2021 Goals
2020 is finally over! 2021 is finally here! Another year has come and gone and what a year it was. So much uncertainty and negativity. In some aspects it was great as I felt things slowed down and I was better able to connect with my daughters. In other aspects it was incredibly difficult: telework, home schooling, and restrictions.
It’s that time of the year again for some much-needed reflection and introspection to set the right tone for the new year. For me personally there will be a lot of changes that I am excited about and some new goals. I have a system I use to identify, plan, and execute my goals for 2021 and I wanted to share the biggest ones with you.
The first goal I have for 2021 is completing the 75 HARD aka Live Hard Program. I started this year-long journey in January of 2020 when I was challenged by my friend Craig. I can not say no to a good challenge. What I learned is that it provided me a structure and a meaningful pursuit of personal growth while the world seemed to be full of chaos and uncertainty. It pulled me out of a position of merely surviving to actually thriving. I was focused on self improvement and optimizing my health and wellness and achieved some big goals for myself. Without the program I know I would not have had the same results.
I am currently day 8 of 30 in the final phase of the Live Hard Program. When I complete it, it will be one of the most impactful endeavors of my life. It enabled me to optimize my health during a pandemic, it provided mental clarity as I began to transition from a career in the military to a transformational life coach. It enabled me to connect with a community of like minded people who want to improve and remain positive during a time of so much uncertainty and negativity. I will start the 75 Hard journey again for 2021 and look forward to continued growth with my friends who are starting today.
The second goal I have for 2021 is to run a 100 mile race. I know, crazy.... Running is a huge part of my life and taught me to "Do Hard Thing's" at an early age which enabled me to overcome and transition from a broken childhood where I had the odds stacked against me to fail and take a different path. I am always in pursuit of a goal which will stretch the capability of my mind and body. I was inspired by the book: "Can't Hurt Me" by David Goggins as I found similarity in his upbringing with my very own, although his story is far more extreme, there are so many similarities. I want to achieve this feat while I am still physically capable and I figure that the 75 Hard Program will give me the structure to effectively train. If I am able to complete this it would further improve my confidence and mental fortitude.
The third goal I have for 2020 is that I have started a running streak. A running streak is where you run at least 1 mile a day until you essentially miss a day. A friend of mine had started this a couple years ago and I was inspired and had given it some consideration. The other day, when I was on the MKT trail in Columbia, Missouri running a few miles with my Yaktrax on the icy trail I met another crazy runner. Part of 75 Hard Phase 3 task is to have a conversation with a random stranger. His name was Todd and he is 53 years old, just 10 years older than me. He had been running his streak for 5 years and 8 months and had run the last Boston Marathon in 3:04. I was truly inspired. I want his level of physical conditioning 10 years from now! I decided that God willing I would give this a go and committed to starting my running streak. So far so good, but we just started. I want to be a super ager and I figure this would be a good way to hold me accountable to staying on top of my health and wellness goals and maybe inspire a few more folks to stay active. I also want to be someone who is consistent and feel it is important to be comfortable doing uncomfortable things.
The fourth goal I have is to start a podcast. I am a huge fan of podcasts and have gained tremendous value and insight from listening to them. I am a curious person by nature and enjoy having deep conversations with people. I figure why not just make my own. My 90 day goal is to have the podcast with a few episodes in the hopper. I think this would be a great way to gain and share wisdom from other people. The focus of the podcast will be, you guessed it, overcoming difficult things aka the "Do Hard Things" Podcast with Jay Tiegs.
These are some of the big goals I have for 2021. I am a huge fan of goal setting and teach these skills to others as a life coach. It is incredibly important to have a vision for yourself and your family and to get after those goals. Oftentimes we get distracted or caught up in obligation and wonder where time went. Having an effective system for time management is so incredibly important to achieving your goals and dreams.
I have a few more goals but this post is getting kind of long. What are your big goals for 2021? Do you have a system for planning and achieving them?
I hope this message finds you well and I hope that this year brings you a renewed sense of spirit, good health, and joy. In the mean time...
Do Hard Things,
Jay
