December 26, 2024 • 21 mins
Julie's Big Gorgeous Goals: Official Workbook is here! Order your copy today.
What if you could transform your biggest dreams into tangible achievements? Join me, Julie Ellis, as we journey through the art of setting and conquering big, gorgeous goals in a solo episode of Figure Eight. Drawing from my book "Big, Gorgeous Goals," I share actionable tools to help you turn ambitions into reality. Together, we'll explore the importance of aligning goals with personal purpose, making space for creativity, and embracing the urgency to redefine our paths. Discover how to manage to-do lists and embrace SMART goals, all while keeping your energy levels high, even on the toughest days.
In this episode, you'll find inspiration and guidance to propel women entrepreneurs towards their dreams. Learn how to navigate the key stages of goal-setting by dreaming boldly, creating a clear vision, and mapping your journey with tangible milestones. I emphasize the necessity of taking small actions, evaluating progress, and understanding the deeper why behind our aspirations. I also introduce my growth and leadership training programs designed to empower and support entrepreneurial success. Dive into the world of ambitious goal-setting with me and discover how collaboration can lead to you getting everything you want in 2025 and for the last half of this decade.
You can connect with Julie on LinkedIn or Instagram.
Find Julie's writing at her blog or by ordering her book Big Gorgeous Goals and the brand new official companion workbook!
What did you think of this conversation? We'd love if you'd rate or review our show!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Julie (00:04):
Welcome to Figure Eight, where we feature inspiring
stories of women entrepreneurswho have grown their businesses
to seven and eight figuresrevenue.
If you're in the mix of growinga bigger business, these stories
are for you.
Join us as we explore where thetough spots are, how to
overcome them and how to prepareyourself for the next portion
(00:27):
of the climb.
I'm your host, julie Ellis.
I'm an author, entrepreneur anda growth and leadership coach
who co-founded, grew and exitedan eight-figure business.
This led me to exploring whysome women achieve great things,
and that led to my book Big,gorgeous Goals.
(00:47):
Let's explore the systems,processes and people that help
us grow our businesses to newheights.
If you're interested in growingyour business, this podcast
will help.
Now let's get going.
Hello and welcome to thisepisode of Figure Eight.
(01:07):
Today, I am with you over thisholiday season and as we end the
year in 2024 for a solo episode, and I'm interested in talking
about how to make the new yearyour game-changing year.
And, as it turns out, 2025 isthe start of the second half of
(01:33):
the decade, of the 2020s, and Ithink, if you're anything like
me, the first half of the decadeprobably didn't go as you
planned, and sitting here at themidpoint, it's kind of easy to
look back and wonder where fiveyears went, which is all at once
a bit of a scary thought, andso I got to thinking about how
(01:56):
are we going to shape the nextfive years so that we don't sit
on the eve of 2030 wondering ifwe got to where we wanted to go,
or being a little unsure, or,in fact, knowing we didn't get
where we wanted to go.
So this principle is or thispresentation, rather is rooted
(02:17):
really in the principles of mybook Big, gorgeous Goals, which
is all about setting ambitious,joyful goals and bringing them
to life.
Today, I want to give you somepractical tools and a framework
to help you not just dream big,but also take meaningful steps
to turn those dreams intoreality.
(02:38):
So I think we'll talk aboutthings like what are the stages
of a big, gorgeous goal, how dowe create space for magic so
that we can let our creativityflow, and how do we harness our
goals by aligning them with ourpurpose.
We'll dive into some actionablefirst steps.
(03:02):
We'll talk about to-do listsand SMART goals, and then we'll
wrap up with a little bit of howto evaluate and recalibrate as
you go.
So, as I said, ending this firsthalf of the decade makes me
feel some amount of urgency tofigure out where I'm going.
(03:23):
The last five years it reallywent so quickly and so many
things happened.
I think that it changedcertainly my business, where I
thought I would be with it.
