Victorious Cycle – Vision, Targets, & Goals
“People may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.” ~Thomas Merton
In creating a Victorious Cycle, you need three ingredients to start: A Vision, Targets, and Goals.
👁 Vision
Inspiring Life Change
Vision can be further broken down into two parts.
Vision Statement
Live out of Identity
Create a current Vision Statement for how you want to live your life right now, as if you are already living it. Studies show that when you live out of an identity, you are more likely to conform you actions to that identity.
Consider this example. Two people are on break outside at work. Both are trying to quit smoking. A new team member comes out and and ask if either want a cigarette.
The first says, “No thank, I’m trying to quit.”
The second says, “Not thanks, I’m not a smoker.“
Who do you think is more likely to quit? The person who’s identity is, “Smoker who is trying to quit.” Or the one who’s identity is, “Someone who doesn’t smoke.”
By creating a Vision Statement for each Life Domain, you begin to create an IDENTITY that you live into, rather than an IDEAL you’ll never live up to.
10 Year Vision
Begin with the End in Mind
We are all moving toward a life, but is it the life we want? If we don’t have an end in mind, a life we’d want to live, we may end up with a life we hate.
Before creating goals for this year, we must begin with an end in mind. We must create a vision of what we want our future to be in all the Life Domains. 10 Years out is a good starting point. Far enough that we have time to make changes that we want. Close enough that we can still imagine it. Visions are often in narrative form, and paint and ideal picture of what you’d want life to be.
What do you want your life to look like in 10 years? What do you want your relationships, finances, and work to look like? What do you want your Spiritual and Mental life to be?
Let’s make sure the ladder is leaning on the right way before we climb it.
🎯 Targets
Significant Life Change
A 10 Year Vision is great, but that’s too far out to plan for directly. We need to break that down into smaller chunks.
Targets are milestones that are 6-36 months out. They will required considerable effort and planning to achieve, but will also result in significant progress toward our end vision.
If our 10 Year Financial Vision is to be retired, an 18 month Target might be to get out of debt. If you have $300 in total debt, this isn’t a good target, because it’s too small. But if you have enough debt that it would take you between 6 and 36 months to achieve, then it’s a great target. After it is achieved, it would free up significant cash flow to finish your retirement savings, as well and reduce your annual expenses. Significant life change.
Targets should follow the SMARTER Framework (covered below).
✅ Goals
Achievable Life Change
A significant leap forward feels great, but it is still often too big of a bite. We need to break it down even further. By setting Goals that require 3-12 weeks to reach, we make our Targets, and ultimately our Vision, achievable.
Goals should not be annual. “Annual Goals” should be a misnomer. A year is too long to focus on. It is why most New Year’s Resolutions fail. There is no urgency in the beginning, because you still have 300+ days to complete it. By March you’re already way behind, and by June, you’ve already given up (if you made it farther than February in the first place). A year is too long. That’s what we make milestones that take a year to complete a Target, not a Goal.
We’ve found that 12 weeks is the ideal length of time for a Goal (though some will be shorter). Certainly no longer.
While sticking to a plan for improving your life for 12 weeks is not guaranteed, it is certainly more achievable than sticking to it for 12 months. Read/listen to The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran, and you’ll be convinced.
Goals should also follow the SMARTER Framework.
The Trinity
You need all three to be ultimately successful. To change your life, you must be inspired. You must make significant progress. And you must start with something achievable.
Missing even one will result in Never Getting Started (missing the Goal), Succeeding, but at the Wrong Thing (missing the Vision), or Getting Small Wins but Plateauing before reaching your True Vision (missing the Target).
Create all three, for all seven Life Domains, and change your life. Let’s look at how to write Targets and Goals using the SMARTER Framework.
The SMARTER Framework
All Goals and Targets should be written in this framework. Let’s look at an example of a Financial Goal and how it can be improved along the way.
📌 SPECIFIC – Clearly define your goal.
Bad Goal: Be Financially Responsible
Improved: Save Money
📏 MEASURABLE – Quantify your goal.
Bad Goal: Save Money
Improved: Save $10,000
🎗 ACHIEVABLE – Goal should be realistic within the timeframe.
Bad Goal: Save $80,000
Improved: Save $10,000
♠️ RELEVANT – Goal should be a step toward your vision.
Bad Goal: Eat Healthier (Not a goal. Wrong Domain.)
Improved: Save $10,000
⏳ TIME-BOUND – Goal should have a due date.
Bad Goal: Save $10,000
Improved: Save $10,000 by September 30th.
💥 EMPOWERING – Goal should connect with your “Why”.
Bad Goal: Save $10,000 by September 30th
“Because I probably should”
Improved: Save $10,000 by September 30th
“To Worry Less about money and Live More with family”
👀 REVIEWED – Goal should be Written and Reviewed often.
Bad Goal: Save $10,000 by September 30th
Thought and Forgot
Improved: Save $10,000 by September 30th
Written in Victorious Planner and Reviewed Weekly
Get Started
Get started on Writing your Vision, Targets, and Goals.
Don’t get overwhelmed. Start with one and expand from there. Your first goal can be to discover and write your goals.
We’ve created a helpful guide to give you a framework for writing your Vision, Targets, & Goals.
This article is educational only and is not intended to be investment, legal, or tax advice or recommendations, whether direct or incidental. Again, this is not investment advice. Consult your financial, tax, and legal professionals for specific advice related to your specific situation. Never take investment advice from someone who doesn’t know you and your specific situation. All opinions expressed in this article are the opinions of the people expressing them. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly. RetireMentorship is not affiliated with any Registered Investment Advisor, Broker-Dealer, or other Financial Services Company.
