Goal Getting: A Paradigm Shift to Achievement

As the new year is upon us, we are all consumed with what is to be achieved, overcome and accomplished over the next 12 months. In many ways, we limit ourselves without even realizing we are doing it. We allow disappointment at what was not accomplished skew our belief in what we may be able to accomplish in the future.

A work/life balance mentality causes us to weigh our personal lives against our professional lives in a mindset of guilt or sacrifice with a belief that one must give up some things to get other things. The transition into a new year causes us to think only for the short term over these next twelve months instead of a more expansive vision to guide us in our life versus a small part of it.

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Instead of approaching this year with the same old, same old, consider these five goal-getting secrets to having a satisfying life and business: 
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1. Three Aspects of You: Too many entrepreneurs don’t feel whole. Why? Because you have been led to believe a part of you must be sacrificed to grow a successful business. Your family. Your friends. Your hobbies. Your time. All must be sacrificed at a cost you may not even realize until it hits you like a ton of bricks later in life. 

​Here’s the truth. When you honor all of what makes you feel whole, your opportunities open in ways you scarcely imagined. So, make your goals honor the three aspects of you in 2026 – your Me, Myself & Inc. The ME aspect is the part of you that is shared with others, your family, friends, team members, and others you engage with or will engage with. The MYSELF aspect is what makes you unlike anyone else. It is what makes you passionate and what drives the inner core of you. The INC aspect is the professional, business, get things done part of you. 

Set goals in 2026 that feed and fuel the three aspects of you. Set goals that can help you feel whole again. 

• ME GOALS: What are your ME goals, related to sharing yourself with others and spending time with others? Who are the others you want to make a priority and how? What is desired with family? What is desired with friends? What is desired in being out in your community and enjoying activities with others? What is desired with those you work with or who are employed by you? 
• MYSELF GOALS: What are goals you have for yourself? Your wellbeing? Your interests and hobbies? Your health? Your unique talents and skills? What are you curious about learning? 
• ​INC GOALS: What are your goals for your business as they relate to you as the business owner? What are goals related to your ability as a leader and owner? What are goals related to growth, scaling, and expansion? What are your goals related to competency, capacity and gaining advantage? 

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Momentum Building Decision #30
It takes elevated thinking to realize next level results.

2. SMARTer vs SMART: In my Forbes article entitled, 5 Keys to Everyone Embracing Company Goals, I turn the SMART goal setting model we learned to embrace from the 1980s on its head as an outdated, and unsuccessful way to approach goal getting. Why? Because that old paradigm is too focused on the goal and not who is achieving the goal. Big difference.

​And just like taking the SMARTer approach is more effective in getting your employees to achieve your company goals, this approach is a true game-changer for you achieving your goals … all of them. 
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Below is a comparison to bring the point home:

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Goal Centric	VS	Person Centric
S =  Specific	vs	S = Specific
M = Measurable	vs	M = Meaningful
A = Attainable	vs	A = Action-Inspired
R = Realistic	vs	R = Rewarding
T = Timely Deadline	vs	T = Time Well Spent
	++	er = Exponential Results

The old goal=focused concept is also limiting one’s thinking encouraging doubt by forcing someone to make a judgement call on what is realistic or attainable. Isn’t a goal supposed to stretch and challenge you, not limit you? And being specific covers the measurable and timely deadline aspect indicated in the old paradigm, so why be so redundant? Shift to SMARTer and see just how empowered you feel about achieving your goals compared to the old way!

3. Values/Reasons Aligned: Part of the reason the SMARTer goal getting is so powerful is that it gets you to go deeper into why a particular goal is meaningful, which helps you better align with your core values and what truly matters to you. What is meaningful becomes time well spent. What is meaningful is more rewarding. And because it is meaningful and rewarding you are more inspired to take action.
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Another important part of understanding why a goal is meaningful is your reasons reaffirm it is a goal you want to achieve. When you internalize it with reasons that matter for you, then it becomes a goal you want to prioritize and focus upon. When your values are aligned with your goals, you become unstoppable because your actions feel inspired, empowered, natural and effortless.

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Bottom Line Rule #14
Strategy brings clarity. Clarity ignites results. 

4. Mission/Vision = Clarity: Another reason the SMARTer goal getting is powerful is that it has you looking at what you can realize from achieving your goals along with what is realized by living your values throughout your lifetime. This gets you to be more visionary and purpose driven in your approach to goal getting. Most people have a goal yet never consider what they will realize from reaching that particular goal. Most people know their values yet have not given thought to what ultimate benefit would be realized by having lived and breathed that value day in and day out. 

Let me give you an example to illustrate what I mean. I know that my personal mission is to inspire new thinking. My books, blogs (this one included), and articles all strive to reinforce new ways of thinking. This was what I deemed to be the ultimate benefit of having lived my values of creativity/innovation and open-mindedness. These two values lived fully and daily would result in the lifelong benefit of inspiring new thinking. 
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My vision for my company is that we are the catalyst behind helping small businesses achieve a 100% success rate. Yes, a bodacious vision and one I truly believe is possible. Why? Because we believe that we just need to help business owners see what they cannot see and then think unlike they have thought previously. And what will help that happen? By inspiring them with new thinking … new thinking that has been validated through extensive research and best practices over decades. 
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Making decisions on what to achieve is clear when everything we strive to do is aligned with my mission and our vision in mind.

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​Momentum Building Decision #26
Setting a series of goals to achieve an overriding goal ensures success.

5. Short term = Long Term: From a strategic perspective in honoring the three aspects of you, Me, Myself, and Inc. goals are more likely to be “gotten” if the short-term goals are building blocks towards longer term goals. You are setting yourself up for greater success when there is a clear connection between shorter term goals and longer-term goals.

Here are a few examples to help you understand the power of this approach.

• A Me Goal: A business owner who had sold her business for millions wanted to have an even greater impact on lives and create a legacy in the process. Her story of overcoming adversity inspired her to write a book sharing her message of the power of faith and perseverance against all odds. The longer-term goal was to start a nonprofit helping others overcome adversities and limitations to triumph. Her internationally acclaimed book became the catalyst for growing exposure and funding for the nonprofit.
• A Myself Goal: I have been taking daily Italian lessons in snippets for this past year, growing to an elementary reader level currently in a goal to speak Italian fluently. My long-term goal is to spend an extended sabbatical in Italy, and an intermittent short-term goal is a two-three-week trip to Italy within the next 2 years.
• An Inc Goal: A U.S. manufacturing business owner desired to expand his business’ geographic footprint coast to coast. A short-term goal was to build plant capacity for handling a much larger customer base and footprint demand. An interim goal was to identify a location for a second distribution facility that could serve the western U.S. He found a location in Nevada through a strategic relationship for a distribution center just in time for expansion due to a large contract that would catapult its west coast expansion.

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In 2026, make it a breakout year for you because you have shifted from mere goal setting to goal getting. Instead of making resolutions, create a revolution in your thinking where goals are embraced, not just professed. 

​Yours in economic vitality,

P.S. Ready to roll up your sleeves and make 2026 your best year ever!? My Dream Wide Awake Empowerment Guide may be just what you need to know yourself better than you ever had before and to dream that is inspired by action and a CAN DO spirit. 

"Sherre' L. DeMao is a master strategist and in this workbook she shares a masterful framework that will help you know who the real you is ... your purpose, your passion. and your path. Highly recommended!"  - Whitney Vosburgh, author of Work the Future! Today!

 Purchase it on Amazon TODAY as a gift to yourself or your team.