Every year, I try to share a few things that I’m going to knock off my Impossible List and challenge myself with in the new year. Over the years, I’ve added to it to include my business and my life and wanted to lay out some goals for the new year and what’s coming up next:
Fitness
Finish 777.
This is first and foremost and I want to do it without any more injuries.
It’s going to be tough, but I can definitely do it. I just need to take care of myself and make sure I foam roll myself to death. #deathbyfoamroller courtesy of MoveWell.
Impossible Standards
I have an internal set of fitness standards I’m training for. This is secondary to 777 and standards-specific training will really pick-up once I finish, so I won’t be sharing it yet, but I will share more about this overall towards the end of the year. The goal of the standards is to hold myself to a regular fitness level that combines endurance, power and grit. I’m excited for this.
Education & Skills
I spent a weekend at Gym Jones earlier in 2016 and it was awesome to be around people that “get” the intersection of “mindset+fitness”.
I’m going to spend some time specifically getting around people who know more than me and working on a few fitness skills I’ve written off as impossible that just require more work than I’ve dedicated in the past.
Travel
Again, without sounding repetitive, much of this revolves around 777! Why? Because I’m going to finish what I started.
- I want to finish going to all 7 continents (Antarctica is left and I do that later this month!).
- I want to re-quality for AA Executive Platinum (after dropping to Platinum the past two years).
- I want to finally go to Alaska – the remaining place on my list.
- I want to hit Cuba up for a mojito before the floodgates open up. I’ve been saying this for years, but it’s gonna happen.
- I want to spend a week kitesurfing somewhere and get passable. I tried to do this this year in Hood River, Oregon, but the wind died and ruined my plans.
Business
With IMPOSSIBLE, I finally want to get back into “building” mode again.After 2 years of “defense”, I’m excited to be back pushing forward and making my way in new territory.
BUILDING TEAMS
This is my big focus this year. I want to build an awesome team and I want to be a great leader.
This might be my biggest priority (after 777) simply because I think working on my leadership capability will affect everything else I touch.
TESTING PHYSICAL PRODUCTS
Ever since I started creating IMPOSSIBLE shirts, I knew we could more and we do it better. We took the first couple steps towards that in December by getting a new supplier + fulfillment center, but we’re going to takes leaps + bounds this year.
I’m also going to be testing out a new physical product that I can’t share quite yet, but I’m excited about how it’s going to grow the IMPOSSIBLE family & business beyond just the site and (hopefully) allow IMPOSSIBLE to power other people to push their limits besides just myself.
GROWING THE PALEO BIZ
The paleo business has gone great ever since it launched. We moved away from just affiliate products to primarily meal plans and want to continue to grow this into a substantial sustainable standalone business. I want to build a team that runs it and handles most of the operations going forward and continue transition to “owner” from “operator.”
PERSONAL FOCUS
My personal goal this year is to be more deadly. What I mean by that is that I want to be laser-focused with the time that I spend on things rather than spending marathon sessions at 60% productivity. I’m focusing on that by 1) doing less and 2) adding in quarterly retreats where I get up, take my stuff and go away for a few days to plan the next 90 days and get clear on the next action steps.
The #1 reason why most people aren’t productive, is that they don’t know what to do next.
Life
In general, I’m trying to add more adventure and fun into life. While I do travel a lot, I work even more when I’m on the road. Sometimes, I won’t leave a hotel room. That’s great, but I want to make sure I add in fun and adventure and make space for it no matter where I am.
I would like to experiment for a month wth taking Fridays off (and going completely dark on the weekends), just to see what it’s like.
What are you planning in 2017?
For the kite surfing, I would recommend Mokuleia Beach on the North Shore of Oahu in Hawaii. You’ve been there, you know the area. Arguably the best kiteboarding in the world, superior even to the Gorge according to some people. Plus, the water is warmer if you fall off.
Hi Joel. Really admired the fact that you’re willing to share some of your goals with your fans. I hope you’d get the motivation and courage to work on them and accomplish them all.
Joel,
Awesome post! I was curious as to what methods you use to make your plans and get focused. Vague, I guess, but to try to narrow it down: how do you feel is the most effective way–for you–to jot down goals that you will keep. Are you writing then on paper and pen? Using OneNote/Evernote? Wunderlist? And do you go further down that hole and make each goal have it’s own subset of items that lead to the bigger goal?
For me, 2017 is the year I get my act in order once and for all. I’ll be 33 in March and goal setting and goal-minded thinking aren’t things I’ve been able to accomplish because, like exercise listed above, I don’t know how to do it. I would certainly appreciate your insights into this if possible. I’ve got my own business that I am finally getting off the ground and I realize as I occasionally stumble through it that I am missing a foundation for A) the business; and B) myself. Whether in a blog post or a response, I would love to hear how you accomplish this. While I know it may not be my way, it might just help me in finding my way.
I use the strikethru method – https://impossiblehq.com/strikethru-method/
I also use the simple note app.
Great goals. It’s inspired me to aware for fitness goals. Thanks for sharing.