06]:
Discipline is forever. Discipline is what is going to get you up in the morning when you don’t feel like it. Discipline is what’s going to keep you on track with your habits and routines. When you want to waiver. It’s not motivation, it is discipline. And being disciplined is what’s going to keep you on track. So develop those habits or routines and stick to them. And being disciplined is what’s going to help you.

Scott McCarthy [00:19:38]:
Now, does motivation come along and give you an auto? Ejector absolutely. You can find motivation anywhere and everywhere in life. But the moral story is this it’s actually discipline that’s going to get you up. The next point is that flexibility is strategic in importance. So going back to priorities thing, you have to be flexible when you’re going after your goals because life happens. You may have to work late one day, you have children that you may suddenly have to take care of. God knows what happens, something crazy happens in your life. Flexibility is strategic because what you do is you take those tactical actions that you are going after day in, day out, and you may be able to shift them throughout your week.

Scott McCarthy [00:20:27]:
And this is why I recommend not having many actions that you want to do every single day. Now, there may be some which is fine, but having the flexibility to shift the work around your schedule so that you can balance it with life, that is super important, which ties into the next thing. Balance is key. If you’re all about goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, that is it. That’s what you’re going after. Nothing else matters. You will burn out. Goal burnout is a real thing.

Scott McCarthy [00:21:03]:
So to prevent that, make sure you’re balanced. You talk to the coaches out there and they’ll tell you if you’re into this weight loss journey and you’ve been struggling for years, do not just cut everything out because you won’t sustain that. You will go nuts, but rather ease into it. Allow yourself, quote unquote cheat meals. That is part of balance. Enable yourself. Make sure you have the ability to see your friends, your family, do the things that you still love, but keep it in balance. Make sure that you are enabling yourself to do the things you love still.

Scott McCarthy [00:21:43]:
Because if you don’t, you’re going to get miserable fairly quickly and the final thing I’ll say about mindset is the all or nothing attitude. As the old saying goes, perfection is the killer of good enough. So many of us go after perfection, and we live in a perfectionist world right now. Okay? It’s go, go, hustle, hustle, grind, et cetera. But the reality is that there’s nothing perfect. Ladies and gentlemen, anyone always got me sitting on the dock with my coffee and my spouse is absolutely perfect. Yes, I got it. I understand.

Scott McCarthy [00:22:29]:
But hear me out. When we’re grown, after our goals, there’s nothing perfect, no matter what it is. So when you’re in this all or nothing attitude, generally what happens is we’ll continue with the weight loss. One, you’re going along and you’re losing weight. Lose weight and suddenly it stalls. And you go see. Told you this wood isn’t going to work. It’s not for me.

Scott McCarthy [00:22:54]:
I can’t do it. That’s an all or nothing attitude. Or you miss a couple of workouts. Oh, God. See, I can’t stick to a workout routine. It’s useless. And you throw it all up. That’s another all or nothing attitude.

Scott McCarthy [00:23:07]:
That is what is going to kill you. Rather learn from those hiccups, learn from those times. What went wrong? Why did it go wrong? How might you improve on it next time? That is where the gold is, right there. It isn’t about being perfect 100% of the time. No one bats 1000%, right? No goalie in the NHL has a safe percentage of 100%. Doesn’t exist. There are no perfect. There’s nothing perfect out there.

Scott McCarthy [00:23:43]:
So when you have this attitude, take a moment, go, okay, where am I today? Got it? I’m here. Where was I when I started? And then reflect back on the journey where you were compared to where you are today. Because what happens is that we don’t see the progress. We don’t see the progress at all. But as we get along, as we move forward, as we progress, things change without us noticing it. So when you take a stop and you reflect back on where you are today compared to where you were, then you realize you’ve progressed a lot. And that enables you to get rid of this all or nothing attitude. Enables you to go, Look, I’ve been doing it.

Scott McCarthy [00:24:37]:
I haven’t been dogging it. I’ve been doing it, and I can continue to do it. So, yes, I can do this and keep going after it. Okay? So that’s it, ladies and gentlemen, that is the goal setting framework that we have been using here at the Leader Growth Mastermind. We’ve been doing this all month of December, and as we wrap up our calls for 2022, we are actually going over our goals. So if you need some help, if you’re looking for accountability, looking for some instant motivation, but rather help to develop those habits and routines that will make you disciplined, maybe you should come check us out. You can do that. Easy by going to leaddomboss.com forward slash Mastermind.

Scott McCarthy [00:25:30]:
And in fact, if you’re watching this in our Facebook group, leadership skills for managers to be leaders, not bosses. There’s a link for it in the description. So that being said, thank you again. Thank you for great 2022 for podcast listeners. This is the last episode for this year. We’ll be back in 2023. I’m already recording episodes for 2023 and we’ll be back better than ever. So I thank you all.

Scott McCarthy [00:26:00]:
I wish you all happiest holidays. Enjoy time with your families no matter what religion or beliefs you have. Just enjoy the time with your friends and families. And let’s get ready to rock 2023. Because Lord knows I am with my team behind me. Remember, as always, ladies and gentlemen, lead Don’t Boss. Take care now. And that’s a wrap for this episode, ladies and gentlemen.

Scott McCarthy [00:26:29]:
Thank you for listening. Thank you for supporting the peak Performance Leadership podcast. But you know what you could do to truly support the podcast? And no, that’s not leaving a rating and review. It’s simply helping a friend. And that is helping a friend by sharing this episode with them. If you think this would resonate with them and help them elevate their performance level, whether that’s within themselves, their teams, or their organization, so do that. Help me help a friend win win all around. And hey, you look like a great friend at the same time.

Scott McCarthy [00:27:05]:
So just hit that little share button on your app and then feel free to fire this episode to anyone that you feel would benefit from it. Finally, there’s always more there’s always more lessons around being the highest performing leader that you can possibly be, whether that’s for yourself, your team, or your organization. So why don’t you subscribe subscribe to the show via movingforwardleadership.com subscribe. Until next time. Lead. Don’t boss. And thanks for coming out. Take care now.

Scott McCarthy [00:27:44]:
Bye.