How was your 2015? Could you make 2016 significantly better?

Have you noticed that more than 7% of 2016 is already gone?

Are you harnessing "The Power of Conviction and Belief " in Achieving your goals for 2016?

How did you go with achieving your goals for 2015? Or for that matter, 2014?

• Did you hit every metric, or did you fall short?
• Either way, is this likely to be repeated in 2016?
• Can you recreate the results of success?
• Or not repeat the factors that caused you to miss your goals?

There are many powerful factors at play in helping to achieve your goals.

And there are lots of frameworks to set and help achieve them, such as S.M.A.R.T (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-related), plus many others.

However, as great as these 'break-down' formulas are to the process of corporate goal-setting, they ignore a number of fundamental principle in the human space, that can't easily be described in management-speak. And therefore often get ignored by people as they lay out their personal & professional objectives for the new year to come.

In the absence of a great plan, a good plan will do fine. Daniel Mumby

The reality is that any framework for setting goals is better than none.

I ussualy take about 3 weeks of solid thinking time in the post Christmas period, to get clear on the year ahead. Hopefully you've had enough time for that too.

Here are the key elements of my own personal formula, which I developed from working with some truly great (and often unsung) inspired mentors. I'll lay out the steps and then go into detail in this 2 part article (with the second part to come out in a few days).

1. Grand Vision
2. Intention
3. Belief
4. Synchronicity
5. Reciprocity

Let's work through them quickly and see if you can end up with a power-picture of your 2016, and a strategy to get there (where-ever 'there' is) by the end of part 2 of this post.

•  What is your overall mission, or 'Grand Vision' for the year?

"A Grand Vision" can be as simple as an overarching statement about what the year will represent. Something that you can look back on and say "that was hard, but worthwhile, and I did it".

For example, if you've read my recent posts on the story of my years of personal horror from 2011-2013 (which lead me to being the entrepreneur I am today), you'll understand why 2014 was my "Year of rebuilding", and 2015 was my "Year of Action". But I didn't make each of these calls blindly. In times past, I've brought all my resources, skills & networks to bear to achieve them. And I nailed them both.

And for the purposes of this exercise, dont fall into the trap of setting this as  an objective goal, i.e. "Get that spiffy new car" or "send the kids to that great school" or even "win the lotto". This must be your "mission impossible', and yet, it must actually be possible. It must the the 'Grand Vision' that underpins all the elements of your life and defines who you are becoming. It must stir you to your core - because without that internal emotional driver, it's just a wish.

So in one line, statement, or one paragraph, describe to yourself in way that moves you, thing that will define your year to come, and shape the rest of your life. And the very act of doing this is like drawing a line in the sand. This your version of "Cortez burning his ships", or staking your claim to this very outcome being achieved.

Do it now…. Write it down…….I'll wait………..

Got it? Really? OK, if you aren't sure yet, read through to the end (on the condition that you come back to this bit), and then this should be a bit clearer.

I've been planning for 2016 to be my "Year of Success".

And for this next big goal, I've put in most of the hard yards required to bring that to fruition. Like any great structure (think building, bridge, home, family, company etc), you must build on a solid foundation. And this isn't something that you can go back and reverse engineer (eg lean thinking doesn't apply here).

• If you plan to be a great surgeon, most of your patients will appreciate (even if they don't say it) the years of training, the costs & sacrifices associated with  getting qualified in university and medical school.

So ask yourself, "have I done the preparation required to achieve my goal?"

For me, there was only one key element not being in place - until now. Which is the next key point.

• The Power of Intention

I am frequently reminded by the events of life, of the power of achieving your goals through belief and conviction, and of committing to them.

So strong are they, that your belief in your goals can actually be manifested into reality. The greatest sportsmen & women throughout history have been recognised as doing this. They "call the pitch", before they even face up to that pitch. "This ball is going over that fence, on this next pitch". And the power of the very act of this intention is phenomenal. The best baseballers in history only hit a little over 1 in 3 of each time at bat. But when they "call it", (often at critical inflection points in the game), it's very rare that the ball doesn't go where they've called it.