It changed what I want in lifeand what I think my goals are,
and so it's time now to thinkabout how I want to end the
decade, where I want to go inthe next year, where I want to
(03:46):
go in the next three years, fiveyears, and to get there I need
to do some work right now.
So I hope you'll join me onthis ride.
Let's talk about chasing our big, gorgeous goals and what it
takes to get there.
Why do we sometimes feel likewe're lost in the dust of our
(04:06):
to-do lists, like other peopleare out there doing really big
things and you know we have anice clean inbox without too
many emails in it, or you know areally busy and full calendar,
but we're not actually creatingthe space that we need to to
make sure we're dreaming big andto implement all of the plans
(04:30):
we need to do in order to get toachieving those dreams.
So it doesn't have to be hard,but we all probably need to
change some things in order toget to where we want to be.
So let's go, let's define a big, gorgeous goal and let's talk
about what makes that.
(04:51):
What makes any goal a big,gorgeous goal.
A big, gorgeous goal, it's nota checkbox on a to-do list, it's
aspirational, it excites you,it stretches you, it fills you
with joy and it's the kind ofgoal that energizes you even on
tough days.
But those big goals can alsofeel really overwhelming and
(05:15):
scary, and it's the first thingyou probably feel after you set
a big, gorgeous goal is someamount of fear.
But if we break down the ideaof setting a big, gorgeous goal
and starting to move towards it,then we can really make some
progress and we can sort of boxup the fear and put it off to
(05:38):
the side so we can keep moving.
So when we think about thestages of big, gorgeous goals,
there are five key stages that Ilike to think about.
So first is we have to maketime and space and give
ourselves permission to thinkboldly.
We need to dream, we need toimagine what's possible for us
(06:02):
and we need to give ourselvespermission to think big.
We let go of our limitationsand we imagine possibility for
ourselves.
In this dreaming phase, itmight mean that you need to say
no to things that are clutteringup your calendar.
We can all scroll less onsocial media.
We can all binge watch one lessshow per night.
(06:23):
We can find time in order tocreate a little bit of magic.
If you're not doing thosethings, what can you say no to
on your calendar?
How can you scrape together 30to 60 minutes to get outside
into nature, to walk, to imaginethings and to kind of really
(06:44):
explore what are the big thingsthat you're dreaming about?
If you were to step boldly intoyour own magnificence?
Next, once we take some time toreally dream boldly and imagine
those things, we need to clarifyour vision.
So we need to take that dreamand we need to turn it into
(07:05):
something tangible.
This is where we need to writedown our goal.
We need to go through a processwhere we make the notes and do
the things and you know, kind oflook at it and think about, if
I'm successful here, how's thatgoing to feel?
What's it going to look like?
Where am I going to be Now asyou clarify your vision and
(07:28):
write down your goal.
You may not know everything.
There may be big blank spots inhow you're going to get there,
how you're going to have themoney to get there, get the
knowledge you need, meet thepeople you need to meet.
That's okay and that's totallynormal to not have all of that
perfectly clear.
It will come.
(07:49):
Once you have that vision down,then it's time to start thinking
about mapping the journey.
This is about identifying yourmilestones along the way.
What steps are going to takeyou closer to your goal?
How are you going to thinkabout those first initial things
that you need to do?
Creating a little map, a littletimeline.
(08:13):
It doesn't have to be superdetailed and in fact, I would
argue with you the farther outyou get into the timeline, the
less detail you're going to beable to put together and come up
with.
Once you have that idea of aroadmap, then it's about
starting to take action.
Idea of a roadmap, then it'sabout starting to take action,
(08:34):
moving forward with purpose,starting small, but starting,
and then evaluating andrefreshing your goal.
So take a minute now and thinkabout what is your big, gorgeous
goal for 2025?
What's something you've alwayswanted to achieve, and I want
you to write it down.
It doesn't need to be perfect,it just needs to be something
(08:57):
that excites you.
One of my favorite concepts ingoal setting is creating space
for magic, and magic happens tous when we leave room for our
intuition, our creativity andthe serendipitous moments that
happen to guide us towardssuccess.
