Goals and Failures - Edition 170 by Rob Lambert
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A Cultivated Life Newsletter
Hi,
I hope you are doing safe and well.
Firstly, an apology for the radio silence so far in 2022. I'll explain a little more in this newsletter. And also - a new eBook with 30 ideas about creativity for you!!
I’m going to start the first newsletter of the year with a few announcements, a goal setting mini masterclass, a reveal of a failure I’ve already had this year and a plan for this newsletter moving forward. As usual, there are some interesting links to read too.
Strap yourself in. I’ll keep it as short as I can.
In today's edition
The new branding!
Foundational Goals and why you should set them (and what my epic 2022 goal is!)
My Epic Fail in 2022 already (and your link to a free guide on Creativity)
Coming this year to the Cultivated Community
Interesting Links
New Brand
A big thank you to those who have supported me with this newsletter - it is greatly appreciated. The feedback and love for this work is what keeps me going.
And Thanks to my new subscribers - I’ve had a significant number in recent weeks. Welcome.
I realised over the break, whilst doing my annual review and goal setting for the year, that although I talk a little about Management in my content, the newsletters that receive the most engagement and feedback (and the ones I am most passionate about creating), are the ones about general work ideas - not just management.
It’s the same with my videos and blogs, and those who’ve seen me speak at conferences know I rarely talk about management. I tend to talk about thriving in your career, communication, pillars of life, systems thinking etc.
So, this newsletter (and my YouTube channel) have been rebranded to be called ‘A cultivated life’ where I intend to share ideas on how to live a good (work) life.
There will still be management stuff but in a wider content pool designed to help people lead a good, happy and effective work life.
Same content, new focus, new enthusiasm, new name. Still me.
Foundational Goals
I have spent a lot of time fine tuning my goals.
I’ve also set an ambitious foundational goal for 2022!
Whether at work or in life, goal setting is pretty straightforward. Sadly, people make it harder and more complex than it needs to be.
I work on the basis that goals should not overwhelm and there should always be a foundational goal.
A foundational goal is one that makes the other goals easier to achieve, or your life (and business) monumentally better.
Some ideas about goals:
I like to have a mix of easy goals and tougher goals.
Also, short term goals and long goals. A nice mix to keep it interesting but also so you can see progress.
Always try to have one goal that is the primary focus - the foundational goal that helps the others but gives you clarity when you need to decide where to focus.
All goals should be measurable and time bound.
And all goals need a system, after you've set them, to bring them to life
This is the same in work and life. Make sure you can say yes or no to that goal being complete. And make sure it has a deadline and possibly some milestones. Call them OKRs, objectives, bhags or goals. It’s just something tangible that you aim to get done by a realistic date.
My foundational goal is HUGE this year, and there is a very real chance I will fail.
I will also be documenting this goal for a video and sharing my progress on Instagram.
I'm aiming to be able to slam dunk a basketball by June 25th 2022.
I'm tall (6ft 3inches) but I’m getting old (44) and I’m overweight and unfit.
It’s a foundational goal because it’s the only goal I must work towards this year. Everything else takes a backseat to this one. If I have to choose what I focus on or do- this one wins.
It’s foundational because in order to achieve it I need to get fit, healthy and focused. And this will make my life vastly better and make all the other goals easier to achieve.
It’s measurable (I can either dunk or not - I will record it on camera) and it’s time bound.
It’s going to be hard. There's a high chance that I fail. But I have a plan. I will need support.
And ultimately I aim to raise £1000 for Naomi House - a hospice for kids who have a limited life. A heartbreaking and joyful place to visit at the same time. With so little life left, it's remarkable how much joy the team at the hospice bring to these kids and their families.
I’ll be sharing more on this in the next few weeks.
Let me know if you’d like a list of all my goals and why they interweave with each other. I didn't want to assume you would want that in an already lengthy newsletter.
Epic Fail
I have failed with one goal already this year. I mentioned before that I was doing a pop-up newsletter about creativity on LinkedIn throughout January.
I started with gusto then LinkedIn killed it.
The platform is well shoddy and I often couldn’t post. I lost many drafts and images often wouldn’t load. The notifications also failed to stop/start/turn off for many subscribers.
So, I pivoted and now it’s a free ebook here on the site. 30 ideas about creativity which I hope will inspire, motivate and enthuse. It's CM 14 in the store and is free!
Lesson learned - all creative activities can fail. But learning from this and moving ahead is important.
Coming this year
I’m close to having my new ebook ‘take a day off’ published and am going to focus this year on my YouTube channel. I have around 250 videos I’d like to create and I’m hoping I can get more than the 16 or so I achieved last year published.
I also have a new eBook about agile management in the pipeline and if I get time, Zero to Keynote will be out too - a book of inspirational ideas for budding presenters.
I hope this is helpful for setting the scene for this year and what to expect.
Until next week where I will be talking about some systems thinking ideas around boundaries and edges!
Have a brilliant week. I’m off to try and dunk a basketball.
Rob..
Interesting links.
If you’re stuck on a project, here’s some interesting and useful advice.
There are always consequences to our actions as Seth Godin points out in this tiny little micro piece. It’s a systems thinking basic - there are consequences but we may not always see them - but someone will.
Playing practical jokes at work? Be careful. It turns out the employer can’t be held responsible, as per this ruling, but watch out - leaders and managers must also make it clear what the code of conduct is and what’s expected of people.
It’s like the authors of this piece read my creativity ebook. Take a break to release creativity. It cannot be forced. Agreed.
Slow down. Why slowing down helps us focus more. Couldn’t agree more.
A kindness and gratitude ritual is the single most important daily routine you could build.
Love this. An app that helps visually impaired people see what’s in front of them.
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Thanks
Rob..