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My Six Goals For 2020 by David Guerra

My 6 Goals For 2020

Happy New Year. Happy New 2020. Depending on how you look at it we are now beginning the third decade of the 21st Century. As is the case with most new year’s, they usually begin with resolutions. The kind of resolutions people tend to ignore the first working day of the new year, then by the 12th day of January they are on the way out. Soon they memory of those resolutions are chuckled away at the next family gathering, which is around Super Bowl weekend.

I have not had any kind of New Year’s resolutions for the past several years. This year, I took a different route. I set goals. Goals the kind that are attainable and can be broken down into bite sized action items. Those bite size actions can be further broken down into nibbles, and so on.

Do you see where I am going with this? Any goal can be broken down to its most rudimentary elements in order for it to be worked on and ultimately achieved.

Unlike, a resolution which is a statement. As an example, the old “I will lose weight this year” standard is a worthless resolution. It is worthless as it does not share with how much or over how long both of which are certainly good things to know especially before you begin any kind of undertaking.

As an Infantryman, I know how important it is to clear and concise actionable information before launching any kind of operation. Thus, a goal such as “I will lose 25 pounds of weight in a healthy, well-planned and well executed manner” gives you everything you need to lose those 25 pounds. Sure it does not give you a specific time lime but you have to figure out what it is going to take to lose that weight in a “healthy, well-planned and well-executed manner.”

This past holiday season, I took some time, after Thanksgiving and before the start of the last two weeks of December, to work on what I want to do in 2020. Thus, I came up with six (6) goals that I want to accomplish before 11:59pm on December 31, 2020.

Goal #1 Finish Writing “WE THE TEAM”, book number three in the Walking Leader trilogy

The second book in the Walking Leader trilogy, Great To Follow, was published in 2015. Since then I have been working on the third book but never got serious about closing this one out. This year the goal is finish writing it.

Goal #2 Lose 25 pounds of weight in a healthy, well-planned well executed manner.

Like many of us, I can stand to lose a few pounds. For far too long I have been carrying a little extra weight, thus losing 25 pounds is a good amount. Good in that once I lose that amount I am on track for losing more. The plan is to lose the weight is in a well-planned and quite deliberate manner. This means it will take time. Hell, I have just under 365 days to do so, but I do not plan to take that long, I am looking at taking about 5 months which means losing five pounds a month. I will keep you posted on this one.

Goal #3 Walk at least 30 minutes a day. It is good for the body, mind, & spirit.

Jogging and Running are one thing but there is something to be said for taking a walk in woods, at the shore, or neighborhood sidewalk. It does not matter where. What matter is you get out there and do it. Walking gives you an opportunity to spend time by yourself. An opportunity to clear your mind. You get my meaning. Besides it is good for the cardiovascular system, especially for those that spend most of their day sitting.

Goal #4. Write one new Historical Fiction book for my Occupied Berlin series.

For those that do not know, the Occupied Berlin series is a ten part series of fictional stories set in West Berlin, Germany from 1945 to 1989. The view is from the front line troops, the INFANTRYMEN assigned to the US Army Berlin Command, US Army Berlin, US Army Berlin Brigade. The last book I wrote in that series is “The Taking of Sergeant Gonzalez” and published last February (2019). This story like all ten in the series have been outlined since the inception of the idea of the series. So, this means the story needs to be written.

Goal #5 Run a 10K in average time for my age. It is somewhere around a 9 minute mile. YIKES

Over the years, I have run many 10Ks. I still remember my very first road race, 10K Gatow Road Race at RAF Gatow in West Berlin, Germany back in 1986. My last one was over five years ago. I am overdue for one more. The training has started, now all I have to do is work on time, speed, and stamina. But, most of all I need to work on my stretching because now is not the time to be sidelined by strained muscles. I will keep you posted on this one, as well.

Goal #6 Continue to improve myself and in turn help to improve the lives of others.

As a lifelong learner, I will continue to work on myself. My motto is “Always be better today than I was yesterday.” To be better today, I have to constantly be at work. Working on improving myself, whether it be by reading, writing, learning something new, trying something new, and of course reflecting on past mistakes and learning from them. Then in turn taking all that I am learning and sharing it with others. All in hopes, that others can learn from my past mistakes as well as the mistakes of others to make new mistakes (not repeating past ones) and then passing on those lessons to future mistake makers. For those that don’t get it; learning from our mistakes and the mistakes of others is good for life and business.

