Time Ownership –
A Roadmap to Achieving 2024 Goals
Grab a cuppa and a notepad!
This is an all-in-one, year-at-a-glance overview of goal setting by time frame. I've included a roadmap, recommended reading, and some sample tools to get you on your way!
The greatest gift of time is that each time frame offers a unique opportunity to improve our approach to getting things done.
Five timeframes help us make important decisions about what to do and what to do next so that we own our time.
1. Owning the Moment
Consider the feeling of waiting in a line at customs that doesn’t budge. We become hyperfocused on feeling stuck, especially when the other lines move faster.
Compare this feeling to waiting to find out if you got the job, the promotion, or the new home that you put an offer on.
One is filled with frustration and regret, and the others are filled with anticipation.
It is easy to get caught up in the moment and fail to see what or who is right in front of us. Accepting that time is not within your control allows you to notice things happening around you with interest, compassion, and patience.
“When we are no longer able to change a situation,
we are challenged to change ourselves.”
― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning (other inspiring quotes).
Every moment holds the opportunity to move you closer to the person you choose to be.
Recommended Reading: Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning, Immunity to Change, Keegan and Lahey
2. The Perfect Day: It is All in the Approach
The typical approach to time management is to create a list and get it done efficiently and effectively.
True, it makes sense, but how?
Each day is a game of planning versus performance. Your job is to figure out all the possibilities, choose the best, and complete them.
The more complexity you add to the game, the less likely you will move forward on the board. The mistake we make is adding complexity, such as:
done to perfection
not asking for help
being harder on ourselves than others
thinking we aren’t good enough
Keep it simple. Just choose the right work, do your best, and move on. The approach is more important than the list.
Here are a few tips for simplifying your approach:
Shifting from a “to-do” list to a “do list” by ruthlessly eliminating tasks
Set a limited number of priorities each day with time for recovery built in.
Time block according to energy as well as urgency.
Celebrate your wins, then reset for tomorrow, today!
Recommended Reading: The Power of Full Engagement, Loehr and Schwartz, The One Thing, Gary Keller
3. Each month – a.k .a. The Thirty-Day Sprint.
A monthly cadence is ideal for tackling your habits. Habits are the gateway to skills. When we improve our habits, we give our skill-building the best chance of survival.
Why thirty days? Thirty days is long enough to establish a habit but short enough that you can outlast your urge to give up. Conveniently, it fits into the calendar.
Here are a few tips for a 30-Day Habit Sprint:
Choose 12 habits (one per month) at the beginning of each year (adjust, stack, repeat as needed).
Find an accountability buddy to play with
Alternate health, work, and relationship habits (see The Habit Checklist for 75 habit ideas)
Include both establishing good habits and breaking up with bad ones.
Recommended Reading: Atomic Habits, James Clear, Tiny Habits, BJ Fogg
4. Every Quarter: Four Big Moves
The 90-day time frame is ideal for completing priorities, projects, and programs. Priorities are more than a task list. It is an extensive list of activities deep enough to move the needle on your big goal and short enough to evaluate, make adjustments and renew for the next quarter.
In his book Your Next Five Moves, Patrick Bet-David states,
“Your next move should be driven by a clear vision
of where you want to be in five moves.”
A useful technique for this time frame is to apply a theme to each quarter. A theme summarizes your intentions, like wrapping it in a bow. Themes are inspiring and easy to communicate to others for their support and buy-in.
For example, here are my four themes for the year 2024.
Q1 – Program Development – an Atlas of Roadmaps for Travel Business Owners.
Q2 – Inspired Training Events – My Brilliant Business Academy – A Two-Day Immersive Workshop
Q3 – Train the Trainer Programs – Empowering Leadership and Training through Coaches
Q4 – Professional Development – My “Get Better at” Goal for Growing Leaders - Five Moves Ahead
*If you lead a team, it is common to feel like your team needs more of your time, but you struggle to deliver consistently. Please feel free to book a call if you need help shifting from doing to leading and mapping out your year.
Recommended Reading: Your Next Five Moves, Patrick Bet-David, Prioritize, Joe Calhoun
5. My Magnificent Year: Direction, Not the Destination Counts
The time span of a year is entirely theoretical. It has yet to happen, and whatever you plan may never actually occur.
Why, then, do it at all?
Setting goals for the year is crucial to the creative process because it creates the much-needed anticipation from which our motivation springs.
On a deeper level, I noticed a trend after coaching hundreds of clients on goal setting. When we choose a date far enough in the future, we remove the fear element that is always present whenever we consider going out of our comfort zone.
We can put our fears aside and articulate what direction we are heading in, even if we are unsure of our final goal.
Once the big goal seed is planted, if it is inspiring enough, we cannot help but water it.
Recommended Reading: Green Lights, Matthew McConaughey, 4000 Weeks, Oliver Burkeman
Points to Ponder:
What do you want - really?
What direction are you headed in?
Describe your future self after achieving your goal in full detail!
Why is it important to you?
Why is it important to you now?
6. The Next Steps: Link your time frames together.
Time Ownership impacts the way you experience time. You can choose anticipation over frustration and regret.
Every moment: Decide what this moment teaches you about your big goal.
Every Day: Start with the most important thing to make the biggest difference to your long-term goal.
Every Month: Become better each year by taking on one habit at a time for a 30-day sprint.
Every Quarter: Think five moves ahead when deciding your next move.
Every Year: Your big goals inspire you to achieve magnificent things, yet they are achieved one small shift at a time.
Let me know what stood out for you. Which time frame will you invest in? What action will you take? geraldine@geraldineree.com
If you know someone who would benefit from this newsletter, please share!
Enjoy the journey!
PS If you are a Travel Business Owner with a Team and wonder about your big moves in 2024, take my FREE Diagnostic Quiz. It is a step-by-step action planner for your travel business!
If you are a Travel Advisor looking for a practical, hands-on roadmap to build your business, consider my online course: Flying Colours Academy - Online.
My books are available online: Flying Colours CAD, Flying Colours USD, 10X My Travel Business CAD, and 10X My Travel Business USD.
For more resources, check out: www.geraldineree.com
