Setting Goals to Lead to Successful Achievements
Audience – Procrastinators who have trouble setting and measuring goals
Purpose – Goal setting is necessary for self-improvement and continuous learning but doesn’t have to “rule” your life.
Setting Goals Can Be Fun!
Do you really have to set a goal to achieve your dream? In a word – Yes! It’s how you set them and measure them that is the key to your success! Some people need to set their goals in stone, with detailed milestones documented with a timeline for completion, and without any flexibility in the goal, objective or timing! While other people carry a simple bucket list in their wallet, or a dream list in their head – and that’s perfectly okay too! My approach to goal setting falls somewhere in between these two approaches. I define a primary objective that I want to accomplish along with a couple of loosely defined goals, then add specific tasks to my already lengthy to do list. This to do list includes mostly daily life reminders, which means that goal related tasks are not always front and center. Because I’m a procrastinator, I prefer to tackle the things I can easily cross of my list rather than the more involved tasks that support bigger objectives. My progress check-ins to measure success are pretty informal too.
Different Ways to Set Goals
Now that I’m retired and I’m my own boss (my three dogs will tell you otherwise), I decided to take a look at my approach for goal setting to see if I need to add a little more structure while still keeping it simple (and fun). PositivePsychology.com defines goal setting as the “process of identifying specific objectives you wish to achieve and creating actionable plans to reach them.” The SMART criteria below is a well-known technique to set, and achieve, effective goals. Even if you take a more casual approach to goal setting, this technique will help you set your path and achieve your goal.
Specific – clearly define what you want to achieve
Measurable – establish criterial to track progress
Achievable – ensure the goal is realistic and attainable
Relevant – align the goal with your broader objectives
Time-bound – set a deadline for achieving the goal
This framework may work well for me – it’s a nice guide that doesn’t “prescribe” how to set or measure your goals! Before I move forward, let’s look back to see how well I did with goal planning since starting my business, First Step Safety and Defense Training, LLC, and see if my approach needs any refinement. To start, I defined a very simple vision statement “to be a successful small business owner providing classes and services that teach you to be a safety conscious, confident firearm owner, who can make better decisions about protecting yourself and your family.” I think this still applies as the overarching guide for my business, so no changes needed there.
Looking Backward to Move Forward
In the early years, while I was still working a full-time job and starting my training business, my goals were focused on providing quality training on weekends to enough students in order to maintain my US Concealed Carry Association certification and cover my expenses. These goals were easy to measure. Goal – maintaining my certification – check. Goal – cover my expenses – nope (well I knew this wasn’t going to replace my retirement income!).
The intangible part of these early goals was harder to measure. I really enjoyed working with students that wanted to learn to shoot and increase their knowledge about defensive skills. I had found something I was passionate about! I realized that I wanted to do more than simply meet my quota every year – I wanted to reach more people and change lives. I needed, no I wanted, to look for continuous learning opportunities that would make be a better instructor, coach and small business owner.
Building a Three-Year Plan
So, what should I focus on each year to build my skill set? I started out simply thinking that I needed to look for a couple of instructor certification courses. But would that be enough? Probably not. As a relatively new instructor, I felt like I needed different types of classes to learn different methods of teaching. The result was a three-year plan where I would seek at least 2 instructor certifications and/or instructor development classes each year, with the goal of becoming a better instructor while creating new classes to offer students. After thinking it over, I realized I also needed to enhance my own shooting skills in order to achieve additional instructor certifications. So, I added at least one skills-based class to the mix each year. Good plan, right?
Checking In – Year One
I was quickly overwhelmed with choosing 2 to 3 instructor level and skills classes because of the variety of wonderful instructors and classes that were available. I closed my eyes, threw a dart at the list (yes – that is a legitimate way to select a class!) and ended up selecting an Off-Body Concealed Carry Instructor class (now called FlexCCarrySM Solutions Instructor). Off-body carry is a bit controversial in the industry, so why not take the biggest bite of the elephant as my first step! The class was taught by Vicki Farnam, one of the most recognized female instructors in the country! I signed up, booked my travel and coerced my husband to join me in the class. Then COVID happened and delayed the class for six months, so I was beginning to wonder if that was a sign that I made a bad choice. I now know that this was the best decision I could have made, because Vicki Farnam and her FlexCCarrySM Solutions Instructor Class changed my life and created more opportunities than I could have imagined. My husband and I started traveling with Vicki as assistant instructors for the FlexCCarrySM Solutions Instructor class. We must have done a good job because Vicki asked us to collaborate on her book “FlexCCarrySM Solutions – A Positive Guide to Off-Body Carry!” Year 1 Goal – partially achieved due to COVID – only one new instructor certification and no skills-based training. While the goal itself was not fully achieved, I realized there are always intangible benefits that come with any success. For year 1 we made wonderful new friends, traveled across the country, working with instructors like John and Vicki Farnam, eventually became an Affiliate Instructor for Defensive Training International and DTI for Women, writing a book – PRICELESS!
