Grab a post-it note. And let's change your life.

I've read a lot of leadership books over the years and something that always gets mentioned is reviewing goals every day.? I've got to be honest and tell you, that never resonated with me.? Like, who has time to do that?!? At least the way it's always been described to me - one page with 10 bullet points, read it out loud. Read it out loud 3 times, etc.? I've got kids, dogs, and horses to feed.? And, a job to do.??

Several years ago, when I started building out the compliance business at Radian Generation, I started a practice of writing bold statements in sharpie on post-it notes and putting them in front of me - on my computer screen, above the light switch in my office.? ?In the busyness of starting a new business line, executing on signed work, and trying to keep all the plates spinning, I often needed a singular focus. Something that boldly spoke to me and kept me on track.??

For many months, almost a year, I had "$1 Million" on a blue post it.? Then it was "Industry Engagement".? Then it was a series of other business building milestones.??

It feels like the world is designed to distract us from keeping a singular focus.?

At the beginning of August I was frustrated that I didn't feel progress in a lot of areas of my life - things just weren't clicking.? I sat down at 5am one morning with a sharpie and a stack of post-it notes, and I started to imagine where I wanted to be in 45 days, and where I wanted to be at the end of the year.?

I wrote each ‘thing’ on a post-it note.? I put them on the wall in my office and looked at them for a few days - then I had clarity on what the themes were and I was able to condense the notes down to 5 very clear post-its.? I put those on my bathroom mirror and I read them every morning while I brushed my teeth.?

When I was traveling for the first time since I put up the post-it notes, I actually took a photo so I could look at it while I was gone... because it works.? The past 45 days have been dynamic - not perfect - but every day I've done something intentional to work towards those 5 post-it notes.?

Somehow, I've come around full circle to those leadership books... reading them every day.? However, I think there's something important here that I've learned - it's the simplicity of a declaration (not a goal, not an idea, not a quote) saying exactly what you want.? ?And the simplicity - that's really important - because that simple statement becomes really easy to share with your team.?

My team can tell you; it happens often that I go on camera in meetings, and hold up a post-it note written in black sharpie to remind us all of what our singular declaration is.??

When my husband was first starting his business, we sat down one night and wrote a business plan - in post-it notes, on our bedroom wall.? He's now running a successful company and doing amazing things.? I will say, I finally beat him in revenue this year, but it took me 5 years to get there!?That was a pretty epic post-it note wall!

As we head into the last 100 days of 2024, let's get clear on what you want to accomplish - what do you want to have behind you in 2024 - and put that boldly in sharpie on a post-it note, and get busy!?

Keep it simple, make it bold, and put on the blinders to life's distractions - you won't be the same person going into 2025!?

Mom Edition:? My kids are really used to post-it notes from me.? It's a really great mom tool.  They will wake up to a post-it note from me with a list of things to do, or to pack.  Sometimes it's an encouraging notes or a quote.  I put a lot of quotes on post-it's in my 12 year old's room trying to declare good things for her!