Going After Dreams, Not People
It's time to shift your focus from seeking external validation or going with the flow to pursuing your dreams and passions. And what better way to do it than with a good old retrospective and set of OKRs.
That’s right - OKRs! Not goals, not SMART goals, not SMARTEST goals, none of those frameworks that we know don’t really work! Treat your dreams with the same serious intentions and structure you’d treat a business.
Think about it - if you have a tight deadline at work, you’d put in the time and effort to achieve it. Why not do the same for you, your happiness, your dreams.
Create a vision for your future, and stay committed to your journey
“Most people don’t know where they want to go. A lot of people are going and being driven by what they think they should do, what other people say they should do, what they have carried in their mind for a long time they should do - the reason why most people have such chaotic lives is because they're living in chaos in their heads” - Oprah Winfrey Source: Youtube
Step 1: Start by doing a bit of introspection. We recommend using “Life in Retrospective” or the “Wheel of Life” where you’d rate from 1-10 how happy or aligned you are within the following areas of your life:
Step 2: Once you have the 3 to 5 areas in your life that have the lowest scores (we called them areas of improvements), think about what’s missing for each of them. Establish an overarching view of what would be the best version of the area and how would look like.
For example if you identified that you are unhappy with how your “Family” area of your life is going right now, what would be your ideal dream scenario for it? What would make it a 10/10, and work backwards to where you are right now. What’s the first step you can take to get an increase of at least 1 point? What would be an action that you can take that would take you closer to that deal scenario?
Step 3: Architect your dream life. Shoot for another galaxy and it’s ok if you land on Mars in the end, but think BIG! Think about what are your dreams, then multiply them by let’s say 10X, and then maybe a bit more. Don’t make your dreams smaller just because of what other people think or do around you or if they seem unrealistic or unachievable. At the end of the day they are called “dreams” of a reason.
The sweet spot is where dreams meet reality. If you’re having a bit of trouble how to go about it we recommend using the following:
Architect your future
Be honest with yourself about the current reality, but don’t alter it or over exaggerate it.
Use the following self coaching questions to guides for each of the quarters:
#Values - are all about you and who you are
What are the building blocks that make up you?
How would you describe yourself in 5 words?
What is your purpose/passion/motivation?
Where do you get your energy from?
If you’d live in a place where you’d have everything you’d ever wish for how would that look like and make you feel?
# Future - dream big, what do you have to lose?
Imagine you’re retiring and looking back at your life: what do you want to have achieved?
Imagine you’re on your death bed: what would be your biggest regret?
Where do you want to live in 5/10 years? What do you see yourself doing in 20 years?
What does work-life balance look like for you? Is it a balance or an integration of the two?
What does your ideal day look like? What about an ideal week? Ideal month?
What’s the year that you’d like to relive? Why? If you don’t have one then what would the best year of your life look like?
What don’t you want to happen? What’s your absolute fear or nightmare?
# Current Reality - what’s working for you and what isn’t
What are the challenges in your day to day life?
Which of your skills, abilities, interests and/or values are you able to do well or apply currently? What would you like to do more of?
What would you miss if you were restricted or stopped doing today? Why?
What kind of people to you enjoy connecting and/or working with?
What environments do you enjoy the most? (e.g casual gathering, professional networking, outdoor activities, startup/corporate environments)
What do you do better natively? What do others see as your strengths?
Do you know yourself well enough to know what you want?
# Current Blockers - what are your show stoppers
What are the things that you’ve done just because your family or friends pressured you into doing it?
What are the paths that you’ve taken which turned into regrets?
Are there any gaps in your knowledge, skills or experience that you’d like to address?
What skills can you develop? Communication skills? Leadership skills? How can you bridge the gap?
Step 4: Are the areas of improvements from Step 2 still the same after you’ve completed Step 3? If yes then we’re going into OKRs. If not - reevaluate.
OKRs: think WHY, WHAT, HOW
For each of the areas of improvements establish an overarching Objective with a set of Key Results to match. Shape them with the following questions in mind:
Why is this objective important to me? Why am I choosing it?
What do I want to achieve in the end? What’s the end Objective? Is it realistic? What’s the timeframe that I want to set to achieve it?
How can I achieve it? How are the Key Results going to help me? How are my actions going to help me achieve the overall objective?
As a helper I’ve created a template with examples to help you track and measure your progress and hopefully give you a bit of a longer-term motivation to keep going month on month, quarter on quarter, year on year.
OKRs template with examples. Keep it simple. Chose between 3 to 5 Objectives and 3 to 5 Key Results for each Objective.
There’s nothing more rewarding then to go back to the previous years and see how far you’ve come along and how much progress you’ve made.
Note: When life happens be flexible and pivot when needed.
The beauty of having objectives is that along the way, sometimes different opportunities unfold which can end up to be better then you could have ever hoped for. Stay focused on your dreams, but open to possibilities.
Conclusion
The path to truly living your dreams is more than just wishful thinking.
It demands a structured approach (similar to the strategic planning used in successful businesses hence the OKRs), being intentional with our actions and time, and knowing when to pivot. Remember that we are in control of our dreams and actions.
If you want to join us in our 2024 journey feel free to download the “Let’s Go 2024” guide and planner and tag along 🙌🏻2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣4️⃣🎉 Let’s make this the best year yet!
