5 Key Ingredients to Winning in 2020
I swear this is the year I will....you can fill in the blank. Over the past few days, I've heard enough resolutions to fill up my coaching calendar for a year. I've even heard my kids talk about resolutions. Sure, it's encouraging to hear people recognize something isn't as it should be. For example, I need to lose weight. I should be happier. I should read more books. I should watch less television. But we all know the vast majority of these resolutions won't be met. They won't even be pursued for more than 2 weeks. That's why I want to help. I want to offer you the five key ingredients for winning in 2020.
Why should you take my advice seriously? Maybe you shouldn't, but if you've heard my story before, you know I've turned around a marriage, lost nearly 100 lbs and kept it off for 20 years, and completed 3 degrees and more. Not convinced? Read on anyway.
So, what are the key ingredients for winning in 2020? Let's go.
Know where you really are. You can't improve what you don't manage. You can't manage what you don't know. Find out and declare to yourself. You don't know where you really are if you say "I'm overweight." You don't know where you are if you are "in debt." Find out and say out loud, "I'm 42 pounds overweight." "I'm $39,000 in debt." "I need to earn $29,000 more per year." Say it out loud. This makes it real.
In 1999 I weighed 242 lbs and wore a size 42 jeans. I was fat. I was unhappy. I was single. I knew I needed to change. But I first had to own the fact I was 82 pounds overweight. I had to see it on the scale. I had to declare "I'm fat. I weigh 242 lbs. I need to lose weight.
Know where you really want to go. This is one of the biggest problems with resolutions. They are vague. They are impossible to hit because they're ambiguous. "I want to be happier." "I want to work out more." "I want to feel better spiritually." These are non-specific and don't create a goal to achieve. You need to get a specific goal to win.
This past fall, I candidated at a church in Ohio for the lead pastor position. While walking the halls, I realized that I desired to come into an existing organization and help move it into a new day. I enjoyed culture renovation and new day's vision. Why was this important? Because I was also entertaining a church planting opportunity. I declared my desire to myself and then to my wife. That's the other element to making your goal real: declare it to someone else. We knew the next opportunity would be an existing church or organization. This closed doors but opened the right ones.
So declare to yourself and someone else the number of pounds, books to read, debt to pay off, etc.
Know why you want to go there. People lose interest in goals when they don't know why they're really striving for it. This is the emotional jet fuel for winning 2020. Know what you will gain by achieving it. Know what you will lose by not achieving it. Create a "why" that is real and it will be unbreakable.
10 years ago I couldn't get off the basement couch. Why? I was depressed. I felt unaccomplished. I felt like I'd failed my wife and my young family. Life had to change. I knew ministry is where I was heading, but I wasn't credentialed or qualified. That's why I decided to back to college as a 28-year-old. I created an unbreakable why: 1) the call to ministry, 2) the financial welfare to my family, and 3) the desire to achieve what seemed to be an impossible goal.
Know the cost. The cost of achieving a goal varies, but it will come at a cost. It's what John Maxwell calls the law of the trade-off. You have to give up to go up. So take the time and count the cost. Remember, often the cost isn't forever.
When I went back to school, it meant the cost of money and attention. I had to pay for the schooling, but it also meant saying "no" to friends, discretionary activities, and opportunities that would prevent me from finishing school. 3 degrees later, I've said "no" a lot, but the cost was worth it.
Know the road. This is something I can't prescribe, but you can seek customized advice. Only you know where you are going and why you are going there. Creating the road map is up to you. But you have to create one to win in 2020.
If you desire help in creating your road map, let me know. I'm a certified coach and love creating maps to success. Learn more here: http://www.natcrawford.com/coaching.html
For each season of life, I've had a coach who keeps me accountable and keeps me on course. Bill Gates said, "Everyone needs a coach." If one of the most successful men needs one, you might too.
2020 is your year. It's my year. Let's win in 2020 together.
Why should you take my advice seriously? Maybe you shouldn't, but if you've heard my story before, you know I've turned around a marriage, lost nearly 100 lbs and kept it off for 20 years, and completed 3 degrees and more. Not convinced? Read on anyway.
So, what are the key ingredients for winning in 2020? Let's go.
Know where you really are. You can't improve what you don't manage. You can't manage what you don't know. Find out and declare to yourself. You don't know where you really are if you say "I'm overweight." You don't know where you are if you are "in debt." Find out and say out loud, "I'm 42 pounds overweight." "I'm $39,000 in debt." "I need to earn $29,000 more per year." Say it out loud. This makes it real.
In 1999 I weighed 242 lbs and wore a size 42 jeans. I was fat. I was unhappy. I was single. I knew I needed to change. But I first had to own the fact I was 82 pounds overweight. I had to see it on the scale. I had to declare "I'm fat. I weigh 242 lbs. I need to lose weight.
Know where you really want to go. This is one of the biggest problems with resolutions. They are vague. They are impossible to hit because they're ambiguous. "I want to be happier." "I want to work out more." "I want to feel better spiritually." These are non-specific and don't create a goal to achieve. You need to get a specific goal to win.
This past fall, I candidated at a church in Ohio for the lead pastor position. While walking the halls, I realized that I desired to come into an existing organization and help move it into a new day. I enjoyed culture renovation and new day's vision. Why was this important? Because I was also entertaining a church planting opportunity. I declared my desire to myself and then to my wife. That's the other element to making your goal real: declare it to someone else. We knew the next opportunity would be an existing church or organization. This closed doors but opened the right ones.
So declare to yourself and someone else the number of pounds, books to read, debt to pay off, etc.
Know why you want to go there. People lose interest in goals when they don't know why they're really striving for it. This is the emotional jet fuel for winning 2020. Know what you will gain by achieving it. Know what you will lose by not achieving it. Create a "why" that is real and it will be unbreakable.
10 years ago I couldn't get off the basement couch. Why? I was depressed. I felt unaccomplished. I felt like I'd failed my wife and my young family. Life had to change. I knew ministry is where I was heading, but I wasn't credentialed or qualified. That's why I decided to back to college as a 28-year-old. I created an unbreakable why: 1) the call to ministry, 2) the financial welfare to my family, and 3) the desire to achieve what seemed to be an impossible goal.
"Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence." ~ Vince Lombardi
Know the cost. The cost of achieving a goal varies, but it will come at a cost. It's what John Maxwell calls the law of the trade-off. You have to give up to go up. So take the time and count the cost. Remember, often the cost isn't forever.
When I went back to school, it meant the cost of money and attention. I had to pay for the schooling, but it also meant saying "no" to friends, discretionary activities, and opportunities that would prevent me from finishing school. 3 degrees later, I've said "no" a lot, but the cost was worth it.
Know the road. This is something I can't prescribe, but you can seek customized advice. Only you know where you are going and why you are going there. Creating the road map is up to you. But you have to create one to win in 2020.
If you desire help in creating your road map, let me know. I'm a certified coach and love creating maps to success. Learn more here: http://www.natcrawford.com/coaching.html
For each season of life, I've had a coach who keeps me accountable and keeps me on course. Bill Gates said, "Everyone needs a coach." If one of the most successful men needs one, you might too.
2020 is your year. It's my year. Let's win in 2020 together.
What's your goal for 2020?
Share it below.
You can do it!
Comments
Post a Comment