It’s time to identify the top 1 – 3 goals you want to focus on right now.
This is a key step. Your mission is to focus in on a small set of goals that will have the most impact on your life RIGHT NOW.
Let’s say you’ve brainstormed the BIG goals for your life and you have the following ten goals:
- Lose 100 Pounds
- Run a 5K
- Buy a house
- Start a business
- Go to Greece for the entire summer
- Go on weekly hikes
- Spend more time with your parents each week
- Pay off your student loan debt
- Save for retirement
- Get a promotion
Now let’s say — just as an example — that you met with your doctor last week. She sat you down and gave you some serious news: unless you make a commitment to lose weight you are extremely likely to develop hypertension, blood pressure, and diabetes within the next 12 – 18 months.
Knowing this information, which of your ten goals do you think would have the biggest impact on your life right now?
I’m guessing you picked the three health goals on this list:
- Lose 100 Pounds
- Run a 5K
- Go on weekly hikes
As this example illustrates, your task is to zero in on the goals that are most relevant, most important, and most motivating for you based on where you are in your life right now.
So Why Only 1 – 3 Goals?
The truth is, most of us can only really focus on one BIG goal at a time. This can expand to perhaps 2 – 3 goals if they are all connected (as in the health example above), or if they require different levels of focus and commitment from us.
Even someone as accomplished and productive as Warren Buffet understands the importance of focus. He famously advised his employees to stick to no more than 5 goals when focusing on building their careers and to studiously avoid everything else.
So when picking your goals, keep asking yourself this question:
“Which of these goals, if I were to achieve it, would have the most impact on my life right now?”
Or put another way:
“Which of these goals is going to help me make the most progress toward my Level 10 life?”
How To Pick Your Top 3 Goals
Take a moment now to go through your list of goals and divide them into 2 lists:
- Goals I want to focus on NOW
- Goals I can focus on LATER
Put your LATER goals aside. You’ll come back to them at a future date.
Next, rank your NOW goals in order from highest priority to lowest priority. Remember the key questions are: “Which of these goals, if I was to achieve them, would have the most impact on my life right now?” and “Which of these goals is going to help me make the most progress toward my Level 10 life?”
Pick your top goals from this list and write them down in your Goal Worksheet. You should choose no more than 3 goals — but don’t feel obligated to have 3. If you have just one key goal you’re excited to focus on, that’s great!
Drop a comment below and share your top goals with us so that we can cheer you on…
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