So how do we do that?
(09:18):
Well, we start by decluttering.
We need to declutter physically, emotionally and mentally.
We need to build that whitespace I talked about earlier
into our schedule.
We need time to pause, reflectand just be.
If you have a little bit oftime off over these holidays and
(09:40):
you can scoot outside byyourself or with your dog for a
walk for half an hour or 45minutes on your own in the quiet
, that can be a great place tostart.
When you give yourself thisspace, you'll be amazed at how
breakthroughs and fresh ideasshow up.
For me, I schedule no meetingdays or half days where I can
(10:05):
focus on creative thinking, andyou've got to try the different
things until you can figure outwhere your magic happens.
So in order to get to creatingthe space for magic, we need to
figure out learning thestrategic no clearing that
little bit of space that youneed in order to think
(10:26):
creatively, you need to stay outof the weeds, because saying
I'll do it when my inbox iscleaned out, your inbox probably
will never be cleaned out, soyou will default to the busy
work and I recognize some of theemail that you get is probably
important but you will defaultto the busy work that eclipses
(10:46):
the big, important things youneed to chase.
You need to find that time onyour calendar for thinking and
create the right conditions fordreaming for yourself.
Let's go back and talk a littlemore about harnessing the goals
, and this is where you alignyour goals with your purpose and
you build your energy so thatyou can sustain the chase and
(11:08):
the you know you have enough togive for the road that's needed
ahead.
You've got to ask yourself whydoes a goal matter?
To me, understanding the deeperwhy.
Behind our goals, it createspowerful motivation within us to
move towards them.
And then we've got to work withour energy when we're at our
(11:30):
peak during the day.
How do we use that time toreally push forward to our big,
gorgeous goals?
Our most important tasks shouldbe done in the time when we
have the most energy.
And then how do we use tools tostay on track.
You know, visualization is agreat way to mentally rehearse
(11:50):
our success and to buildaccountability within us.
But I think it's always greatto have an accountability, a
partner, a mentor or a groupthat can keep you moving forward
.
So I highly encourage you tospeak your role to someone else
and create a process with them,a check-in schedule where you
(12:12):
can talk about where you mightbe stuck and have somebody who
really believes in your abilityto go forward and achieve.
Once you're into first steps,then how do you go from big to
small?
You know, and I think sometimesbig, gorgeous goals can feel
overwhelming because they are sobig.
(12:34):
So the secret is that we haveto break them down into small,
manageable steps, and we need tostart with tasks that build
momentum for us so that we getsome quick wins and we start to
feel accomplished.
A written record is key, somake notes, have a goal journal,
set up a specific notebook foryou to jot your ideas and your
(12:55):
dreams into and to also thenthink about how you're going to.
You know, keep moving forward.
What are the next steps?
How are you going to gettowards them and what do you
need?
Who do you need to meet?
What do you need to you know,learn all of the pieces of that,
because the first thing that'sgoing to happen to you, after
(13:16):
you set some big, gorgeous goalsand do the big, big work, think
boldly the first thing thatwill happen is that you will
feel afraid because you'repushing at the edges of your
comfort zone, your abilities,what you know right now, who you
know right now, how you can dothese things, and so it always
feels scary as we step into theunknown.
(13:38):
Once the goals are recorded,then we're just going to map out
what are the first things we'regoing to do At least three
steps.
Consider the gaps who, what ormoney or knowledge, people,
achievable, relative andtime-bound.
So if you're going to set, youknow, goals like that, they can
(14:18):
help you get towards the bigthing.
But then it's a little bit likea mountain.
You look at the top and the topis really far away.
So tuck the big part of thegoal away and put your head down
and start putting one foot infront of the other.
Get those three steps underway,start moving, and then you go
back in a little while and youlook and you're like I made some
(14:40):
progress.
I actually, if I look behind me, I can see those steps that I
made.
And then you set out some moresteps.
You put your head back down andyou keep walking, because the
mountaintops are always reallyfar away.
