Reverse-Engineer Your Success in 2024

Second in a Series

?Last week, I talked about planning achievements instead of setting goals for 2024. The difference is that you’re already in a positive mindset. Instead of what you hope to do, you tell yourself what you did.

It’s like any journey you undertake. If you’re going home for the holidays, you don’t set a goal of reaching your parents’ house; you decide you will be there.

You probably don’t second-guess yourself either: “That’s too far to travel! I’ll never make it. I’m not that good a driver. What if there’s an accident? What if I run out of gas? Besides, I haven’t been such a great daughter/son/sister/brother, and I don’t deserve to be there. I’ll stay home and call instead.”

No – in 2024, you’ll get where you want – and deserve – to go. Start by reverse-engineering, another way of saying “plan backward.” ?Envision where you ARE at the end of 2024 and plan how you got there by asking three questions:

What Did You Achieve?

Set your intentions for 2024, expressed as DONE. You started a business or increased the revenue for your existing business. You published a book, paid off a credit card (or all your debts), bought a new house or moved to a new rental.

Be specific: How much revenue will you add, for instance? I mean an actual dollar amount; “more” is not an amount.

Be sure to include some things from your personal life. Everything doesn’t have to be related to your business or career. How did you improve your relationships with others – and yourself? How did you add fun and meaning to your personal life?

How Did You Achieve It?

Break down each accomplishment into the steps required to get it done. Just like when you were envisioning your final destination, start with the end and work back to the beginning. As an example, let’s look at a revenue plan.

Achievement: By Dec. 31, 2024, my business had brought in $24,000 more revenue than in 2023. That’s $2,000 more each month, $500 more each week and $100 more each day.

To bring in that amount, I:

• Joined a leads-referral group that attracted ?new business.
• Added one new client each month.
• Reached out to three past clients each week.
• Offered one new product or service every six months and promoted it to existing and potential clients.
• Posted on social media once a week with content that doesn’t sell but shows my expertise in my industry.
• Posted on social media once a week with content that sells one of my products and services.

How Did You Challenge Yourself?

If you’ve tried to achieve these wins in the past, ask yourself what you will start or stop doing so you can get it done this year.

Watch less TV?

Walk or run a certain distance each day?

Take a different route to work that doesn’t go past your favorite fast-food restaurant?

Volunteer for a leadership project at work?

Intention – Attention – No Tension!

Put your targeted achievements in writing and check on them daily. These are the markers with which you record your progress on the road to your 2024 destination.

Reroute, learn the rules and move toward success!

Next Week: You’ve Arrived – Time to Celebrate

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Helping You Design Your Life’s Roadmap

Heather D. Mahoney is a Certified Life Coach and Certified Passion Test Facilitator. Once stuck in life with no clear idea of where she wanted to go, she rerouted and changed direction. To help others who’ve reached a similar dead end, she created Designing Your Life’s Roadmap: 8 Pathways to Guide Your Exit from the Pretender Highway (available on Amazon) . To start rerouting your life, follow her on Facebook and visit her website, roadmapheather.com .

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