Ginni Saraswati is the founder and CEO of Ginni Media, cofounder of The Podcast Accelerator and host of The Ginni Show.
People often ask me how I get so much done. “You have a daily podcast and a serial podcast, manage a 27-person team worldwide at one of your three companies, work out five days a week and also have time for a personal life and relationships. How do you stay so consistently productive?”
For me, it all comes down to how I set goals for myself and how I hold myself accountable to them. Part of this is about (really) knowing yourself. It’s being honest about what motivates you and what distracts you and having a plan in place. You also have to be willing to make micro-adjustments when you need to adjust course.
Ambitious types and high-achievers aren’t merely big dreamers. They also have to be planners, whether or not that’s a skill that comes naturally. Successful planning not only means taking time to think about the end goal but also mapping out how you’re going to get there.
Revisiting SMART Goals
The SMART acronym for goal setting isn’t new. It’s been a popular and effective method since it was first coined by George Doran, Arthur Miller and James Cunningham in 1981. These days, there are all sorts of innovative approaches to goal-setting, but in my opinion, they all take their cues from this original SMART approach.
To become achievable goals must be:
• Specific: Define the who, what, why, where, how.
• Measurable: Quantify what success looks like.
• Achievable: Create steps and make sure the goal is attainable given time/financial constraints.
• Relevant: Ask yourself: Does the goal align with your current circumstances? Are you in control of its realization?
• Time-Bound: Create incremental steps toward achieving it.
Having learned a lot from my own history of goal-setting, I’ve figured out what works best for me. One of my key values is work-life harmony. It’s a notoriously difficult thing to achieve for leaders and anyone who loves what they do for a living. If this is you, then these tips can help you get your goals across the finish line.
1. Focus.
Multitasking has its perks and strengths in various scenarios, but when it comes to completing tasks and staying productive, it’s a killer of productivity. Focus on one task at a time and silence all notifications and distractions around you.
Having solid work sessions where you focus on one task at a time gets you one step closer to completing the task. The goal isn’t to complete the task, it’s to focus on getting one step further than you were the day before. I have a solid 45 minutes of focus and a 15-minute break to stretch, drink water and, of course, pet the cat.
Pro Tip: Workflow timer apps are super helpful for this. You can set the time for your work sessions and breaks on it to hold yourself accountable.
2. Show up, every day.
When I first heard this, it sounded a lot like exercising discipline. And the inner rebel in me went, “Hell. No.” But I’ve realized that an intention to show up doesn’t have to feel like some militant regimen. The truth is, some days, we don’t feel 100%. Maybe there’s only 25% in our tank. Showing up is doing what you can, consistently. Meaningful accomplishment is an accumulative process, and you’ll realize over time just how far you’ve come.
3. Reflect and culminate.
Setting goals and writing down what we envision for the future isn’t the only way to achieve success. It’s important to take time to actually reflect on how you’re feeling about what you’re doing. Consider whether or not it’s actually working and bringing you the intended results.
Reflection is a practice that can actually save you a ton of time and energy over the long term. It’s a way to make sure the path you’re on reflects the values you believe in. And it gives you a chance to change course if that’s what’s needed before you get to the finish line and realize that maybe that wasn’t really the finish line you meant to cross.
4. Schedule your priorities.
If it’s not on my calendar, it won’t get done. And, if I’m honest here, I’ll most likely forget about it. It’s happened that way with promising my partner I’d go with her to the DMV and forgot (Oops!), forgetting about a lead I was supposed to follow up with, you name it. If it’s not on my calendar and I haven’t planned for it, it won’t get done.
The mapping process is what moves a goal beyond the starting line and, ultimately, takes it across the finish line. If you don’t have a plan, there’s a high probability that life’s distractions will veer your attention elsewhere. If a goal is really important to you, take the time to map out how you’re going to achieve it. Revisit that plan periodically and pivot as needed. The more specific you get, the more likely you are to look back one day and recognize how much that goal-setting cartography paid off.
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