And so if you have a littleprocess where you can, you know,
take those small steps forwardand make yourself go, take your
(15:04):
eye off the big prize and workon just making some progress,
you can start to see anaccumulation of things you've
been able to do and, although itstill looks really far away to
get to the goal, you know thatyou're accumulating and growing
yourself towards it.
So take a few minutes now andget out that notebook and write
(15:27):
down some tasks, a to-do list ora SMART goal for the big,
gorgeous goal that youidentified already.
So now that you're ready to go,let's talk about how you're
going to evaluate and calibrate.
Every three months you need totake time and reflect on the
(15:48):
three A's.
You need to assess, analyze andadjust.
So first of all is assess whenare you compared to your goal?
How did you do on those firstfew steps that you wrote down?
Then we're going to analyzewhat's working, what's not
working, where are you stuck?
(16:09):
What help do you need in orderto get things moving again?
And then we're going to adjust.
We're going to make thosechanges to our plan.
We're going to look up at thebig goal.
We're going to make thosechanges to our plan.
We're going to look up at thebig goal.
We're going to make sure it'sstill the right place for us to
be moving towards, and we'regoing to come back down, figure
out our next few steps, adjustthe plan if needed.
(16:30):
This is also a great time tocelebrate any wins you've been
able to accumulate over the lastquarter.
They are so key.
Thinking about what went wellkeeps you motivated, and I think
we have to be unafraid to pivotif something isn't working.
Flexibility has to be a part ofour process.
(16:50):
And you know what?
If you haven't actually gottenanything done, give yourself
some grace replan, look forwardand think about getting moving
again.
It happens to us all that weget stuck, and figuring out when
we're stuck, how to get movingagain, is such an important part
(17:12):
of people who achieve their big, gorgeous goals.
They're able to get movingagain.
It is not that they don't getstuck.
We all get stuck.
It's figuring out how to getyourself going again.
That sets apart people whoachieve their big, gorgeous
goals from those who might feellike they're caught in those
to-dos and the tiny steps.
(17:35):
So think about how you can getquarterly evaluations into your
2025 schedule.
What tools will you use?
Are you going to journal?
Are you going to use an app?
Are you going to do somethingelse?
Can you schedule the time intoyour calendar right now and,
once it's there, honor itfiercely?
All right, so take out yourcalendar now and schedule those
(17:58):
check-ins.
I recommend half a day eachquarter, no screens, a notebook,
a pen or a marker.
Review the goal, review thesteps you needed, figure out how
to get to the next spot andwhat you're going to do for the
next 90 days.
Dream a little more.
Make sure that the goal you'rechasing is the right one and
(18:19):
adjust it.
If you're not, if you'relearning more about it and you
need to make adjustments, do itAll right.
So today we've talked about big,gorgeous goals.
They're ambitious, they'rejoyful, they're transformative
and we need to create the spacefor magic, to allow our
(18:41):
creativity to flow and imaginewhat's possible for us and what
we really want.
Then we need to harness ourgoals, we need to align them
with our purpose and we need tofigure out what are our first
steps.
What are the tasks, to-do listsand SMART goals that are going
to make them actionable?
What are the tasks, to-do listsand SMART goals that are going
(19:01):
to make them actionable?
And then our quarterlyevaluations are going to keep us
on track and make sure that westay flexible and adaptable to
what we need.
I want to leave you with aquestion today.
What's one thing you're goingto do right now to make 2025
your game-changing year?
Write it down and commit to it.
(19:29):
Thank you for listening to mypodcast.
Over the last year, I have soenjoyed my conversations with
other women entrepreneurs andlearning about their businesses
and why they decided they wantedto grow bigger businesses.
I'm looking forward to bringingyou more stories in 2025.
And I hope that if you orsomeone you know would be a
great guest on my podcast, thatyou reach out.
(19:52):
I would love to meet you and Iwould love to speak to the
people who inspire you.
Thank you, and I'm wishing youall the best for a game-changing
year in 2025.
