Pivoting your 2020 goals

Well, the roaring 20’s are turning out to be more of a woahing 20’s…Not funny? Okay. But in all seriousness, I feel like every time I turn around there is some new big news story and the world is continuing to spin out of control and people are losing their minds.

I have had pretty much every emotion surrounding everything going in the world but none of those emotions or frustrations will change what’s going on. Instead, all of my big crazy dreams and goals I had starting the year, just need to be altered a bit.

Instead of traveling, I’ve had to get creative on meeting up with friends and family, I’ve had to postpone experiences and opportunities for a later date, but guess what? So has everyone else. Friend, we are all in this together.

If you don’t know me by now, hi my name is Lauren and I am a chronic list maker and goal setter. I have been since I was little and I think it’s a big reason why I was able to graduate early from college and continue to set and crush big life dreams of mine. I am nowhere near where I want to be and I have failed on so many of my timelines but it’s a choice to roll with the punches when they come my way and continue to get back up on every single set back.

This blog didn’t really even occur to me because it’s something I innately do on my own really without thinking about it. I also have a little bit of a different approach to goal setting than most. As in, screw your freakin’ SMART goals. I can’t stand them.

I have a giant vision board hanging in my room filled with pictures and dreams for my LIFE. These are not things I will accomplish this year (most likely) but those crazy big dreams that people would look at you funny for for telling them you want them…yeah those. I have them for my personal and professional life and everything in between.

Then I have a whole notebook filled with ideas and other dreams specific to my business and more ideas and goals on sticky notes around my house and in all the books I read.

It is so excessive but I’m a firm believer of just writing everything down. I love looking back on some of the things I used to think I wanted for myself and how I pictured my life 10 years ago is a lot different than how it is now and how it will look 10 years from now. I truly believe we are made for more and sometimes those things that come to us might spark the next big thing we’re meant to do.

I strongly urge you, if you haven’t already, to spend some time writing down anything that comes to mind when you think of your life 10 years from now. If you are living your absolute best life what does that look like? Where do you live? Who are you with? What’s your job? What kind of clothes do you wear? What do you drive? Where have you traveled to? Do you have a cabin and a boat? Like if all your dreams came true what does that life look like?

Don’t limit yourself to only writing down a few things or 10 things, write down literally anything and everything that comes to your mind.

Then leave that list and look at your goals from 2020 if you made them, and think about what you can do in these next 6 months to get you close to any one of those. Literally only choose one to work towards. Maybe one of your big goals is to land your dream job whatever that may be and that’s what you want to work towards this year.

Perfect. Write it down. ‘I work as/at _____.’ Put it somewhere that you look everyday. It’s important to write it as if it’s already happened. There are so many studies surrounding this idea and I have found it so helpful!

I have my main goal on a sticky note (shocker I know) taped to my computer so every time I open it up it’s staring me straight in the face and I can’t ignore it.

I also write it in my journal every morning, and you can click here to see how I write it out every single morning. It’s under my morning routine highlight!

Now that you have that one goal. What can you do in these next 6 months to get your dream job? (Listen, your dream job may be a lawyer and you have to be a paralegal for years before getting there but that’s okay. Every job you land will get you closer to that dream job). Create a new list and write down all your ideas and things you need to do to get yourself there. Some things that might come to mind are: update my resume, reach out for letters of recommendation, search for job listings, apply for jobs, create a portfolio, have mock interviews, etc. There are so many things that go into landing a job it’s not even funny.

Seriously go do all that and come back to this post.

Got it? Great. Now onto the next step.

Take your big laundry list of things you need to do to check that big dream off and break it down into 6 months. What can you realistically do in 6 months? Create almost a map to get there. Month 1 I’m going to update my resume and cover letter. Month 2 I’m going to create my portfolio. Month 3 I’m going to search 4 times a week for new job listings and apply to 10 of them. So on and so on. These don’t have to be crazy things you do each month but you do need to start crossing them off if you’re ever going to achieve your goals. It’s not enough to simply write them down, you need to actively work towards them.

One step further, take month 1 and break it down into 4 weeks. And check off each of those weekly tasks until the month is over and repeat for every month. Pivot as you go, if you finish month 1, don’t wait for the start of the next month to cross the next thing off, just keep going and work towards the next check.

We may not be able to achieve everything we hoped for in 2020, but there is still so much we can do. You got furloughed from your job? What a great time to start working on that book you always wanted to write. You can’t get to the gym? What a great reminder that nutrition is just as much part of the equation and some movement is better than no movement. Your internship got cancelled? Good thing tons of other places are hiring.

I understand how difficult this time is and if your state is still quarantined like Minnesota is, I feel you and know how frustrating it is right now. But your goals won’t wait around for you. You need to pivot your expectations for the year and just take one step forward each day. Before you know it, life will have a new normal again and you will be much farther ahead than anyone around you.

Tag me if you try out this goal setting exercise!