So, there they are. Six goals and the reasons why. Some will agree but most will disagree with my goals and why I am doing them. Some may say that this is strictly self- centered especially when he puts helping others at the end. I say, if I cannot help myself first how am I expected to help others now, later or ever?

Now, if you will please excuse me, I have some work to do.

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Thank you,
David G. Guerra, MBA
email: [email protected]
twitter: @daveguerra
instagram: dave_guerra
facebook: thedavidguerra

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Happy New Year! Walking Leader Podcast 160 Now Online

Happy New Year Everyone! Just want to take a moment to let blog readers know the latest episode of my podcast, The Walking Leader, is now online: Episode #160 entitled “Credibility Is The Foundation”

In this episode, Credibility is a one of many words that are synonymous with LEADERSHIP. Credibility is one of those fragile life skills that can take a lifetime to learn and master but only takes one second to destroy. As a leader it is not just your duty but your responsibility to learn, understand the fragility and vulnerability of credibility as the foundation of your time as a leader and as a teacher of the ups and downs of those growing into their role as future leaders.

• my website (https://daveguerra.com/wlpodcast/walking-leader-podcast-150-159/walking-leader-podcast-160/)
• Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/walking-leader-official-blog/id886737443)
• Stitcher (https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/dave-guerra/the-walking-leader-podcast?refid=stpr)
• iHeartRadio (https://www.iheart.com/podcast/53-the-walking-leader-28373233/)

Have a Happy & Prosperous New Year,
David G. Guerra, MBA

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Accountability blog Change Inspiration Leadership Leadership Principles MBWA Motivation Walking Leader Work Ethic Writing

Happy New Year: Focus On What You Can Change by David Guerra

image of fireworks explosion in a new years celebration

FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN CHANGE – So you won’t waste your time with something you can’t.

2020 has arrived. All the excitement, angst, anticipation, planning, goal setting and what not the time has come and there is no going back. No matter how much we want, there is no going back. However, far too many of us bring along (into the new year) things that keep dragging us back to the past. Thus, we never can move forward. However, by recognizing what you can and cannot change in your life can you begin to eliminate that which will cause you to spin your wheels and begin to grow those things in your life that you can change.

 

MOVING FORWARD

As I mentioned at the top of this post, the year 2020 has arrived. Time has us moving forward and for all of us moving forward is critical to our future success. Yet, we cannot go forward with things we cannot change be securely and firmly attached to our backs. No one can go successfully into the future where the things you cannot change continue to hinder us.

It is critical to moving forward that we move forward into 2020 and beyond, unencumbered (or lightly encumbered). The driving force that leads people towards success is knowing that any unnecessary item, belief, mindset that is not able to be changed will slow down the attempt at success. That is why reducing the load will allow you to move faster toward achieving your success.

 

RECOGNIZING WHAT YOU CANNOT CHANGE

When it comes to lightening the load the first thing to address is knowing what to cut loose. Lightening the load is done by successfully identifying what cannot be changed. The ability to successfully identify what cannot be changed is by far one of the easiest things you can do. Find that that is providing you resistance, friction, what you feel is holding you back. What makes that easy, is that you know what is holding you back, who is providing the friction, and what is offering the resistance.

Sadly, most people stop short of doing something about the resistance, the friction, and what is holding you back. Once identified, there is something you can do. It might be something that will cause you consternation but it is truly the only thing that can be done: STOP DEALING WITH THE PEOPLE AND THINGS YOU CANNOT CHANGE.

 

RECOGNIZING WHAT YOU CAN CHANGE

Recognizing what you can change is even easier to do. Start at the center. Start with yourself. That’s right, it is that simple. You are your most valuable asset.

Think about this: If you cannot take charge of yourself, then what good will you be to those you lead.

This means if you cannot work on change for yourself then how can you expect to inspire and motivate others? Thus, first and foremost you will work on determine what you have to work on, then make a list of your findings. Once your list is set, prioritize those items. Get To Work!!!

Remember, going forward you must actively focus on those things you can actively change. Focus that which you can control and never forget the mindset and beliefs of others are some of the things you are not going to change. So do not try. Just focus on yourself then working to change other aspects of your life will fall into place.

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David G. Guerra, MBA
email: [email protected]
twitter: @daveguerra
instagram: dave_guerra
facebook: thedavidguerra