Why your 2023 goals hold you back
If you’re not successful, it’s because you’re not consistent
Read time: 8 minutes
Here’s our TTT for this week on how to grow your online teaching business.
What is TTT? A Tip, Takeaway, and Task. On Thursday.
Enjoy!
Have you joined our free teacherpreneur community?
Network with others on a similar trajectory.
Tip: Embrace unsexy consistency
Every January, people make new goals. We’re here to say that making goals is a waste of time.
That might sound strange. However, we believe the process is more powerful than the goal.
As you begin a new year and have new aspirations for your teaching business, don’t commit to goals. Instead, commit to the activities that will help you achieve them.
Here’s an uncomfortable truth: you’re not where you want to be because you’re not consistent.
Most people can’t do one thing over and over again.
As teachers, we are creators. We are creatives. We thrive on creating new things constantly.
And this kills businesses.
A thriving business is based on doing one thing again and again and again.
Consistently.
Consistency isn’t sexy. But it’s necessary.
Takeaway: You must keep doing the one thing independent of the result it yields
“Every winner and every loser have the same goals” - Atomic Habits
That’s why setting goals is a waste of time.
Everyone has goals.
Everyone wants to:
be happy
make more money
have more free time
get more students
lower preparation time
design courses they’re proud of
help students achieve their goals
But here’s the thing: your goals don’t make you unique. Rather, it’s the things that you do that make you unique.
Why does James Clear argue that every winner and every loser have the same goals? Because they do. What separates them is how they go about achieving them.
For example:
The goal of the winner is to commit to the activities.
The goal of the loser is to commit to the goal.
Alex Hormozi states that 52% of American teenagers think they’ll be millionaires by 25 years old.
And most of them will fail.
But they all have the same goal. So, why will they fail?
Because the vast majority won’t commit to the activities necessary to achieve it.
If you think about the people who actually go on to earn that million dollars, they didn’t focus on making a million dollars from the beginning. They focused on the activities in order to achieve that.
Don’t focus on the goal, focus on the process.
Task: Divorce the activities from the outcome
When you can divorce the activities from the outcome, you make progress. You focus on the doing.
Then no matter how much your income or results fluctuate on a weekly or monthly basis, what you do stays constant. You focus on what you can control.
Your self-esteem stays the same because you focus on what you can control.
If you can make that shift, you’ll achieve whatever you want to.
You become a person who shows up and does the thing.
An example of ours is our podcast.
When we started the Teacher Talking Time podcast almost exactly five years ago, we didn’t give a second thought to downloads or outcomes. We wanted to be people who release a podcast. And we’ve released one every month for five years.
And now, we have the results. Not from the goal, but from the activity.
If you do one thing in 2023, continue being or become a person who shows up.
To do this, set up a system for yourself that helps you:
A. Focus on the absolute essentials in your business
B. Filter out the non-essentials
Then, set up a habit to follow through on it.
We use Notion for this. See Andrew’s to-do list below:
You’ll notice two segments:
Pending tasks
Completed tasks
People tend to feel overwhelmed when they don’t have a system to help them prioritize and compartmentalize.
Your task for this week is to set up a to-do list for the week.
Here’s how:
Step 1: Create one main goal to accomplish in the next 7 days
Step 2: Break that down into 7 mini steps
Step 3: Add each mini step to your to-do list for each day
Step 4: Dedicate a specific time to do it each day
Step 5: Do it
Step 6: Cross it off
Step 7: Walk away and do something fun
Step 8: Show up again tomorrow
Step 9: Rinse and repeat
In 2023, we’re working towards becoming people who show up.
No goals.
Just doing.
Are you with us?
We hope this helps.
See you again next week.
Leo, Andrew, and Mike
When you’re ready, here are 3 ways we can help you:
1. Our free Business Foundations Training for Teachers (260 teachers)
2. TBLT Made Easy - use tasks in your class right away (116 teachers)
3. A free consultation with us to talk about taking your business and teaching to the next level (first come first served)
