Andrew and Maxi kick off 2020 with a discussion about goal-setting, and the process behind achieving the desired outcome.
With the New Year and decade offering the inspiration to set goals, many of us visualize the end result without enough consideration of the daily practice of small steps of working toward it.
Reflecting on the book “Atomic Habits” by James Clear as inspiration, Andrew discusses the process of achieving goals, and the need to focus on the systems in place to achieve those goals.
Maxi provides the example of her process of psychotherapy training with several years of course work, toward her goal of passing the competency test, and her realization that it wasn’t about passing a test, but about how she was present in every moment of the process.
With plenty of examples, they discuss ways to let go of focusing exclusively on the end goal, and to instead also focus on your practices and principles, while panning in and out between the two perspectives to stay on track.
Some of the key topics discussed include:
- The importance of being clear on your principles that support and guide your practices, and basing decisions in alignment with your principles.
- The focus on your practices and what you need to enable them.
- Remaining present in your daily practice, systems, and process that take you closer to your goal.
- How small actions add up, and using failure to pivot and learn.
- Why it’s important to pan in and out to focus both on your systems and practice, and on the end goal, to maintain focus on the smaller and larger picture.