Hey Reader,

So it might not surprise you to learn that I could nerd out about data all day. Man, I love talking theory and playing with concepts. But I'm not going to do that to you!

Instead, I'm going to try to keep it to the practical stuff, because data can really help us get where we want to go.

I was in a couple of conversations last week about goals. In my world, it seems to be that time of year. We're in the last fiscal quarter, planners for 2025 are launching, and people are looking ahead. And people are talking about goals.

You either love them or hate them, right? And I fall into the camp of loving them, but I haven't always.

Goals used to measure my success and failure, and that made them really hard to set and hold in my mind. Not only was I afraid of failure, but I've also been oddly afraid of success. If I'm honest, I still fall into either one of those spaces at any given point in time.

3 things have helped me with finding peace with goals?

1. Not seeing goals as finite - goals are no longer my fixed endpoint. They're a target I'm shooting for in this fixed period of time. I get to choose whether I continue on this path or change it.
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   So why have a goal in the first place, if I'm giving myself permission to change it? It gives me some boundaries when I'm facing a lot of choices and in danger of overwhelm. I can go back to my hopes and dreams when I was less overwhelmed or fearful, and I can use that to filter out options.
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2. Identifying lead and lag indicators - seeing what lead and lag indicators did for my mindset was a game-changer for me. If you haven't heard of lead and lag indicators, lag indicators measure the output of past things (e.g. revenue, customer churn) and lead indicators measure things that drive future performance (e.g. sales calls, website traffic).
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   If you're writing SMART goals, they're often very focused on the output, but focusing solely on the output did a number on my brain and heart. When something didn't work, I wasn't as clear about why, and I made missing goals mean something about me. When I started tracking lead indicators, it became less about me as a person and more about the activity I was engaged in.
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3. Bringing curiosity into the mix - man there's a lot to be said about being curious vs being judgemental. If you do hop to judgement, omg that's relatable. It's a pattern that I grew up with and have had to consciously work on. But when you approach things with curiosity, things shift.
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   It could look like, "I wonder what part of this process needs to be tweaked?" as opposed to, "Where did I go wrong again?" Gentle questions unlock possibility.

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How do you feel about goals? Was this helpful for you? Hit reply and let me know!

- Brittany

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