One of the things that happens at the beginning of every year, or at the start of a major transition, is that you see people setting goals. If you were like me you probably thought about all the goals you wanted to achieve in the New Year, and you might have even taken the time to write them down. But if you are also like me, it's possible that you have declared goals in the past, but never quite saw them to completion.

I count it a privilege that I get to spend about 1200 hours a year in session with people because I get to learn all kinds of helpful tools and tips from them. Though they are coming to get help from me (and I hope they find it helpful), I too am learning from them.

So in this episode I want to share with you 8 principles that I have found to be helpful in setting and completing goals. These are principles I've gleaned from reading, and from clients and colleagues and friends, and most importantly, they are principles I have put into action and had success with in my own life.

So in this episode I share with you these 8 important principles when it comes to goal setting:

1. Focus on a limited number of goals (ex. 1-4 goals).
2. Allow goals to build sequentially over time, or have "baby steps" built into them.
3. Be very specific. (i.e. not I want to be fit, but rather, I will run this specific 5K).
4. Attach goal to a bigger purpose/vision (i.e. I want to be able to keep up with my kids, etc.)
5. Create accountability.
6. Write the goals down
7. Re-Evaluate the goals along the way (i.e. have a check-in process)
8. Celebrate the accomplishing or achievement of the goal.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family by Patrick Lencioni

Palo Duro Trail Run

Charity Water

Scott Harrison interview on the Rich Roll Podcast

The new near can bring forth a lot of varying emotions from people. In my experience, a large number of people come into the new year very excited about change and all the potential possibilities that await them. It's often a time to start anew. But there is also a large number of people who come into the new year with a lot of fears about what awaits them, perhaps because the prior year was so challenging. And when I think about these varying experiences I think about anxiety. Anxiety is both an excitement about something new and that we care about, but it can also be about things that create fear for us. Anxiety can be healthy or unhealthy as I have written about and said many times before.

In this episode I want to explore some principles and strategies that you can implement for yourself, or help others with this year. So if you work with a group of people this could be very helpful for you. And to do this, I primarily "piggyback" off a recent article I wrote for the Fuller Youth Institute called Helping Adolescents Work Through the Rising Tide of Anxiety.

In the article and in this podcast I explore:

• Create space and give permission to talk about anxiety.
• Help identify the roots of anxiety.
• Provide tools to help manage the anxiety.
• Reframe anxiety as an opportunity to grow.
• Practice working through the anxiety.

Resources Mentioned in This Podcast

Helping Adolescents Work Through the Rising Tide of Anxiety

Downloadable PDF of the Pain Cycle (i.e. feelings/emotions)

Feeling Word Vocabulary (Think 2 Perform)