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
Please remember to hitsubscribe on your favorite
(20:13):
podcast platform so you won'tmiss any episodes.
Figure Eight isn't just apodcast.
It's a way of seeing the big,gorgeous goals of women
entrepreneurs coming to life.
If you're interested inlearning more, you can find my
book Big, gorgeous Goals onAmazon, anywhere you might live.
For more about my growth andleadership training programs.
(20:37):
Visit www.
julieellis.
ca to see how we might worktogether.
Read my blog or sign up to getyour free diagnostic.
Are you ready for growth?
Once again, that's www.
julieellis.
ca.
When we work together, we allwin.
(21:00):
See you again soon for anotherepisode of Figure Eight.
Welcome to Figure Eight, where we feature inspiring
stories of women entrepreneurswho have grown their businesses
to seven and eight figuresrevenue.
If you're in the mix of growinga bigger business, these stories
are for you.
Join us as we explore where thetough spots are, how to
overcome them and how to prepareyourself for the next portion
(00:27):
of the climb.
I'm your host, julie Ellis.
I'm an author, entrepreneur anda growth and leadership coach
who co-founded, grew and exitedan eight-figure business.
This led me to exploring whysome women achieve great things,
and that led to my book Big,gorgeous Goals.
(00:47):
Let's explore the systems,processes and people that help
us grow our businesses to newheights.
If you're interested in growingyour business, this podcast
will help.
Now let's get going.
Hello and welcome to thisepisode of Figure Eight.
(01:07):
Today, I am with you over thisholiday season and as we end the
year in 2024 for a solo episode, and I'm interested in talking
about how to make the new yearyour game-changing year.
And, as it turns out, 2025 isthe start of the second half of
(01:33):
the decade, of the 2020s, and Ithink, if you're anything like
me, the first half of the decadeprobably didn't go as you
planned, and sitting here at themidpoint, it's kind of easy to
look back and wonder where fiveyears went, which is all at once
a bit of a scary thought, andso I got to thinking about how
(01:56):
are we going to shape the nextfive years so that we don't sit
on the eve of 2030 wondering ifwe got to where we wanted to go,
or being a little unsure, or,in fact, knowing we didn't get
where we wanted to go.
So this principle is or thispresentation, rather is rooted
(02:17):
really in the principles of mybook Big, gorgeous Goals, which
is all about setting ambitious,joyful goals and bringing them
to life.
Today, I want to give you somepractical tools and a framework
to help you not just dream big,but also take meaningful steps
to turn those dreams intoreality.
(02:38):
So I think we'll talk aboutthings like what are the stages
of a big, gorgeous goal, how dowe create space for magic so
that we can let our creativityflow, and how do we harness our
goals by aligning them with ourpurpose.
We'll dive into some actionablefirst steps.
(03:02):
We'll talk about to-do listsand SMART goals, and then we'll
wrap up with a little bit of howto evaluate and recalibrate as
you go.
So, as I said, ending this firsthalf of the decade makes me
feel some amount of urgency tofigure out where I'm going.
(03:23):
The last five years it reallywent so quickly and so many
things happened.
I think that it changedcertainly my business, where I
thought I would be with it.
It changed what I want in lifeand what I think my goals are,
and so it's time now to thinkabout how I want to end the
decade, where I want to go inthe next year, where I want to
(03:46):
go in the next three years, fiveyears, and to get there I need
to do some work right now.
So I hope you'll join me onthis ride.
Let's talk about chasing our big, gorgeous goals and what it
takes to get there.
Why do we sometimes feel likewe're lost in the dust of our
(04:06):
to-do lists, like other peopleare out there doing really big
things and you know we have anice clean inbox without too
many emails in it, or you know areally busy and full calendar,
but we're not actually creatingthe space that we need to to
make sure we're dreaming big andto implement all of the plans
(04:30):
we need to do in order to get toachieving those dreams.
So it doesn't have to be hard,but we all probably need to
change some things in order toget to where we want to be.
