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​Really Good Work Advice

A digestible deep-dive into how to create a better work-life.
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By Claire Wasserman​

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Hey Reader,

Claire here 👋
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This is the inaugural edition of Really Good Work Advice (RGWA), digestible deep dives into one skill a week that will help you create a better work-life.

RGWA is the first time I've charged for my writing (finally decided to take my advice and get paid!) and your support truly means the world to me. I've added some extra subscriber benefits, which you can find at the end of this intro letter.

Just a heads up that this month's newsletters will be based on the mini-lectures I'm giving as part of the "Prep for a Better Year" Sunday Sessions, which I hope you can attend (they're free.) Because you subscribe to RGWA, you automatically get the recordings and the slides - you can find them here.

The reason I'm so passionate about making ambition easier is because of a little (ahem, not-so-little), breakdown I had during the pandemic. But as breakdowns often do, it led to a breakthrough and a new direction - and way of being - for me and Ladies Get Paid. You can read more about it here.​

Without further ado, I present to you: How to Set Up Your Goals for Success, a Roadmap for Creating the Work-life You Crave. I hope you enjoy 🤗

x Claire

PS Subscriber benefits 👇

🗓️ Monthly Subscriber Live Discussion ​Register ​

🔦 Job Seeker Spotlight in Newsletter ​Submit​

🎧 Free Coaching Session on Podcast ​Submit​

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How to Set Up Your Goals for Success

Tell me if this sounds familiar:
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You set a goal or NYE resolution and you’re really excited. You start working towards it...Then life happens and you fall back into bad habits. You fall back into being human.

The chasm between who are you today and what you wish you could be keeps growing wider and wider. And you feel shittier and shittier.

Not this year. Not on my watch.​
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Listen, I get it. Even though I've much improved, I still struggle to correctly gauge my capacity to follow through; I tend to overestimate my energy and discipline. Apparently, this is a human thing, though I've self-flagellated for years as it being a Claire thing. Maybe you can relate.

If you're like me, you've probably tried following S.M.A.R.T. Goals, the "golden standard" for goal-setting. While it can be helpful, I always felt like it needed some updating. So as usual, I made my own. Introducing D.I.M.E. Goals!

I think it works better as a follow-through framework because it incorporates how you feel, both to the goal itself and also the emotional resistance you'll inevitably encounter as you attempt to fulfill it. In other words, being human.

Desire

To ensure that you pick the "right" goal, one that will meaningfully improve your life and motivate you to put in the work, it should be connected to something deep inside, like a desire. It's not something you want, but rather something you need. It's internally driven (fills your cup), not externally oriented or an obligation.
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I've found that women often struggle to connect to their desires. (Heck, I didn't realize I was gay until I turned 30!) My hunch is that a declaration of a desire is a sort of planting of a flag, a taking up space, something we are actively socialized against. So don't rush the following reflection prompts and be open to whatever comes up for you.

🔍 Reflection

✍️ What is something that if you did/had more - or less - of it, it would improve the quality of your life?

✍️ Fill-in-the-blank: "If I felt more or less of ______________, my life would meaningful improve."
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Our experience of life often comes down to how we feel about what's happening, rather than what is happening itself. That's why you can have a lot of "success" but still feel bummed out.

✍️ Fill-in-the-blank: "My desired feeling is _________________."

Mine is to be more present and grounded, which I figured out by first identifying that I wanted to feel less frantic and overwhelmed. (Sometimes it's easier to identify what we DON'T want, rather than what we do.)
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By the way, I like to refer to my desired feeling as my Domino Goal, because it will have a cascade effect in lots of ways of my life.

Now that you've identified yours, the question becomes, what do you need to do - or stop doing - in order to feel this way? This is where the roadmap begins.. which brings us to the next part of our framework.

Impact

If you focus on this *area, it will make it easier to fulfill your desired feeling and improve the quality of your life as much as possible in as many ways as possible.

*Mental health, physical, professional, financial ​
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🔍 Reflection

✍️ Within these areas, which one is currently the biggest BLOCKER to your ability to support your desired feeling?

For example, my mental health and work (both in how I was working and the kind of business I'd built), have been the major contributors to my overwhelm.

You may find that you have multiple areas you want to tackle. Me too. I strongly suggest you pick no more than two - the ones with the biggest impact - for this quarter. In order to build your sustainability muscle, you’ll accomplish more if you do less.

✍️ Fill-in-the-blank: "My main area(s) of focus is/are ____________."

Awesome. Now that you have a direction, you're ready to make the action plan.

Metric

A critical part of making an action plan that works, is considering how you work and how can make things easier for yourself. Metrics can do this.

Based on what you need to do to fulfill your desired feeling within whatever categories you’ve chosen, it's helpful to identify how often and for how long you need to do it. (And then put it on your calendar!)
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🔍 Reflection

✍️ Consider two categories of actions, one-time and habits, that you'll need to take to get to your desired feeling, or remove the obstacles in the way.

✍️ One-time action:

• Do you need anything to do this?
• How long will it take?
• When will you do it?
• Is there a metric of success you can put on it?
• How will you celebrate?

✍️ Habits:

• When will you do it?
• For how long?
• How many times?
• Until when?
• How can you make it as easy as possible to follow-through?
• How will you celebrate?

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I strongly suggest picking no more than three habits per quarter to complete at an achievable cadence. Remember, we tend to overestimate our ability to do things and you don't want to set yourself up for failure - and disappointment. You can always add more once you've strengthened your sustainability muscle.

By the way, here's an example of my habits that I put in the To Done Tracker, a tool I built to tackle my to-do's without getting overwhelmed. It's free for annual subscribers :)

At this point, you may be raring to go. Hold tight for the last part of D.I.M.E and a few more prompts. You're almost there!

Energy

Now that you've identified your desire and outlined a roadmap to getting there, I want you to consider your current capacity to sustainability following through. For this to work, it's important to be honest with yourself.

🔍 Reflection

✍️ Saying yes to something, means saying no to something else. Fill-in-the-blank:

• What am I saying no to?
• How will I do that?
• Do I need anything to help me do that? (Put a deadline.)

✍️ We're not wired to change. Fill-in-the-blank:

• What roadblocks can I anticipate standing in my way?
• How can I proactively address them?
• Do I need help to do that if, how will I get that support? (Put a deadline.)

✍️ Energy is our most precious resource. Fill-in-the-blank:

• How will I sustain and protect mine?
• Do I need help doing doing that? (Put a deadline.)

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If you could use more guidance when it comes to protecting your energy, good news. That's the subject of the January 19th Sunday Session and subsequent newsletter. In the meantime, be on the lookout for next Monday, where I'll do a deep dive into the common obstacles we throw in our own way, and most importantly, what to do about it.

Did this resonate? Was I helpful? Write me back, I always love hearing from you. Also, don't forget to take advantage of your subscriber benefits below my signature.

Have a wonderful week, you deserve it.

x Claire

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Now go get paid. I help women embrace their worth and activate their potential. Let's connect!​