I was in a training session this week run by Barry Rhein, a personal and professional mentor of mine. In the session, he talked about something I'm beginning to think of as "transparent living." Even though the session was focused on creating a holistic account plan from a sales perspective, it forked off into a discussion about the importance of having specific written goals.
This has been a big focus area for me lately, as I'm one of those people who "doesn't want to be restricted by written goals" (or at least that's the way I used to describe it, until I realized I was just in denial). Part of my mental wiring makes me hungry for new information and inputs, and I liked the flexibility of not having a defined set of priorities. At this stage in my life, it's becoming clear that I really need to focus my time and energy in fewer areas to increase my impact on the world I live in, and written goals are central to that.
What really knocked me upside the head was Barry's questioning around how widely our personal and professional goals are shared and communicated. For example, he asked if I had written goals that were hanging up in my house for the whole family to see so they can understand where my priorities are at this point in my life. Wow...
That represents a big shift for me, and I'm working on my plan (and my gumption) to get there. I guess I should probably write that plan down...