Process > goals.

In past years I’ve made the dangerous mistake of setting numeric goals.

“I want to make X dollars.

I want to grow my audience to X amount.

I want to build muscle and hit X weight.”

And so on.

But I’ve made the important realization that these goals mean nothing.

You must focus on the process, not the goal.

You CAN control the process, but you CAN’T control the outcome.

Let me explain…

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The YouTube Example

Let’s say I had the goal of hitting 1,000 subscribers on YouTube.

Instead of putting a lofty goal out into the world and praying for a miracle… it’s more important to break that goal down into the practices that make audience growth on YouTube a practical outcome.

So, what might cause you to gain more subscribers?

…Consistently releasing high-quality, value-packed content.

Now my goal has changed from hitting 1,000 subscribers, to creating high quality content that I can consistently share on my YouTube channel.

Because results don’t happen without the action.

A goal means nothing without the daily framework to achieve it.

Everyone has similar goals, but it’s not the goal that defines you.

It’s your plan of consistent action for achieving it.

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You Must Believe In It

What kind of things do you feel prepared and stoked about doing every single day?

What kind of things can you see yourself being able to sustain throughout the year?

This doesn’t mean that the thing will be easy, nor always enjoyable – but it will be worthwhile.

It must be something that you fully believe is worth investing your time and energy into.

Goals only inspire action when you FULLY believe in them.

Why would I want to achieve my goal of losing 20 pounds if I don’t really think that it’s going to benefit me all that much?

You have to want it, believe in it, and invest in it.

If you don’t believe in the action, you won’t achieve the outcome.

It’s really as simple as that.

…

You won’t put on 20 pounds of muscle without going to the gym multiple days per week.

You won’t build an audience without writing daily, creating content weekly, and sharing it consistently.

You won’t become a better friend without going out of your way to call, schedule coffee dates, and invest in their lives.

You won’t start a podcast without investing in the equipment, developing the first 5 episode topics, and emailing or texting your friends to join as guests.

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Action Precedes Success

Goals are only practical when you’re willing to do the things associated with them.

Willingness precedes action.

Action precedes success.

People who are willing to commit to the action will achieve the goal.

And when they get there, they’ll realize it wasn’t the goal they were after – it was the way that the action they took to achieve it made them feel.

So you gotta love it.

You gotta be stoked about it.

You gotta be invested.

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Takeaways For You

Use these steps for setting your 2024 goals:

1. Create goals.
2. Define what action precedes that outcome.
3. Fit that action into your weekly schedule.
4. Break down the action into daily steps.
5. Add it to the calendar, and get to work.