On Goals ...
Build a system that works for you
A short piece here on goals. No, I am not talking about the football kind but the ones that usually somewhat ambitious people set themselves on a frequent basis.
For many years, admittedly, I was laughing off the necessity to set goals. I visualised roughly where my path was going to lead me and let the universe decide. It mostly worked, yet I somewhat left much of my destiny to randomness or luck. I actually wrote a piece on luck a few months back if you want to check it out.
I have now become friendlier with setting goals, especially after I ventured out of the institutional money management world. I think it comes naturally when you leave a highway where goals are usually set for you. I was once involved in a management coaching course where we all had to sit through a few days of presentations and interviews. Most people found it annoying and unproductive. I kind of started liking it and got friendly with the person who ran it, who himself had a successful management career. He lamented how goal setting on a company level is nearly impossible for him to influence, while on a personal level, people are way more open to the idea. I get it; companies are weird concepts with many different interests and a culture that usually builds around how best to set yourself up closer to the money pot of success.
Building a System
Building a system, in anything really, is the ideal environment where you can create discipline and compound benefits systematically over time. This is true in many aspects of life as well as in investing, of course.
The system that I have built is a simple spreadsheet which I update on a quarterly basis. I know some people who set goals on a monthly or even weekly basis, but that’s overkill.
It looks something like that:
It sets out my number one goal for the quarter, which is supplemented by one sentence that is driving me to achieve this goal, as well as identifiable habits which will be necessary to achieve this goal. After that, you can populate a few different other goals you also want to pursue, including the why’s and the habits required.
Now, the Misogi is something I just came across this year. It is defined as the idea to take a very big leap and make a goal that has a 50% or greater chance of failure. Even if we don't fully achieve it, we're still much further along than if we had only taken small steps. This is in order to push yourself to get to the unknown. Usually, this involves a physical task, like running a marathon or skiing a black piste.
For each goal, I then create a fly-wheel, also in spreadsheet format, that looks something like the one below. Each coloured quarter represents a stepping stone towards a goal. For each stepping stone (starting from the top right clockwise), you can break down the necessary steps needed to get to where you want to. This will build a system of things that you need to complete en route to your achievement.
There is no one system that fits all, which is important to remember. I think people work in many different ways, and that’s cool. What I think, though, is important is to write things down, to give them thought and life. A thought is not necessarily put to life until you give it weight by writing it down. That’s how what works for me and hopefully for you too!
There are also variations to any system you use, with the most important considerations being as follows:
Time
Time horizons can vary. While I set mine at a quarter. Why not set it weekly, monthly, yearly or for 2 decades? Nothing stops you. Think big, be ambitious, especially over the longer term.
There is a good book I read which covers a very long 25-year timespan. You can find it here.
Some more books worth exploring.
Frequency
To avoid staring and forgetting. Frequency must be at the heart of your system.
Reviewing frequently is essential. I typically review on a weekly basis just so I track my path.
I will follow up with more thoughts on this subject, which I hope will be useful for you.
Best of Success
