Goals For 2010
So this is the time of year when everyone reflects on what they don't like about themselves and then "resolves" to rectify it. That's why I've never liked New Years resolutions. If you have an issue to resolve, resolve it. Don't wait for an arbitrary date on a calendar to turn your life around.
Goal setting, on the other hand, has proven to be an integral part of the strategies of the most successful people. Whether you measure success in money, fame, happiness, freedom and an abundance of options, or any other metric, chances are the people who have excelled in that category made it their specific goal to do so.
In my twenties, when I was a truly driven Type-A prick (not that all truly driven Type-A personalities are pricks, but I certainly was), my goal setting for the coming year would begin during the 4-day Thanksgiving weekend. I would assess what I'd accomplished over the year, measure how close I'd come to my goals set out the previous year, make any necessary adjustments to bring me closer to achieving the goals I hadn't yet achieved, and set new goals for the coming year based on the outcomes I thought were important.
This worked very well for me, because it kept me on track. Of course, back then I measured success in dollars and cents, which makes a goal very easy (relative to more organic metrics) to achieve. I also discovered, after almost a decade of monetary goals, that money did not equal success. I won't preach about this, because I think it's something we all have to learn for ourselves, and I certainly wouldn't have listened if someone told me that when I was 25 (in fact, I'd bet my bottom dollar that plenty of people did tell me that, and I just didn't listen).
The motivation for achieving goals is something my fellow traders and I would call "high criteria". If you could discover a person's "high criteria", it became easy to predict what they would do in a given situation. Likewise, if you could discover your own high criteria, you could more effectively achieve your goals.
For example, if you told me your goal was to make a million dollars this year, I would know that you weren't aware of your own high criteria (at least conciously). Let's face it: a million dollars is just a stack of green paper piled up on a desk (or poker table, ala WSOP). In and of itself, it has no intrinsic value. It's just paper. What you really want is what that money can buy. But that's not your high criteria either. Real estate and cars and toys aren't what you really want either. You want what those things represent.
Maybe you want a hot car because you think it will get you chicks and get you noticed. So you don't really want the money. The money is just a means to get the car. But you don't really want the car either, because the car is just a means to get the chicks (and get noticed). Here's the kicker: you don't really want the chicks, either. The chicks and the recognition are just a means to get what you really want: prestige or the admiration of others. That is your high criteria.
In my case, having been raised by a man who grew up in an orphanage and a slew of miserable foster homes and having been born in an orphanage myself, my high criteria was (and still is) all about security. My father was the same way. He went about achieving security by working up to 3 manual labor jobs at a time. He retired from the military, he retired from the Post Office, and he saved like a madman his whole life. He tried to get me to follow the same path, but it wasn't for me. I think my desire for security was even more powerful than his, and it led me to take crazy risks throughout my adult life to achieve that security. Luckily, many of them worked out.
My point in all this is that your goal setting will be much more effective and get you closer to what you really want in life if you take the time to discover your high criteria - what really motivates you - before you set your goals. Why do you want the money? Why do you want the promotion? Why do you want the MBA/CFA/XYZ? When you answer those questions, you might be surprised to find that there are other paths available to achieving what you really want to achieve.
With that in mind, here are a few of the goals I have set for myself for 2010 (and the high criteria behind them):
- Lose 50 pounds by June 30, 2010 - I'm tipping the scales at 230 right now, which is not a healthy weight for a guy who's 5'9". By dropping to 180, I'll feel better, I'll have more energy, and I'll be more attractive to my wife. My reward for achieving this goal is running with the bulls in Pamplona in July.
- Finish the book I'm writing - I'm working on a non Wall Street-related book and I plan to finish it in the first half of 2010. I want it written because I think it's a great story. Though I will go through the process of having it published, I won't set publication as a goal because too much of that process is beyond my control.
- Help a dozen people start successful businesses of their own - That's 1 per month, and I think that's doable. My high criteria on this one is the satisfaction I receive when I can point to something and say, "I helped build that."
So now I'd like to hear what some of your goals are for 2010. My high criteria in that is how jazzed I get when people talk about what they want to accomplish. I guess it's the remaining Type-A in me.
Comments
I'm resolving to make more
I'm resolving to make more money. (Yes, I said that just because of what you said about making money.)
Awesome Stuff!!! Wisdom like
Awesome Stuff!!!
Wisdom like that doesn't come around often. I appreciate you personally for sharing your experiences and perceptions. It takes a wise man/waman to publicize his/her weaknesses and reflect back. I do agree we tend to focus on the materials we see portrayed as success or happiness. As for myself, the more I've learned to stay away from the Media, the more I've been aware of my perception of the world. It is hard to formulate individuality in a world filled with relentless ambitions on autopilot. A rat race indeed.
As for myself, I'm in a grad school abroad and these are my goals (in order of priority.)