And I would like to share with you a practical example, which though statistically possible, (like most examples of 'intention') cannot be explained by any reason law of probability.

My good friend, Tim Mahlberg; peer and colleague (and soon-to-be on-screen mentor for our upcoming web-series about startup entrepreneurs), and I were guests recently at a corporate end of year celebration, with 400 other people.

Near the end of the night, Tim & I won both the 1st and 2nd prizes from their draw. What is odd about that is that Tim 'called them', in order for each specific prize. 

Having paid little attention the official part of the evening, including to the prize draw, one of the hosts announced a particular prize. Tim looked me clearly in the eyes (we had had a few drinks by this stage) and said "they are about to call out your number, 316". I laughed and said "no chance, among 400 people here.".

But he was adamant "I'm calling this now. This is my intention".

"OK, if it comes out, you go & claim it for me, because I am not doing a 'chicken dance' as part of the prize-claiming ritual" was my response.

So, what is your 'Intention' - the things that you must do to achieve your grand vision? Can you list the 3-5 things that must happen for your 'Grand Vision' to be achieved? Will you?....... Now……..?

 Which leads on to the third point.

• The Power of Belief.

Exactly as Tim predicted, my number was called. And he dutifully completed the prize collection ritual, for a wonderful bottle of vintage Dom Perignon champagne.

And then he declared that his badge would win the (similar) first prize. and 40 seconds later it was drawn, exactly as he declared it would be. (I did put my reservations in my pocket, and collected the prize on his behalf, with my rendition of something between a chicken, and 'Mick Jagger' crossing the road)

Now I can occasionally be a bit of a skeptic, so I thought about this for a while to see if I could identify any selection bias. My badge was 316, and his was 222, and they simply drew numbers from a hat, that corresponded to our badge numbers. So there was no selection bias evident. (As in we weren't 'selected' by name to win the prizes). Did the organiser want Tim and I to 'win'? I think not.

Was there some strategic benefit in having either of us go home with a good feeling about our hosts? Possibly. But Tim & I were both 'small fry' compared to a number of the other invited guests. You wouldn't pick either of us (at least in the short term) as of being of the most strategic benefit to the firm.

Now I am not a mathematician, so i might be a little off on the calculations, but the odds of these events happening in sequence, are somewhere in the order of 80,000 to 1, not allowing for the fact that we almost didn't turn up to the event at all.

If you factor in these 'co-incidences', the odds of these events transpiring are highly statistically remote.

In order for your 'Intentions' to become reality, you must in fact - really, truly and utterly - believe that the events will transpire; that the events will happen, that the goals will be met, that the objectives will completed. 'Doubt' is the drought of intent here - with it, your seeds of intention will die without germinating - so there is no room for it.

A wise man called Napoleon Hill, in his book "Think and Grow Rich", wrote

" Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve"…

(And here's the 'kicker' that most quoters miss from the full expression)

" regardless of how many times you may have failed in the past."

So in order for your dreams to become reality, you must (of course) do the work to achieve them, but more importantly, you must truly believe in the power of belief that they will come true.

I'll 'bring this article home' with the second part of the article, "Harnessing The Power of Conviction and Belief in Achieving your Goals", which includes the final 2 observations and a strategy for you to help turn your 2016 into the year, not of your dreams, but of the success of your convictions.

"To Your Success", Daniel

If you like this post, comment on and share it, &  you might also enjoy these other posts by Daniel

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About Daniel

Also traveling under the alias of 'That Startup Guy',  I am a co-founder of StartUp Foundation (The Startup Accelerator for Experienced Professionals) and am intensely, deeply, passionately dedicated to "The intersection between personal mastery & business entrepreneurship".

My goal is to help you, by guiding you through the steps, and past the challenges and pitfalls, to turn that 'Great Idea' into reality, whether it's a business, a product, an app or just finding an answer to a common problem, via the 1st of my StartUp books due soon for release "Before You Quit Your Day Job".

Review your advance copy of the 1st book.

And if you've got an experience about startup success (or failure), comment about it. If you've got a question, reach out to me via your preferred social media, or download my media/speakers kit. Other posts can be found here on Linkedin.