So let's go, let's define a big, gorgeous goal and let's talk
about what makes that.
(04:51):
What makes any goal a big,gorgeous goal.
A big, gorgeous goal, it's nota checkbox on a to-do list, it's
aspirational, it excites you,it stretches you, it fills you
with joy and it's the kind ofgoal that energizes you even on
tough days.
But those big goals can alsofeel really overwhelming and
(05:15):
scary, and it's the first thingyou probably feel after you set
a big, gorgeous goal is someamount of fear.
But if we break down the ideaof setting a big, gorgeous goal
and starting to move towards it,then we can really make some
progress and we can sort of boxup the fear and put it off to
(05:38):
the side so we can keep moving.
So when we think about thestages of big, gorgeous goals,
there are five key stages that Ilike to think about.
So first is we have to maketime and space and give
ourselves permission to thinkboldly.
We need to dream, we need toimagine what's possible for us
(06:02):
and we need to give ourselvespermission to think big.
We let go of our limitationsand we imagine possibility for
ourselves.
In this dreaming phase, itmight mean that you need to say
no to things that are clutteringup your calendar.
We can all scroll less onsocial media.
We can all binge watch one lessshow per night.
(06:23):
We can find time in order tocreate a little bit of magic.
If you're not doing thosethings, what can you say no to
on your calendar?
How can you scrape together 30to 60 minutes to get outside
into nature, to walk, to imaginethings and to kind of really
(06:44):
explore what are the big thingsthat you're dreaming about?
If you were to step boldly intoyour own magnificence?
Next, once we take some time toreally dream boldly and imagine
those things, we need to clarifyour vision.
So we need to take that dreamand we need to turn it into
(07:05):
something tangible.
This is where we need to writedown our goal.
We need to go through a processwhere we make the notes and do
the things and you know, kind oflook at it and think about, if
I'm successful here, how's thatgoing to feel?
What's it going to look like?
Where am I going to be Now asyou clarify your vision and
(07:28):
write down your goal.
You may not know everything.
There may be big blank spots inhow you're going to get there,
how you're going to have themoney to get there, get the
knowledge you need, meet thepeople you need to meet.
That's okay and that's totallynormal to not have all of that
perfectly clear.
It will come.
(07:49):
Once you have that vision down,then it's time to start thinking
about mapping the journey.
This is about identifying yourmilestones along the way.
What steps are going to takeyou closer to your goal?
How are you going to thinkabout those first initial things
that you need to do?
Creating a little map, a littletimeline.
(08:13):
It doesn't have to be superdetailed and in fact, I would
argue with you the farther outyou get into the timeline, the
less detail you're going to beable to put together and come up
with.
Once you have that idea of aroadmap, then it's about
starting to take action.
Idea of a roadmap, then it'sabout starting to take action,
(08:34):
moving forward with purpose,starting small, but starting,
and then evaluating andrefreshing your goal.
So take a minute now and thinkabout what is your big, gorgeous
goal for 2025?
What's something you've alwayswanted to achieve, and I want
you to write it down.
It doesn't need to be perfect,it just needs to be something
(08:57):
that excites you.
One of my favorite concepts ingoal setting is creating space
for magic, and magic happens tous when we leave room for our
intuition, our creativity andthe serendipitous moments that
happen to guide us towardssuccess.
So how do we do that?
(09:18):
Well, we start by decluttering.
We need to declutter physically, emotionally and mentally.
We need to build that whitespace I talked about earlier
into our schedule.
We need time to pause, reflectand just be.
If you have a little bit oftime off over these holidays and
(09:40):
you can scoot outside byyourself or with your dog for a
walk for half an hour or 45minutes on your own in the quiet
, that can be a great place tostart.
When you give yourself thisspace, you'll be amazed at how
breakthroughs and fresh ideasshow up.
For me, I schedule no meetingdays or half days where I can
(10:05):
focus on creative thinking, andyou've got to try the different
things until you can figure outwhere your magic happens.
