Tag Archives: goal setting

Goal Setting to Make Your Best Year Ever

Posted on January 15, 2024 | Comments Off on Goal Setting to Make Your Best Year Ever

Setting goals – when done right – puts you on the path to a more desired life. In goal setting, do not make the finish line the main thing or lose sight of the journey.

In episode 67 of The Incrementalist, you will learn:

1) By breaking your big goals down into mini goals, you achieve small wins that build your confidence, grow your knowledge, and keep you on an upward spiral.

2) Goals are spotlights pointing you in a certain direction. They are not always your ultimate destination point.

3) The key differences between extrinsic goals and intrinsic goals.

4) Why it’s better to focus on goals you control, like your daily habits and actions.

5) The benefits of embracing failure as a chance to learn, instead of a negative experience to avoid at all costs.

6) Why you need to choose or design the ideal environment and not rely on your willpower.

7) Fear of hope is a root cause for why we resist change.

8) I’m creating an online course currently titled The Busyness Trap: How to Escape Overload and Focus on What Matters. To get updates on the course launch and registration process, subscribe to my e-newsletter or The Incrementalist YouTube channel or podcast.

To read the transcript of this episode, go here.

To listen to the podcast, click here.

Watch the video on our YouTube channel, The Incrementalist – A Productivity Show. And subscribe to the show to keep making big changes in small steps.

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Dyan Williams is a solo lawyer who practices U.S. immigration law and legal ethics at Dyan Williams Law PLLC. She is also a productivity coach who helps busy professionals and business owners reduce overwhelm, turn their ideas into action, and focus on what matters. She is the author of The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps.

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7 Mistakes to Avoid When Goal Setting

Posted on February 3, 2023 | Comments Off on 7 Mistakes to Avoid When Goal Setting

Goals are targets, milestones or results you want to achieve. They can empower you to move out of a rut and experience life more fully.

The fresh start effect of a Monday, the first day of the month, or a new year inspires us to set new goals. But week after week, month after month, year after year, we set goals that we soon forget.

Before you decide that goals are bad for you or don’t work, first look at how you set them.

In episode 61 of The Incrementalist, you will learn 7 big mistakes to avoid when goal setting.

To learn more by reading the transcript, go here.

To listen to 7 Mistakes to Avoid When Goal Setting, click here. Subscribe to The Incrementalist podcast at Apple Podcasts or other apps if you’re an auditory learner.

Watch the video on our YouTube channel, The Incrementalist – A Productivity Show. And subscribe to the show if you’re a visual learner. This will help the show grow and reach you and others who want to create big changes in small steps.

# # #

Dyan Williams is a productivity coach who helps working parents, lawyers, small business owners and other busy people turn their ideas into action, reduce overwhelm, and focus on what truly matters. She is also a solo lawyer who practices U.S. immigration law and legal ethics at Dyan Williams Law PLLC. She is the author of The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps.

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Why You Need to Set Goals, Even If Achieving Them Doesn’t Make You Happier

Posted on December 2, 2022 | Comments Off on Why You Need to Set Goals, Even If Achieving Them Doesn’t Make You Happier

Why doesn’t goal achievement make us happier?

When we finally accomplish what we want or create the life we designed, we feel excited and ecstatic. But as the days and weeks go by, our emotional state goes back to baseline.

Goals cannot fix internal, existential problems. They can lead to distracting busy work, instead of purposeful, important work. They do not always create desired results or positive outcomes. They are not reliable sources of true joy.  

Even though goals don’t make you happy or happier, you still need to make them for different reasons.

In episode 60 of The Incrementalist, you will learn:

1) The limits of goal setting and goal achievement

2) The 5 reasons you still need to set goals

To learn more by reading the transcript, go here.

To listen to Why You Need to Set Goals, click here. Subscribe to The Incrementalist podcast at Apple Podcasts or other apps if you’re an auditory learner.

Watch the video on our YouTube channel, The Incrementalist – A Productivity Show. And subscribe to the show if you’re a visual learner. This will help the show grow and reach you and others who want to create big changes in small steps.

# # #

Dyan Williams is a solo lawyer who practices U.S. immigration law and legal ethics at Dyan Williams Law PLLC. She is also a productivity coach who helps working parents, lawyers, small business owners and other busy people turn their ideas into action, reduce overwhelm, and focus on what truly matters. She is the author of The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps.

SUBSCRIBE           CONTACT

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How to Kickstart Your Year with 12 Key Questions

Posted on December 31, 2021 | Comments Off on How to Kickstart Your Year with 12 Key Questions

The start of the new year is an ideal time to take stock and reflect. January 1, the 1st of every month, or the start of a new season are temporal landmarks. This is when many of us set goals or recommit to goals.  

A review of the year gives you insights on how to move forward in the next. It’s better to do it in the first week of the year, but no later than before you start planning for the upcoming months.   

In episode 45 of The Incrementalist, you will learn:

1. How much time to invest in the Yearly Review. 

2. You get to decide where to review your year, such as at the dining table, at your work desk, on your couch, or outdoors if the local weather is ideal.

3. The Peak End Rule is a cognitive bias that affects our memories and shapes our behavior. We remember fragments of an event or experience. The fragments are the peaks, the pits, and the beginning and ending. 

4. Don’t rely on just your memory when you do your review. Go through your personal records, like journals, planners, calendars, notebooks, videos and photos. 

5. The 12 key questions to kickstart your year: 

Question #1: What made you feel the most joy? 

Question #2: What made you feel the most discontent?

Question #3: What was your biggest win? How did you celebrate it?

Question #4: What was your biggest setback? How did you recover from it?  

Question #5: What do you wish to do or experience more? What would happen if this came true? How can you make it come true?    

Question #6: What do you wish to do or experience less? What would happen if this came true? How can you make it come true? 

Question #7: Which habit or activity renews your energy the most?

Question #8: Which habit or activity drains your energy the most?  

Question #9 What did you do to make life for your [spouse, partner, child, sibling, parent, friend, colleague] more easeful?        

Question #10: What did you do to make life for your [spouse, partner, child, sibling, parent, friend, colleague] more difficult?  

Question #11: What did you receive from each person that made you most grateful? 

Question #12: What was the biggest lesson you learned and are afraid to apply?  

6. If these questions do not resonate with you, be sure to come up with your own to reflect on the past and plan for the future. 

7. Remember the 80/20 Rule: 20% of what you do creates 80% of the results – either 80% of your joy or 80% of you discontent. 

8. The huge benefits of reflecting on the past before you plan for the future. 

9. Asking the right questions will lead to more informed answers. Sometimes we avoid questions because they are inconvenient and they hold us accountable or responsible. But if we don’t bring them to the surface, they will linger and keep us from growing and making good decisions.    

To listen to episode 45, How to Kickstart Your Year with 12 Key Questions, click here. If you prefer to read the transcript, go here. Subscribe to The Incrementalist at Apple Podcasts or other apps.

If you’re a visual learner, watch the video on our new YouTube channel, The Incrementalist – A Productivity Show!

Sources cited: 

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Dyan Williams is a solo lawyer who practices U.S. immigration law and legal ethics at Dyan Williams Law PLLC. She is also a productivity coach who helps working parents, lawyers, small business owners and other busy people turn their ideas into action, reduce overwhelm, and focus on what truly matters. She is the author of The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps.

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