John Lee Dumas (@johnleedumas) shows us how use the SMART goal system from his new Freedom Journal to accomplish a number one objective in 100 days.
The Cheat Sheet:
- What is the number one reason some entrepreneurs succeed while others fail?
- Which is more likely to win the battle of changing your life: the physical presence of a giant book that constantly reminds you of its presence versus just another easily ignored app?
- What’s the advantage of trying to accomplish one goal in 100 days over trying to accomplish several? FOCUS (Follow One Course Until Success).
- How do you ensure your one goal is SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely)?
- Can a regular goal be turned into a SMART goal partway through?
- And so much more…
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Do you ever look at successful people and wonder what makes the magic happen for them? Does their routine differ drastically from yours? Is there a freakish blip in their genetic makeup? What do they know that you don’t?
John Lee Dumas revisits The Art of Charm to talk about The Freedom Journal, his new book that demonstrates how successful people set and accomplish goals — and what you can do to accomplish your own objective in 100 days by using The Freedom Journal’s SMART goal system.
More About This Show
Over more than a thousand episodes of his Entrepreneurs on Fire podcast podcast, John Lee Dumas has had the chance to interview and learn from some of the world’s most successful people. His biggest takeaway so far became the foundation of his new book, The Freedom Journal: the number one reason entrepreneurs succeed is that they set and accomplish goals.
It sounds like a given, but you’d be surprised. And in a world where apps are cheaper than a dime a dozen, creating The Freedom Journal as a heavy, shiny, physical book that could easily be mistaken for a Bible was a goal that John set as a way to keep its message from getting lost in the noise.
“This can really be a game changer for so many people if I do it right,” says John. So he went through the trouble of finding the right team of designers, the perfect illustrator, a viable manufacturer, and all the tough pieces to fit together into creating the life-changing book that John dreamed it could be.
So The Freedom Journal is — by its very design — a very visible, tangible reminder of changes its owner is trying to accomplish. It can’t be easily swiped away and buried like every other well-intentioned app you’ve ever downloaded to your smartphone. But what makes it really different from any number of other journals designed to help people make purposeful changes? It’s all about maintaining focus.
FOCUS: Follow One Course Until Success
An acronym John likes to use — and has become known for — is FOCUS (Follow One Course Until Success). It’s helped countless people, and it’s an indelible part of his brand. So when he set out to create a book that could potentially help even more people, he knew it had to be distinctive enough to stand out from what’s already on the shelves, while remaining true to the FOCUS principle of his brand.
“This is going to be The Freedom Journal,” says John. “Set and accomplish your number one goal in 100 days. It’s not set and accomplish all of your goals. It’s not no time horizon. It’s specifically one goal in 100 days. That is the pledge and the promise of The Freedom Journal.”
And because this mission is so clearly defined, John believes it will be effective — more than accountability buddies who abandon you a week into a new routine, in any case. Plus, it’s big enough to remind you that it’s still around (especially when you’re packing for travel).
SMART Goals
When you’re defining this singular goal, The Freedom Journal starts off with another easy-to-remember acronym: SMART. This ensures that your goal is:
- S – Specific: Say exactly what it is you want to accomplish. For example, “I want to lose weight.”
- M – Measurable: Determine what successfully accomplishing this goal will look like for you. For example, “I want to lose 20 pounds in 100 days.”
- A – Attainable: Do the research to make sure this goal is realistic for your situation. For example, “Is losing 20 pounds in 100 days a reasonable and healthy goal for someone of my sex and current size?”
- R – Relevant: Make sure this goal is relevant to your overall success. For example, “Will losing 20 pounds in 100 days make me feel better, be more healthy, and look better?” Or, if you’re a podcaster, “Will fiddling around on Pinterest for two hours a day help me grow an audience better than just focusing and making a better podcast?”
- T – Time-Bound: You have 100 days to accomplish this goal, and The Freedom Journal will be there with its shiny gold pages to blind you into remembering that time is of the essence!
“All those attributes are incredibly important in and of themselves,” says John. “Together, they kind of make that recipe for success.”
Listen to this episode of The Art of Charm to learn more about how to realize a SMART goal once it’s been established, the importance of understanding the difference between day and night tasks, how 10-day “sprints” with micro-goals and quarterly reviews every 25 days help build momentum on your way to the finish line, what to do if you’re already in the middle of a regular goal and you want to convert it into a SMART goal, and lots more.
THANKS, JOHN LEE DUMAS!
Resources from this episode:
The Freedom Journal
Entrepreneurs on Fire podcast
Free Podcast Course
John Lee Dumas at Twitter
AoC episode 349: John Lee Dumas | Entrepreneur on Fire
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