Goals & Habits: My Journey to 50 Books in 1 year

I’ve made a few goals over the past few years, and like many of you (or maybe just the one of you) reading this now, I have achieved a few of them over the years and, of course, let myself fail at others. The goals have evolved over the past few years, but I’ve been able to reliably achieve my goals by using the framework below that I thought I would share with you as you make your 2019 Goals. I discovered it rather accidentally (fortune favors the bold, right?), but it’s helped me to get out of debt, start 2 businesses, go from $0 to $1M in business in less than a year, lose 46lbs, quit drinking alcohol, stop biting my nails and so on. For me, it all comes down to a commitment to executing the right habits. And that, I believe, is the so-called secret to success.

While those goals may seem impressive, none were as formidable a challenge to me as trying to get through 50 books in 52 weeks while running 2 high-tech businesses, serving in the Air National Guard, raising 2 future nerds, and supporting my wife doing big things in Sepsis for a large hospital system while she worked towards a master’s degree. Couple that with my ability to read about as fast as a really advanced third-grader, and you’ve got a recipe for failure. But I didn’t fail. In fact, I beat my goal. The difference? I actively committed to its success (see total list at the end). 

After reflecting on these successes, I noticed something, admittedly, accidentally …

Goals, if done right, will do at least one of two valuable things by sheer necessity:

1 – Establish good habits, 2 – Eliminate bad habits

As we enter the goal making season, I figured I would share some tips and tactics I’ve found helpful in creating positive habits and eliminating the bad habits to reach my goals.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” - Will Durant ( or Aristotle if you want to feel good, but be wrong.)

1.      I thought BIG … and realized S.M.A.R.T. is stupid. 

If you’re not familiar with the acronym … check out this link here. It’s a framework to build achievable goals … which is dumb for reasons I’ll get into later. But before I lambast this thing totally, I should give it credit because the framework makes total sense and can help you think critically about the process to achievement. However, that’s all the credit I will give, because it also gives you the excuse to think small. If you’re ok with that, you should probably stop reading this. I know if I had used that framework, I would have probably reduced my number to 40 … mainly because I don’t think I’ve ever read more than 3 books in a single month in my entire life. The S.M.A.R.T. framework would most likely have made me think 50 was neither “Achievable” nor “Realistic.” But for some reason, 50 books was an exciting goal so I stuck with it … so tell S.M.A.R.T. to pound sand AND THINK BIG. Always establish a goal that excites you and the people around you … if you don’t think it is slightly out of reach or it won’t possibly create any haters, then you’re not thinking big enough.

2.     I didn’t put good habits at the mercy of bad habits. 

Goals are the tangible result of creating and executing the right habits. We definitely live in some crazy and distracting times so “finding time” seems to be the consistent excuse I hear from those who do not achieve their goals. So let’s be clear, it absolutely is a zero-sum game … There are only so many hours in the day to do anything, be it good or bad – so you need to identify what you are willing to give up to establish the habits that will help you achieve your goals. Want more money? Are you willing to take another job? Want a better body? Are you willing to get up early to get to the gym? Me? I gave up a lot of things, some indirectly, to create more time in support of my goals in general. I quit drinking, cut out a lot of people and activities slowing me down, got up early for walks/runs to give me some audio book time, and frequently used my lunch break to do some reading instead of playing online chess (that was actually very hard but I feel my inner nerd is a little bit better for it). Before you commit to any goal, you might need to do some soul searching to see what you’re willing to give up in order to achieve a new habit.

3.     I was disciplined … sort of.

I have not figured out how to be 100% disciplined 24/7. If you know how to do it, please, shoot me a PM along with the list of drugs you’re on. However, there were a few key things I was able to implement to increase the discipline in my approach.  

a.     I adopted the Aggressive Professional mindset: Maybe not 100% related to reading books, but this is a term I developed with my Airmen in the military and it carries over into my professional life – it’s the mindset from which I attack my goals. It reminds me, and the people I interact with, that goals must be pursued in an aggressive, yet professional manner. I’ve seen too many folks (yours truly included) passively pursue their personal goals, wait on other people for their business goals, or simply just “expect” good things to happen because they are good people. On the other hand, there is no shortage of asses out there with the “at all costs” mindsets. Sun Tzu has warned about those strategies since 500 B.C. Take disciplined initiative. Make it happen. Aggressively enforce JJDIDTIEBUCKLE all day, every day … or better yet, WWMD? (What Would Mattis Do?) Oh the quotes I could pull for this … but since we’re talking goals, I feel like Mattis captures the Aggressive Professional mindset:

“I don't lose any sleep at night over the potential for failure. I cannot even spell the word.”