Checking In – Year Two
Since year 1 was a partial success, I maintained my goal to take two instructor certifications and a skills-based class. For skills-based learning, I attended Vicki Farnam’s, women’s defensive shooting retreat in Elk Mountain, Wyoming. For instructor certification, I took the Defense Training International (DTI) Defensive Pistol Instructor Development class with John Farnam. This was an excellent opportunity to learn nitty gritty defensive shooting techniques from two masters! I also found a non-shooting instructor level class called Image Based Decisional Drills (IBDD) developed by Shelley Hill of The Complete Combatant. Learning decision making skills and acting on those decisions was invaluable! Year 2 goal – skills based and two instructor certifications – Done. Remember those intangible benefits – Between the beautiful scenery, the wonderful Elk Mountain hotel, meals, camaraderie with like-minded women and shooting challenges – the defensive skills training weekend led to a lot of soul searching, bonding and learning (with a little drinking for good measure!). And because I coerced my husband and a friend to attend the IBDD class with me, we have great travel memories and shared learning experiences to help each other when teaching!
Checking In – Year Three
My year 2 goal was achieved, but I maintained my goal with two instructor certifications and a skills-based class in year 3 because I had so much to learn. For skills-based training, I attended “The Mingle,” an invitation only training weekend for women in the firearms industry, sponsored by Shelley Hill of The Complete Combatant. My instructor certification classes did not happen in year 3 because of personal circumstances. I will share with you that Shelly and Brian generously moved my registration to the next class. If you are a firearms instructor, you need to take this class – Deliberate Coaching with Brian Hill of The Complete Combatant. It is truly an instructor development class rather than an instructor certification class. Year 3 goals – skills based – completed. Instructor certification – I’ll give myself credit for the one class that I had to move. A side note regarding goal setting – remember to give ourselves grace if a key goal is not met. Sometimes things happen that we can’t control. This is called keeping a flexible approach!
Intangible Benefits of Goal Setting
Looking back over the three years, I realized that in addition to the intangible benefits, I might benefit from a deeper dive into how I was measuring “successful” completion of the goal. Yes, I took the classes and earned the certificate, but how will I use those classes to support my vision statement. I think I have a new goal already – to start creating new class material! What about the skills-based classes though – how do I measure those? This is a little harder, I think. For me, I feel like success is measured in building confidence in ”doing the things” that were taught in the class, whether it was a faster draw time, accuracy on target, bringing the rotator to horizontal, smooth magazine changes, etc. There were also three successes that were very personal for me. I finally earned my “red” DTI pin by accurately firing six shots at a moving steel rotator target, while I moved in between shots, cleared a stoppage and performed a magazine change in less than 21 seconds all while following safety protocols. I also finally achieved Brian Hill’s card challenge – 5 shots in a playing card in six seconds. The completely unexpected success was winning the H&K Mingle Challenge for my squad with a score of 98 out of 100 for 10 shots in under 15 seconds.
The other intangible benefit, is the new found confidence in my shooting skills. This gave me the courage to take a big step outside of my comfort zone and step into the world of hunting and fishing. A friend drew me into sporting clays and skeet – my secret passion. I have always enjoyed walking the fields, watching the bird dogs while my husband and his friends hunt tasty birds. When our German Shorthair Pointer came into our lives three years ago, I took the giant leap to train him and follow him into the field for upland hunting at a local preserve. We also traveled to Kansas last fall for a guided pheasant hunt – it was amazing and exhausting all at the same time! Secret goal – shotgun sports and upland hunting – check! Turkey hunting may be next – another new goal!
New Direction
Late last year, I also took a completely unexpected path that led me to apply as an instructor with Shoot Like A Girl. The Shoot Like A Girl team, led by Karen Butler, is dedicated to introducing women to shooting, archery and hunting activities in a professional, kind and funny manner that makes everyone comfortable who stops to visit us at the trailers. Goal – sharing knowledge about shooting sports – check. Priceless bonus – being part of the “Shoot Like A Girl family of instructors,” all with similar goals and passion for learning.
This new focus on goals related to hunting, and joining the Shoot Like a Girl team was completely unplanned – definitely a different path than I ever thought I would take to achieve my business mission, but I think you can see that they are related. I think you can also see that setting goals needs to flexible to take advantage of new opportunities when they present themselves. Goal setting can also be fun rather than tedious as long as you keep your goals high level and maintain an open mind to look for different ways to achieve your goals! Remember, measuring your success, learning from your “misses,” taking the unplanned path, and evaluating the intangible benefits makes it all worthwhile!
Summary
In summary, we should all set goals. Goals can be formal or informal and we shouldn’t beat ourselves up if we don’t achieve a goal. We should also keep an open mind to say “yes” to other opportunities that weren’t part of the original goal. While I need to be a little more formal with some of my goals, especially related to the financial side of the business, I think my approach is pretty good and will continue to inspire me to do more and be better!
What’s next for me? I’ve added a few new goals this year! I opened the First Step Training Facility in Midlothian, Virginia, and I’ve joined the Gun Tote’n Mama’s sales team as a local rep. I will have fun creating goals for these new endeavors in addition to supporting my travel with Vicki Farnam instructing the FlexCCarrySM Solutions Instructor Class and the Shoot Like A Girl team, as well as leading a local chapter of Armed Women of America and all the other fun things I get to do every day! Oh yeah – and there’s one other unrelated goal – don’t hook myself on my first ever fly-fishing adventure in beautiful Montana! Wish me luck!