Think Big About Your Life in 2016!

We Don’t Want “Resolutions”; We Want Change!

Since I’m kind of obsessive about getting results, rather than simply engaging in meaningless rituals, I began to look closely at how my life was (or wasn’t, as the case may be) getting derailed when pursuing goals that were designed to change my life.

What I discovered is that we obsess about the process of setting goals, while forgetting that the whole point is to change our lives. Goals are just one way to do that.

Goals Are the Wrong Place to Look

By putting our attention on setting goals, we forget the really important part: the change itself. Rather than asking, “How do I set S.M.A.R.T. achievable goals for the year?” you need to ask, “What change am I trying to achieve, and how do I get it over the course of the next year?” That’s a very different orientation.

Mis-Alignment Can Drive You Off Course

One reason change doesn’t happen is because of our pesky unconscious mind. If you’ve ever tired to quit smoking, or go on a diet, or start going to the gym, you’ve experienced this first hand. Your conscious mind is psyched to get going! You can’t wait to make everything different! Your life will be amazing!!! And … it’s going to be so amazing that it can be done … next week!! Or the week after. Or even next month (after all, you’ll still have 11 months after that)…

When your conscious and unconscious goals collide, your unconscious mind will usually win out. That’s why it’s important to make sure the changes you want consciously are deeply grounded in your unconscious identity and values. Alignment will help you make the changes you want; lack of alignment will derail you the moment you leave the gate.

Willpower … won’t.

We like to think that willpower is the answer. It’s certainly the message we get from friends, family, and inspiring Hollywood movies that usually involve the underdog triumphing over adversity by having more willpower. All the research on willpower, however, shows that willpower has limits. Lots and lots of limits.

One of the problems with willpower is that it requires constant attention and maintenance. You have to keep “will-ing.” If you slip up, your brain will go right back to its old behavior, and you’ll be “won’t-ing” the moment you’re tired, stressed, or just inattentive.

You Need Systems and Support

What produces real change? Alignment, systems, and support. If you intend to start dieting, or you intend to change jobs, maybe you will, or maybe you won’t. But if your goal is aligned behind your sense of identity and your highest values, you’ll have the energy to to start creating the change you want in your life.

Once you have the energy, however, don’t apply it directly towards your goal. Instead, apply your willpower towards building systems that will take you towards your goal.

If you want to reduce the amount you eat, for example, you could spend $500 on a year of Weight Watchers coaching, or you could spend $200 on a set of smaller dishes. Psychologically, when you eat from a smaller dish, you eat less and feel full faster. And once you’re using the new dishes, you don’t need willpower any more. The dish is small. It will stay small whether you’re tired or not. Instead of relying on willpower to eat smaller portions, you’ve created a system that works whether or not you put your attention on it.

What You’ll Learn in Building Our Best Lives

You will learn to:

• Align your conscious goals with your unconscious identity and values.
• Reflect on past mistakes and successes to find and overcome any barriers you’re putting in your own way.
• Create more luck in your life—easily!
• Connect with people who can be a resource for your success.
• Identify high-leverage habits, where small changes in your behavior can produce big results.
• Change the decisions that are holding you back so instead, they propel you forward.
• Set goals that give you the life you want, as opposed to the life that someone else wants for you.
• Choose a planning approach or an experimental approach for major life initiatives, depending on which makes the most sense.

Each action cycle will begin with a mini-lecture, introducing the next steps in the Building Our Best Lives process. Then we’ll separately work on our own reflection and planning. We’ll then regroup for Q&A, live coaching, and group discussion.

I will be online live for help during the solo work time, if you need help with part of the program.

Questions?

Can I attend by phone?

You can attend either via webinar or via audio conference. Currently, I don’t intend to use any slides that aren’t already included in the handout booklet.

I can’t attend during a weekday. Will the program be recorded?

I’ll record the program and post a replay page so you can work through the day on your own at a later time.

The advantage to the live program is that I’ll be available in between discussion segments to answer questions one-on-one. The advantage to watching the replay is that you can adjust the pacing of the program over one or several days, so you can have exactly as much time as you need to complete the exercises.

Is Building our Best Lives 2016 right for me?

If all you need is simple goal-setting, then this isn’t the right program for you. This is the program for you if you can answer yes to any of these questions:

• Do you want to dive deep into where you are in your life and where you want to go?
• Do you want to make real changes to set yourself up for the next stage of success?
• Are you ready to eliminate the beliefs that are holding you back?
• Want to finally design THE daily routine that insures you make progress on your most important goals?
• Do you want to find more ways to fill your needs through a powerful plan for your year?
• Is the answer yes?

Come design your best life with me!