b.     I managed MY schedule: There are assholes out there who will absolutely (if even unintentionally) manage your schedule for you if you let them. In order to find time to do the things you need to do to be successful, you must be able to predict the future before people dictate it for you. And guess what, we’re all actually pretty good at predicting the future. For instance, can you predict what time you will be at work on Monday? That monthly status report, when will it be due? Do your kids’ practices vary day to day or week to week? Our schedules aren’t as crazy as we believe them to be – At least not to the extent we bitch about it. Are there things that pop up? Sure. Do we have a lot of time for new activities? Absolutely not, but everyone on this planet has the same 168 hours in a week as you. Other people will extend their 168 hours by taking yours if you let them. You should know what’s hard coded in your schedule before anyone else! Find those pockets of time you currently waste or other people will waste it for you. Guaranteed. I realized people like to schedule coffee around 0800 and call me between 0900-1100 or 1400-1500.  Guess what? I started blocking off those times for calls so naturally I could go for a run sometime outside of those windows and get some audio book time in. Every so often I can get a strong 0430 wakeup streak going … but that takes some discipline I have not yet mastered. If you can make this happen, it is highly recommended. 

c.     I leveraged unexpected opportunities: To get to 50 books, I realized I needed to be ready for free moments. Now this doesn’t mean I was 100% efficient and didn’t get the occasional Call of Duty marathon in or watch some “F is for Family” … that would be absurd! But I do a fair amount of traveling, so when a meeting down the road popped up, instead of banging out some Beastie Boys or Biggie, I used that time to listen to audiobooks. And thanks to Audible, you too can listen to these at 3x … Fair warning, developing the ear for chipmunk speed takes some time. 

4.     I tracked leading and lagging indicators

In my weekly calendar, I put a daily checkbox for “reading.” All that tracked was, “did I read ANYTHING that day?” 5 minutes or 5 hours – didn’t matter. This is what I tracked as a leading indicator for the habit. Did I read every day? Nope. But I could easily see if I was short changing myself or creating a hole. Matter of fact, during the summer I noticed I hadn’t read anything in 3 weeks!! Thankfully, though, I was on my way to the beach for a vacation and had time to catch up. As for the lagging indicators, these were sort of my vanity metrics. After I read a book, I would add it to the list, and since I needed to read about 1 book per week, I could easily see if I was ahead or behind the pace. Around Thanksgiving I was only at 40 total books, so obviously, I needed to pick up the pace. (Before you haters jump on me; yes, I only have 47 *unique* books on the list, I went through a few of them multiple times for a total of 52).

5.     I continuously envisioned/celebrated small successes

Win. Win. Win. Whatever it takes to maintain your motivation, do that. I did that by celebrating little wins along the way. Little win #1 was simply finishing a book and adding it to the tracker. Another little win was at week 18 when I had gotten through 18 books in 18 weeks… ahead of schedule! Other bigger wins were texting my wife that I had gotten to 25, 30, and 50 books. She would respond, “That’s awesome!” or “Congrats, so close!” It felt good to have someone in your corner – avoid those folks who might not give a shit or take it as bragging. Truthfully, she might not have given a shit either, but I’ll take it.

So at the end of the day, 50 books didn’t end up being what I celebrate. Reading 50+ books is what it took for me to establish a habit I needed in my life. Will I get to 50 next year? Maybe. Maybe not. But I know I am already looking forward to my next book.

My goal for 2019: Boney to Brawny. What are your goals? Let me know if I can help, but either way:

Get Some.

*My 2018 Journey to 50 Books List - Bold were personal favorites*

47 No Better Friend No Worse Enemy by Jim Proser

46 Deep Work by Cal Newport

45 Winning by Jack Welch

44 Twain's Feast by Nick Offerman

43 Pre-Suasion by Robert Cialdini

42 Sell or Be Sold by Grant Cardone

41 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do by Amy Morin

40 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell

39 Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler

38 Life After Google by George Gilder

37 The Way of Zing Mark by Nelson

36 The Dichotomy of Leadership by Jocko Willink

35 Chaos Monkeys by Antonio Martinez

34 Gap Selling by Keenan (2x)

33 Black Privilege by Charlemagne the God

32 Grit by Angela Duckworth

31 Unleashing the Idea Virus by Seth Godin

30 Permission Marketing by Seth Godin

29 The Idea Hunter by Andy Boynton

28 My Life and Work by Henry Ford

27 Sinatra Club by Sal Polisi

26 Stick With It by Sean Young

25 The Winners Brain by Jeff Brown

24 Almost Interesting by David Spade

23 Edison by Paul Israel

22 Boyd by Robert Coram

21 iWoz by Steve Wozniak

20 Discipline Equals Freedom by Jocko Willink

19 Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink (3x)

18 Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

17 What the Future Looks Like by Jim Al-Khalili

16 Beyond Band of Brothers by Dick Winters

15 The Future of the Mind by Michio Kaku

14 Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

13 The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu

12 How Successful People Think by John Maxwell

11 If You’re Not First, You’re Last by Grant Cardone

10 Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks

9 Mad Genius by Randy Gage

8 The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone (3x)

7 The Art of War by Sun Tzu

6 Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson

5 The 50th Law by Robert Greene

4 The Richest Man in Babylon by George Claison

3 Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss

2 The Innovators by Walter Isaacson

1 The Way of the Wolf by Jordan Belfort