In last month’s column I spoke about the benefits of knowing your “center.” A center is the core of what drives your decisions, your sense of self-worth and even your sense of power. Many possible centers exist, but the most powerful is being principle-centered. The reason it’s so powerful? Nobody can take away your principles, so if principles are at the center of who you are, your world cannot collapse.
Understanding your center is part of Habit 2 from Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” (Habit 2 is “Begin with the End in Mind”). Before I dig deeper into Habit 2, allow me to point out that Covey’s seventh Habit is “Sharpen the Saw,” which means to take time and tend to all aspects of your life. Covey’s areas of focus in Habit 7 are physical, mental, spiritual and social-emotional. I would like to suggest those don’t go far enough. A few more are needed.
Thirty-plus years ago my own coach gave me 14 areas for setting goals, but I found that number overwhelming. Subsequently I learned that our brains are capable of managing up to seven things before going into overload. And so, I set out to develop a framework for goal-setting that had only seven categories. Feel free to use what I developed, or develop your own. They idea is to have a well-rounded approach to life, otherwise our lives tend to get out of balance.
The seven categories I developed are:
- Faith. This category is for however you define a spiritual component in your life.
- Family & Friends. Pretty self-explanatory.
- Finances. This category is for budgeting, investing and otherwise managing your money.
- Fitness. This category has multiple facets. It can include physical fitness or mental fitness. Physical fitness also includes diet. Mental fitness includes taking classes or otherwise improving myself.
- Forte. This is whatever I do most during the week. For me, it includes almost all aspects of running my business, but if I were an employee, it would include all aspects of being a good employee. If I were a stay-at-home parent or a full-time student, it would include all aspects of that.
- Fortress. This is the category for where I live, whether it’s a studio apartment, a duplex or a 77-room mansion. Essentially, this category is for setting goals regarding my living quarters. By the way, I put my vehicles in this category because they get stored in my “fortress.”
- Foundations. This category is for how I participate in my community. Without a solid community, we don’t have solid society, so whether its participating on a board with my neighbors or helping someone run for public office, it goes in this category.
So you know, I also have an eighth category: Fun. This is where I put plans for vacations or special events in my life.
Feel free to use these categories or make up your own. The idea is to have specific areas for setting goals so your life is well-rounded. In the next issue, I’ll explore the nuts and bolts of setting goals so you can truly begin with the end in mind.
Daniel Bobinski, M.Ed. is a best-selling author and a popular speaker at conferences and retreats. For more than 30 years he’s been working with teams and individuals (1:1 coaching) to help them achieve excellence. He was also teaching Emotional Intelligence since before it was a thing. Reach Daniel through his website, MyWorkplaceExcellence.com, or his office: (208) 375-7606.
