Hello and welcome back. As I’m recording this, it is the end of November. We’re making our way into the, the final final weeks of 2024. And I am not unique in this case, but I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about what 2025 is going to hold and mainly thinking about What my business is going to look like in 2025, we have made a lot of changes and done a lot of restructuring in the last like three to six months of this year inside the business and sort of streamlining our offers and getting just more focused on a handful of things versus like kind of being more widespread.

And because of that, because we’re doing a lot of like pruning and getting rid of. Old offers and adjusting how we’re doing things and putting more emphasis on just a few things rather than many things, um, going into 2025, we need to have more structure and more clarity of what the goals are going to look like on a not just a yearly basis, but a quarterly basis and potentially even like a week to week basis in order to hit those quarterly goals.

And historically I’ve been pretty hesitant to plan out goals in advance, and I think some of that is just the chaotic entrepreneur in me, and I know a lot of us are like that, that are entrepreneurs that can feel very hesitant to want to set Um, goals in advance or put in deadlines or plans for things super far in advance.

And when I tell you already for 2025, we have pretty much all of our biggest launches for the year planned. Like we have dates for them, which is crazy, crazy to me because it’s the first time that I’ve actually done something like this. Um, with which also, if you’re listening to this, you might be like, but Casey, you’ve been in business for years and years, and this is the first time like you’re fully planning out a year in advance.

And my answer to that is yes. And. Historically, the reason behind that is that I’ve always felt that if things change, I don’t want to have to go back and adjust, you know, deadlines and plans for other things and how that has an effect on maybe other offers or things that are going on in the business.

Or I don’t want to lead my team in one direction and then decide we’re going another direction. I also feel like I’ve been telling myself this story, which you probably tell yourself the story here too, that I work better or I’m more creative in the moment or under pressure or whatever. However, a lot of that is definitely fake news.

And even like in the moment of thinking those things like, Oh, I don’t, I don’t want to put this on the calendar yet. Or I don’t want to make this decision yet. That’s still six months away, eight months away, whatever. If things change, who cares? Having some sort of structure and skeleton to work from. It’s still a lot easier than just like flying by the seat of your pants, especially when you start building out a team, which I have a pretty significant amount of people that work on my team at this point.

And in order for them to do their jobs most efficiently and for the entirety of the company to be most efficient, it is important for me to clue them in on the direction that we’re going and when, and when that is going to happen, when, when the direction is going to happen. And high stress, high stimulation, high.

overwhelm or just like, oh, I need to make this decision this week. Those types of feelings feel good because it feels like pressure and it feels productive to like get something done like so quickly, but that doesn’t necessarily mean better. Those things are not synonymous. And in fact, I would, I would venture into the explanation that it’s actually Worse.

They’re not synonyms, they’re, they’re antonyms really. High stress, high pressure does not necessarily mean better. So this is also, this in conversation in general that I’m having with you guys on this episode kind of came partially because of my, my own goal setting and plans for 2025 and how we’re setting that up.

My team is getting together in Arizona for an event. Next weekend and we’re spending Sunday just mapping out 2025 and working backwards from revenue goals and that sort of thing. And that’s the other thing I almost have always felt like. Because I’m the CEO, it is solely my responsibility to decide, you know, what revenue targets we need to hit and like, take full responsibility for that and ownership and not necessarily share it with anyone else, whereas I’m very much now realizing that bringing my team members into that and bringing them into like, this is, this is the goal, this is what we’re all working on together.

is very helpful. So for me, it’s always just been like, well, I don’t want to burden other people with like these goals. But the reality is we’re all working on this together. So like everyone should be clued in on the goals. So we have a lot of plans for how we are going to stay on top of all of that together and work backwards from like a long term year out goal into quarterly goals.

And then also having, you know, like two week sprints in order to get to said quarterly goals. And then kind of that’s how it all plays off of each other and how you can set yourself up for the year. And so we’re really, really going to be doing a lot more of that. And I will be talking about it with my mentorship clients inside the growth collective, which is my one on one mentorship, like small group offer.

I like, I have a hard time always explaining it because I don’t want to use the word mastermind because number one, I feel like a lot of people just have a bad taste in their mouth with that. And this is um, I’m not a expert on the word, like masterminds, like what are they? They’re just like these big programs that cost a lot of money and blah, blah, blah.

But I really only have like five to eight mentees in this group. So we do have a small group, but the main focus is my one on one relationship and helping essentially really, really hands on help inside their businesses. So what I am implementing into my business, I am planning to also help implement into to the businesses of those that I work with.