So in order to get to creatingthe space for magic, we need to
figure out learning thestrategic no clearing that
little bit of space that youneed in order to think
(10:26):
creatively, you need to stay outof the weeds, because saying
I'll do it when my inbox iscleaned out, your inbox probably
will never be cleaned out, soyou will default to the busy
work and I recognize some of theemail that you get is probably
important but you will defaultto the busy work that eclipses
(10:46):
the big, important things youneed to chase.
You need to find that time onyour calendar for thinking and
create the right conditions fordreaming for yourself.
Let's go back and talk a littlemore about harnessing the goals
, and this is where you alignyour goals with your purpose and
you build your energy so thatyou can sustain the chase and
(11:08):
the you know you have enough togive for the road that's needed
ahead.
You've got to ask yourself whydoes a goal matter?
To me, understanding the deeperwhy.
Behind our goals, it createspowerful motivation within us to
move towards them.
And then we've got to work withour energy when we're at our
(11:30):
peak during the day.
How do we use that time toreally push forward to our big,
gorgeous goals?
Our most important tasks shouldbe done in the time when we
have the most energy.
And then how do we use tools tostay on track.
You know, visualization is agreat way to mentally rehearse
(11:50):
our success and to buildaccountability within us.
But I think it's always greatto have an accountability, a
partner, a mentor or a groupthat can keep you moving forward
.
So I highly encourage you tospeak your role to someone else
and create a process with them,a check-in schedule where you
(12:12):
can talk about where you mightbe stuck and have somebody who
really believes in your abilityto go forward and achieve.
Once you're into first steps,then how do you go from big to
small?
You know, and I think sometimesbig, gorgeous goals can feel
overwhelming because they are sobig.
(12:34):
So the secret is that we haveto break them down into small,
manageable steps, and we need tostart with tasks that build
momentum for us so that we getsome quick wins and we start to
feel accomplished.
A written record is key, somake notes, have a goal journal,
set up a specific notebook foryou to jot your ideas and your
(12:55):
dreams into and to also thenthink about how you're going to.
You know, keep moving forward.
What are the next steps?
How are you going to gettowards them and what do you
need?
Who do you need to meet?
What do you need to you know,learn all of the pieces of that,
because the first thing that'sgoing to happen to you, after
(13:16):
you set some big, gorgeous goalsand do the big, big work, think
boldly the first thing thatwill happen is that you will
feel afraid because you'repushing at the edges of your
comfort zone, your abilities,what you know right now, who you
know right now, how you can dothese things, and so it always
feels scary as we step into theunknown.
(13:38):
Once the goals are recorded,then we're just going to map out
what are the first things we'regoing to do At least three
steps.
Consider the gaps who, what ormoney or knowledge, people,
achievable, relative andtime-bound.
So if you're going to set, youknow, goals like that, they can
(14:18):
help you get towards the bigthing.
But then it's a little bit likea mountain.
You look at the top and the topis really far away.
So tuck the big part of thegoal away and put your head down
and start putting one foot infront of the other.
Get those three steps underway,start moving, and then you go
back in a little while and youlook and you're like I made some
(14:40):
progress.
I actually, if I look behind me, I can see those steps that I
made.
And then you set out some moresteps.
You put your head back down andyou keep walking, because the
mountaintops are always reallyfar away.
And so if you have a littleprocess where you can, you know,
take those small steps forwardand make yourself go, take your
(15:04):
eye off the big prize and workon just making some progress,
you can start to see anaccumulation of things you've
been able to do and, although itstill looks really far away to
get to the goal, you know thatyou're accumulating and growing
yourself towards it.
So take a few minutes now andget out that notebook and write
(15:27):
down some tasks, a to-do list ora SMART goal for the big,
gorgeous goal that youidentified already.
So now that you're ready to go,let's talk about how you're
going to evaluate and calibrate.
Every three months you need totake time and reflect on the
(15:48):
three A's.
You need to assess, analyze andadjust.
So first of all is assess whenare you compared to your goal?