1. Make the most of my experience here. I will be an MBA grad exactly a year from now.
2. Lastly, I plan to lose 15-20 lbs. and build a habit of eating right (portion control.)
3. I hope to have secured a role in a place where my corp finance ambitions will be able to blossom.
4. Build a network of key individuals in europe and asia throughout the year left.
5. Although not sure about the timing, I plan on going through the investment banking training I purchased (self-study) to hone in my modeling skills.
6. Read one book every two month's (I know that's lame, but I feel it'll do with a full time work & school schedule.)
I hope all a very Happy New Year and good luck with your goals.
\ / & Love!
Great post Edmundo, I enjoyed
Great post Edmundo, I enjoyed reading it and the wisdom in it. I can recognize myself in the mentality of money=succes attitude that many youngsters have at my age. Though you are probably right in what you say about money and the level of satisfaction it eventually gives, you are even righter in your assertion that this is something each has to learn for him or herself.
I wish you a happy new year, and keep these great posts coming!
Thank you for the inspiring
Thank you for the inspiring entry.
Happy new year.
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1) Finish my screenplay 2)
1) Finish my screenplay
2) Don't fling poo
3) Get back into shape
4) Get my Hedge Fund
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6) Finish my cookbook
Thanks for the read...Have a great New Year...
Great post - thanks for the
Great post - thanks for the insights.
I have several resolutions, but the most notable one is to open my mind and expand my cultural awareness. I plan to start business school in the fall, and I plan to have at least a few months to travel abroad. I'm considering just backpacking for leisure, but ideally I can find a work internship or volunteer abroad program for 2-3 months in Europe, Asia, or Australia. If any of you have suggestions as to how I could find somethg like this, I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks and happy new year!
Great post EB. A good way to
Great post EB. A good way to toast to 2010, and leave '09 in the rear view with fond memories.
A few personal goals for 2010:
1) Within the next few weeks, I will become a father. My #1 resolution is to be the best father I can be.
2) Not trying to lose weight. Just trying not to put any more on. I am about 6'0" and 185, and I would like to stay under 190. If I work out more, great.
3) Make sure to take my family to Church. Maybe not every Sunday, but at least for the big holy days.
4) Pass level 2 of the CFA exam
5) Publish more often (I'm in research)
6) Be more of a team player in my group. Need to work better with other people.
7) Get a patio installed in the back yard ,and replace my refrigerator
8) Take my wife to the Carribean in the Fall, and the family to St. Moritz next winter
9) Recommend a great trade, and catch a credit blowup before it happens. 50bps in either direction
10) Worry less about making more money, and be more content with what I've achieved by age 25.
Looking forward to coming back to this with a black marker, one year from today!
Happy New Year everyone.
~AG
Step 1: Dream the Dream || Step 2: Live the Dream || Step 3: Rinse, repeat.
Seems like everyone wants to
Seems like everyone wants to get back into shape!
1) Cut the fat by working out, controlling portion size, and not eating late at night (which we all know is so tempting)
2) Do whatever I can to help the fund I'm at really get rolling, even if it means bitch work, and not complaining about it
3) Go out more with friends/girlfriend... spent too many nights coming home from work and just vegging on the couch
4) Blow way too much money for a weekend somewhere exotic, just go, ball out and enjoy it... lots of years left in life to save away for retirement
Best of luck in the new year everyone, be safe tonight!
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1) Run the Boston marathon 2)
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2) Get a job in London
3) Start a portfolio of microloans
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1) Lose 20 pounds/ Get to the
1) Lose 20 pounds/ Get to the gym more
2) Get my CAIA charter
3) Get a job in trading/ equity research, even though I'm probably going to need 2 in order for 3 to happen.
Accepting the things I cannot
Accepting the things I cannot change;
Having the courage to change the things I can
and
Having the wisdom to know the difference.
1. Get out of banking 2. Go
1. Get out of banking
2. Go do something crazy like teach English in Tibet or South Africa or something
3. See my family more
4. Work out, I've lost/atrophied about 15-20 lbs of muscle since college, I hope to get it back.
Goals for 2010:
Goals for 2010:
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hadn't really thought about
hadn't really thought about specific goals but why not:
1. Get WSO to 50,000 registered users, 3 million pageviews/month and 400,000 uniques/month by the end of 2010 (currently at 26k, 1.6million and 200k uniques) and don't starve. :-)
2. Get the guides licensed at 20 universities
3. Move to Buenos Aires for 6 months+ in July or August at the latest once I graduate. Perfect my spanish again and travel through at least 3 other countries in S. America.
4. Keep going on trips abroad with friends and family to see the world.
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Effect some major positive
Thank you Edmundo for writing
Great post Edmundo - really
1. Buy more Visvim. 2. Don't
[x]
Great post. I don't really do
Thanks for prompting me to
Good post and good luck with
On a similar theme as most of
Great post. My goals have