So. So, again, I’m talking about this and I wanted to bring this to the podcast partially because it’s something that I’ve been like working through and continue to improve upon when it comes to avoiding goal setting. But it’s also something that’s come up a lot with my mentorship clients. And with that, she specifically, I’m thinking about one mentorship client specifically, but there’s been a handful of them that I’ve had similar conversations with, she’s hesitant to set goals, and we had to have like a pretty big conversation around where that’s coming from.

thus this podcast episode was born. I was like, huh, I’ve been thinking a lot about my own goal setting and how I’m doing it differently going into next year. And I’m also talking to those that I work with in a mentorship capacity. I feel like this could be helpful for other people to tune into as well.

So really this, like I’m calling it the like goal setting avoidance trap because we often avoid setting goals because it’s more comfortable and feels more safe, but it’s actually. Ultimately, the thing that’s holding you back. It’s like sneaky self sabotage a lot of the time. And there’s so much goal setting conversation out there.

In fact, like I am guilty of doing the same thing, like talking about here’s how you should set goals and here’s a framework. I have an entire podcast episode on the smarter goal framework rather than the smart goal framework and how to leverage that and set. The best, like most meaningful, most likely to be successful goals.

However, there’s a whole other side of this conversation as to, like, actually getting you to the point of setting goals in the first place. Because you could listen to that and be like, okay, yeah, cool, that sounds good, but, like, I’m not gonna do it because I’m not gonna set goals this year, or, like, I don’t feel like I need to do that, or whatever.

And I really think the actual and biggest reason people don’t want to set goals is due to fixed mindset drama. We’ll call it Fixed Mindset Drama. It’s this worry that if you set a goal and you don’t hit that goal, therefore, you will fail. So, goal setting equals higher likelihood of failure. Because if you don’t set the goal in the first place, then you don’t have a chance to fail at that goal.

But also, no goal equals nothing to strive for in the first place. Because if you don’t have something to work towards, like, what are you actually doing? If you don’t set a goal, you don’t have anything to work towards. So what are you actually doing? You’re just putting things out there and Seeing what comes back to you, you know, so I think that there was a big argument for setting goals and also a big argument for diving a little bit deeper and trying to better understand why you don’t want to set goals and why you’re not setting goals in the first place.

So. So, the first thing I spoke to my mentorship client about and I wanted to share with you guys is that remembering that the purpose of the goal isn’t only and ultimately just to hit the goal. And I know that sounds counterintuitive. However, I don’t remember the last time I set a goal and I actually hit it.

And that, again, sounds probably weird, but I do know that the launches where I do really take some time. Like, I’m mainly thinking about launches for the Health Mindset Coaching Certification because that’s sort of my big bread and butter main offer and we launch two times per year. And when I do set goals, they’re Not like extremely lofty goals, like I know they’re realistic, and I know I will hit them, but I have not hit one of those goals, and I can’t tell you how long.

However, I do know that I would not have had as much success in those launches if those goals weren’t what I was striving for. It’s sort of like a shoot for the moon and you’ll land amongst the stars type situation. So, I will say. If you’re setting goals and you’re always hitting them, your goals aren’t big enough.

And I would encourage you to strive for something more and watch what happens when you set a goal that may feel a little bit more like, I don’t know if I can actually do this. I bet you surpass. Your previous more comfortable goals that you knew were absolutely attainable, and this actually really kind of coincides with the conversation that I do have inside the smarter goals episode, which will make sure is linked in the show notes, because I don’t love the smart goal framework for.

For a few reasons, but one of them being that the A in Smart Goals is attainable and the R is realistic. And so if we’re always just shooting for something that is attainable and realistic, but we tend to not realize how capable we are, then you’re probably actually falling short all of the time of what you’re actually capable of doing.

Sure, you’re hitting the goal, but there’s probably more that you could be doing and you’re just not seeing it in yourself. So I would really implore you to think a little bit more about So, your goal setting in general, and how often you are setting goals, how often you are hesitant in avoiding goal setting, and for what reason?

Why are you resisting goal setting? And for those of you that are listening, and I know a lot of you are, are health and fitness coaches or your coaches in some capacity, your business owners, you do a lot of work with other people and helping them like change their behavior or grow or develop or what have you.

This goes for them as well. So if you’re a business owner or you’re with your clients, how often are you encouraging them to set goals and also guiding them? In that process, it’s one thing to have like a client come in and say, Oh, I want to lose weight. And like, you’re like, okay, in the back of my mind, I know that’s this person’s goal the whole time, but like actually revisiting it and spending some time there and helping them.

develop a good relationship with goal setting too because of all of these things that we’re talking about. So asking yourself or maybe talking to your clients or your staff members that you work with when it comes to goal setting, if there is resistance to it. And I also like, obviously you can set goals like on a week to week basis.

