How to be the CEO of your life.
Whether you’re shattering ceilings in your career, building a business, or raising the next generation of game changers (yes, I see you parents), I believe you should be the CEO. That means running your life like you run a business. With a clear vision and a plan to bring your vision to life.
The skills I’ve learned growing companies haven’t just earned me a seat at the table, (or allowed me to build our own table, hi, welcome) they’ve made me a better woman, wife, daughter, friend... And, most importantly: a better human.
I’ve learned how to prioritise goals to do things like:
Build two multiple six-figure businesses
Self-fund a company from my kitchen table
Hire a powerful team and empower team members
Mentor hundreds of clients
Build deep, meaningful relationships at home and in life
Take control of my finances and level up to buy my absolute dream house
All while staying aligned with what matters most (using the system I’m about to show you.) These aren’t just entrepreneur secrets. You don’t have to be the CEO of your own company or a C-suite executive to level up and be the CEO of your life.
Goals + Plan + Execution = Success
Clearly defined goals plus a well thought out plan plus consistent execution guarantees success. And I really don’t use the word “guarantees” lightly. In this post we’re going to talk about setting goals and planning for success.
It all starts by looking backwards. Your current reality is determined by your current patterns. If you want to change the outcome, you need to change the patterns. So the first step is illuminating the patterns in your life and/or your business so that you can double down on what's working and do less of what's not.
Let’s be honest, the past couple of years has stretched us unlike any year in history but please don’t use that as an excuse to skip the review part, that’s even more reason to reflect on it and explore the challenges you faced and what you learned from them.
Annual Review
There’s no wrong way to do an annual review, but my three favourite questions when it comes to reflecting on my experiences and my key learnings are:
What went well?
What didn’t go so well?
What did I learn?
I love to use these questions for both my life review and my business review so if you’re a business owner, you could consider doing the same. Likewise, you could do a career review using these same three questions.
Audit
The second part of the review is an audit. I’ve listed some suggestions of areas you could assess yourself on below but this is highly personal so you should pick categories that resonate for you and your life or business.
Life
Health & Wellness
Family & Friends
Love & Sex
Money
Career
Learning & Development
Fun & Play
Business
Revenue Streams
Client / Project Types
Expenses & Outgoings
Outsourcing & Team
Time & Effort
Targets & KPIs
Goals & Priorities
Once you’ve selected your categories, give yourself a rating from 1-10 with 1 being highly unsatisfied and 10 being highly satisfied with how that area is going for you currently. I’d suggest adding comments as you go as you’ll use this audit later when setting your goals for next year.
Then ask yourself two questions:
How do I feel when I look at my scores?
Which three categories do I want to focus on next year?
Starfish Retrospective
The starfish retrospective is one of my favourite exercises. I love to do this with post-it notes on my wall.
The idea is to list everything you did this year that you want to stop doing, anything you want to start doing, things you did this year that you’d like to keep doing next year, things you want to do more of, and things you want to do less of.
Hope is not a strategy.
Then we pull it all together to define your intentions for next year. Use the three questions, the audit and the starfish retrospective to set 3-5 annual goals.
The key is to set ambitious goals that are slightly uncomfortable. Anything too easy isn’t challenging. Anything overly ambitious is unrealistic and unmotivating. Picking the right goal, just a little beyond something you believe you can attain, is the key to motivating yourself. Once you start hitting those goals, it’ll start building momentum, which allows you to reset those goals higher and higher.
Don’t forget to write your annual goals as SMART goals.
SMART goals are:
Specific: Well defined, clear, and unambiguous
Measurable: With specific criteria that measure your progress towards the accomplishment of the goal
Achievable: Attainable and not impossible to achieve
Realistic: Within reach, realistic, and relevant to your why
Timely: With a clearly defined timeline, including a starting date and a target date. The purpose is to create urgency.
Plus my favourite mindset hack: write them in the past tense as if you have already achieved them.
If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it with amazing accuracy.
Finally we want to create an action plan because there’s no point having goals if you don’t map out how you’re going to hit them.
I like to ask myself the following five questions:
What does success look like? I.e. how will I know I’ve achieved my goal?
What is the first step I can take towards my goal. Be specific, put it on your to do list or in your diary, and tell someone else about it so they can hold you accountable!
What resources do I need to make progress?
Who will I ask for help and support from?
How can I create early wins and momentum?