For a long time I’ve had a strategy for categorizing parts of my life and constantly analyzing each area. It’s always been broken up into reflecting on where I am now, where I want to be, and setting goals on how to get there.
But although I’ve made good progress, I didn’t get the results I wanted in all areas as quick as I could’ve.
Something was missing.
I just got back from a short trip to Hawaii for a bachelor’s party. I spoke with a friend for a few hours while we were driving around the mountain and we talked about setting goals. And then he said something.
“That’s not the way to do it.”
“What do you mean”.
“What is the most important thing in human history that is entirely focused on accomplishing objectives?”
“War?”
“Yes. In war there are not goals and ideals. There are ‘operations’. The army doesn’t say “we should work on our defense in this mountain range, let’s set a goal” they say “we have developed ‘operation stronghold’, here are the set of objectives and here is the actionable plan for us to succeed at this operation”. This is the best way to accomplish objectives, or else the military, the most objective focused thing in human existence, would do it differently”.
Because of that, I changed my goal setting strategy.
Here’s how I do it.
I categorize my life in 6 ways.
Body
Style
Relationships
Money
Mindset
Adventure
I used to see where I was at in each of them and set goals for what I wanted in those categories.
Now, instead of just setting goals, I create “operations” to accomplish those goals. My notes app now has an active operations folder.
You can have any type of operation, and can name it anything you like. It can be one for getting in shape. One for building a large social circle. One for planning tons of adventures, etc.
Example: “operation networking”
Goal: build a large network of friends for the purposes of connecting with people who are self employed, intelligent, fun to hangout with, and local
Steps to implementation:
1. Invite over people for activities and hobbies.
Jet skiing at the lake
Grilling steaks
Shooting guns in the mountains
Golfing
Playing chess
Double date with girlfriends/dinner
Lunch meeting
Skiing in the winter
Going on trips
MMA class
2.Pick the things you can do with the other person, hang out a bit and chat and pick their brain, learn their skills and connections, then invite them again but tell them to bring a friend or two.
3.Meet the friends and repeat the process, each new friend you can connect with, meet their friends, and keep adding people.
4. Filter out the losers or the people who aren’t going anywhere, but maybe you meet their friends that are doing something and you can get something out of that relationship.
5.Create a mind map showing connections and add notes/tags for what they know, what they like to do, etc.
Pretty soon after going full autist on it, you have a network that you can call on for anything.
Need to get help in an area of your business? You would have 15 people you could call for free advice.
Want to plan a trip? Call up the 8 guys you know who are great entertainment and have a lot of fun.
Keep notes of birthdays, hobbies, experience, details, etc.
This is how you turn vague ideals and goals into plans of action. It’s just one example. You can do this for anything.
I have operations for business, social, fitness, and much more. This gives you daily plans and steps to take to further objectives in each operation.
But although I’ve made good progress, I didn’t get the results I wanted in all areas as quick as I could’ve.
Something was missing.
I just got back from a short trip to Hawaii for a bachelor’s party. I spoke with a friend for a few hours while we were driving around the mountain and we talked about setting goals. And then he said something.
“That’s not the way to do it.”
“What do you mean”.
“What is the most important thing in human history that is entirely focused on accomplishing objectives?”
“War?”
“Yes. In war there are not goals and ideals. There are ‘operations’. The army doesn’t say “we should work on our defense in this mountain range, let’s set a goal” they say “we have developed ‘operation stronghold’, here are the set of objectives and here is the actionable plan for us to succeed at this operation”. This is the best way to accomplish objectives, or else the military, the most objective focused thing in human existence, would do it differently”.
Because of that, I changed my goal setting strategy.
Here’s how I do it.
I categorize my life in 6 ways.
Body
Style
Relationships
Money
Mindset
Adventure
I used to see where I was at in each of them and set goals for what I wanted in those categories.
Now, instead of just setting goals, I create “operations” to accomplish those goals. My notes app now has an active operations folder.
You can have any type of operation, and can name it anything you like. It can be one for getting in shape. One for building a large social circle. One for planning tons of adventures, etc.
Example: “operation networking”
Goal: build a large network of friends for the purposes of connecting with people who are self employed, intelligent, fun to hangout with, and local
Steps to implementation:
1. Invite over people for activities and hobbies.
Jet skiing at the lake
Grilling steaks
Shooting guns in the mountains
Golfing
Playing chess
Double date with girlfriends/dinner
Lunch meeting
Skiing in the winter
Going on trips
MMA class
2.Pick the things you can do with the other person, hang out a bit and chat and pick their brain, learn their skills and connections, then invite them again but tell them to bring a friend or two.
3.Meet the friends and repeat the process, each new friend you can connect with, meet their friends, and keep adding people.
4. Filter out the losers or the people who aren’t going anywhere, but maybe you meet their friends that are doing something and you can get something out of that relationship.
5.Create a mind map showing connections and add notes/tags for what they know, what they like to do, etc.
Pretty soon after going full autist on it, you have a network that you can call on for anything.
Need to get help in an area of your business? You would have 15 people you could call for free advice.
Want to plan a trip? Call up the 8 guys you know who are great entertainment and have a lot of fun.
Keep notes of birthdays, hobbies, experience, details, etc.
This is how you turn vague ideals and goals into plans of action. It’s just one example. You can do this for anything.
I have operations for business, social, fitness, and much more. This gives you daily plans and steps to take to further objectives in each operation.
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