How did you do on those firstfew steps that you wrote down?
Then we're going to analyzewhat's working, what's not
working, where are you stuck?
(16:09):
What help do you need in orderto get things moving again?
And then we're going to adjust.
We're going to make thosechanges to our plan.
We're going to look up at thebig goal.
We're going to make thosechanges to our plan.
We're going to look up at thebig goal.
We're going to make sure it'sstill the right place for us to
be moving towards, and we'regoing to come back down, figure
out our next few steps, adjustthe plan if needed.
(16:30):
This is also a great time tocelebrate any wins you've been
able to accumulate over the lastquarter.
They are so key.
Thinking about what went wellkeeps you motivated, and I think
we have to be unafraid to pivotif something isn't working.
Flexibility has to be a part ofour process.
(16:50):
And you know what?
If you haven't actually gottenanything done, give yourself
some grace replan, look forwardand think about getting moving
again.
It happens to us all that weget stuck, and figuring out when
we're stuck, how to get movingagain, is such an important part
(17:12):
of people who achieve their big, gorgeous goals.
They're able to get movingagain.
It is not that they don't getstuck.
We all get stuck.
It's figuring out how to getyourself going again.
That sets apart people whoachieve their big, gorgeous
goals from those who might feellike they're caught in those
to-dos and the tiny steps.
(17:35):
So think about how you can getquarterly evaluations into your
2025 schedule.
What tools will you use?
Are you going to journal?
Are you going to use an app?
Are you going to do somethingelse?
Can you schedule the time intoyour calendar right now and,
once it's there, honor itfiercely?
All right, so take out yourcalendar now and schedule those
(17:58):
check-ins.
I recommend half a day eachquarter, no screens, a notebook,
a pen or a marker.
Review the goal, review thesteps you needed, figure out how
to get to the next spot andwhat you're going to do for the
next 90 days.
Dream a little more.
Make sure that the goal you'rechasing is the right one and
(18:19):
adjust it.
If you're not, if you'relearning more about it and you
need to make adjustments, do itAll right.
So today we've talked about big,gorgeous goals.
They're ambitious, they'rejoyful, they're transformative
and we need to create the spacefor magic, to allow our
(18:41):
creativity to flow and imaginewhat's possible for us and what
we really want.
Then we need to harness ourgoals, we need to align them
with our purpose and we need tofigure out what are our first
steps.
What are the tasks, to-do listsand SMART goals that are going
to make them actionable?
What are the tasks, to-do listsand SMART goals that are going
(19:01):
to make them actionable?
And then our quarterlyevaluations are going to keep us
on track and make sure that westay flexible and adaptable to
what we need.
I want to leave you with aquestion today.
What's one thing you're goingto do right now to make 2025
your game-changing year?
Write it down and commit to it.
(19:29):
Thank you for listening to mypodcast.
Over the last year, I have soenjoyed my conversations with
other women entrepreneurs andlearning about their businesses
and why they decided they wantedto grow bigger businesses.
I'm looking forward to bringingyou more stories in 2025.
And I hope that if you orsomeone you know would be a
great guest on my podcast, thatyou reach out.
(19:52):
I would love to meet you and Iwould love to speak to the
people who inspire you.
Thank you, and I'm wishing youall the best for a game-changing
year in 2025.
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
Please remember to hitsubscribe on your favorite
(20:13):
podcast platform so you won'tmiss any episodes.
Figure Eight isn't just apodcast.
It's a way of seeing the big,gorgeous goals of women
entrepreneurs coming to life.
If you're interested inlearning more, you can find my
book Big, gorgeous Goals onAmazon, anywhere you might live.
For more about my growth andleadership training programs.
(20:37):
Visit www.
julieellis.
ca to see how we might worktogether.
Read my blog or sign up to getyour free diagnostic.
Are you ready for growth?
Once again, that's www.
julieellis.
ca.
When we work together, we allwin.
(21:00):
See you again soon for anotherepisode of Figure Eight.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.