Like I just want to, I want to drink a hundred ounces of water a day. Like to me, that’s a different conversation than like, I want to make A million dollars in my business this year, or I want to see 150 students in my certification launch, right? Um, to use an example of my own. So. Those types of goals is really kind of what I’m talking about here, and I feel like those are the ones that are typically avoided, like taking some time to map out your revenue for 2025, like how much you want to make in a year, in a quarter, and then what that means as far as like what you have to do in a month to month basis.

Those types of things are the ones that are typically avoided, not the, Okay, this week I’m going to meditate three times for ten minutes. Like, that’s, that’s a different story. However, I will say, lots of people also avoid setting those, those smaller goals, too, for the exact same reasons. Being worried that If I set the goal, there’s a chance that I will fail.

If I don’t set the goal, then I can’t fail, right? And that is just like such a fixed mindset tendency because there is that fear of failure. And there’s, it’s likely a belief. It’s coming from this belief in the back of your mind that you won’t be successful. That there’s a good chance that this isn’t going to work, that you’re not cut out for it, you’re not capable, you don’t have the skill set, you’re not good enough, yadadadadada, like, there could go a lot of different directions, and then that is what’s feeding into the, eh, I just don’t need to set the goal, right?

So, I’ve talked about this on the podcast before, but I like to Make it very, very simple when it comes to why people do what they do. And it can really boil down to one of two reasons. People do things to either eliminate discomfort or solve a problem. So in this case, I would say it’s more often the case that People are trying to eliminate discomfort, and that is why they’re not setting goals.

There is a discomfort in the fact that you may not reach that goal. It’s uncomfortable to have to think about, like, Okay, what do I think I’m capable of, and how am I going to set a goal, and what does that need to look like? And also the time and effort and things that go into setting your goals for, like, an entire year, and then having to potentially stick to that, and like, What if you don’t stick to that, and what does that mean about you if you don’t, or if you do fail, or whatever?

Yeah, that’s not comfortable. It’s not comfortable. So, as humans, we like to eliminate said discomfort, and create this almost false narrative of safety by not setting a goal, because, again, if we don’t set the goal, then we can’t fail, right? Although that’s not really how it works anyway, because I’m sure Even if you don’t, like, set the concrete goal, you still feel like there’s something that you want to accomplish.

And if you’re not feeling accomplished, then Also, I feel like it’s hard to feel accomplished if you don’t have a goal to strive for and work towards, right? So, yeah, it’s just Goal setting really is more helpful than I think our brains like to convince us that they’re not. So, if there’s always a reason that we do things and it’s more comfortable to just not set a goal because we think it’s the safer option, the reality is you’re likely self sabotaging your chances of success.

for the sake of not facing failure. So, there’s always a reason that we do things, even if it’s not necessarily logical or rational to not set a goal because that feels better and that’s safer because again, yeah, it’s not logical or rational, but we are irrational beings. We really are. So, If you do want a framework to follow as far as goal setting or use it with your clients, the Smarter Goal Framework, I have a whole episode on it, um, I believe it’s episode 13, again, episode 13 will be linked in the show notes for you.

I also have a little gift, a little nifty gifty. It is the Goal Clarity Worksheet. This is a worksheet I developed. A few years ago for the alumni group of the health mindset coaching certification for folks for coaches to use with their clients, but you can also use it with yourself. I’ve used it inside my coaching company for my own clients as well, just to kind of help you get more clear on what the goals are.

that you should be striving for because I know it’s one thing to be like, yeah, okay, I get it. I should be setting goals. But what does that actually look like? What does that mean for me? And this goal clarity worksheet is exactly that. So that is downloadable. It is totally free, yours for the taking. And yeah, I just, I think I want to leave you again with just like.

Kind of bringing this full circle into really thinking about why you are resisting goal setting and spending some more time with that because usually there are Fixed mindset tendencies involved in that and there’s likely a core belief underneath all of that Probably related to a fear of failure in some regard or, um, a disbelief in your Abilities, your competency, something like that and if you can get into that and work that out It’s going to do wonders for your growth and gonna help you probably set some goals and be more successful in 2025 and beyond.

Okay, short episode today. I hope that was helpful. Just really kind of wanted to get you thinking on this because it’s like I said, it’s been a conversation I’ve been having with myself, with my team members, with my mentees. And I’m like, okay, I gotta, I gotta bring this to the podcast, but that is all I have for you, my friends.

Thank you so much for being here and I’ll see you next time.