Nine Strategies for Being the Leader of You

Being a good leader of others starts with leading ourselves and yet, it’s still not a commonly discussed topic. If we use the same definition as leadership but flip it to self, this is what it looks like: Self-leadership is influencing yourself to believe in a vision while creating a sense of purpose and direction for yourself. 

In a quest to help my clients (and myself!) be better self-leaders, I created the Self-Leadership Map with nine strategies. In this culmination of a nine-post series, you get to pull together what you’ve learned about yourself. If you want to read or reread the previous eight posts, they’re all together on the Self-Leadership Map web page. Even if you haven’t read all the blog posts, you’ll find the essence of the Self-Leadership Map below or download a free worksheet version. You can use this to support yourself in staying focused on what matters most.

Touchstone Foundation 

These touchstones will repeatedly keep you grounded and inspired.

• Annual Theme: What is my focus for the year? Write a word, phrase, or sentence.

• Core Values: Who am I when I’m at my best? What influences hard decisions? Write 2-5 values.

• Purpose/Why: What is the belief or cause that drives me? Write a phrase or sentence.

• Love Notes to Self: What will I remind myself of when times get rough? Write 2-5 words, phrases, or sentences.

Wholehearted Being

This is fuel for your motivation. Self-care and awareness produce energy to keep moving forward.

• How will I take care of myself? Write 1-3 for each area.

  • Intellectually

  • Physically

  • Emotionally

  • Spiritually

• Which character traits describe how I want to show up at my best at work? Write 1-5 words.

• Which character traits describe how I want to show up at my best at home? Write 1-5 words

Near & Far Vision

Envision what you truly want in the near-term and long-term.

• What do you want? (Use the time periods of 30 days, 90 days, 12 months, 5 years, 10 years.)

Decisive Goals

Choosing a limited number of goals will provide focus.

• What will I do to achieve my vision? (Use the time periods of 30 days, 90 days, 12 months, 5 years, 10 years.)

Consistent Action

Tenacious tiny steps are what leads to accomplishing big goals. 

• What practices or habits will I do to support myself so I will reach my vision? Write 1-3 for each period: daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually.

Energizing Support

Connecting with people who support you can bring resources, collaborations, joy, and more

• Who supports me in the following areas?

  • Tackle problems & challenges

  • Understand business & people

  • Colleagues

  • Core work and/or hired team

  • Which groups do I want to join and be actively involved in?

  • How will I remind myself to reach out when I want and/or need help?

Pesky Obstacles

Notice what’s getting in your way. For example, physical space (external) or negative self-talk (internal).

• What is getting in my way externally? Write as many as you want.

• What is getting in my way internally? Write as many as you want.

• How might I mitigate or eliminate these obstacles? Write 1-3 strategies.

Appreciative Celebration

When we celebrate, it teaches our brain to do more of what we’re celebrating.

• How might I celebrate my small and big accomplishments? Write 1-3 strategies.

Sustainable Ecosystem

Think of the previous eight areas as living, breathing, evolving parts of your self-leadership ecosystem. Reflect on what’s most useful for you at this stage of your life. Consider where you want to keep this information, how you want to update it, and what will support you best to stay on track.

• What will your system look like? Consider these areas:

  • Where will I keep the information from this map? For example: print, post on the wall, digitally, or separate out the elements and keep in different places. There are no rules so do what works best for you.

  • How often will I engage with these self-leadership elements? For example: read everything weekly or monthly, and update some of the sections on a regular basis.

• Example of a Sustainable Ecosystem:

  • Daily: Use software to track baby steps toward goals & visions.

  • Weekly: Focus on completing 30-day goals.

  • Monthly: Read the whole map to reconnect with my foundation and vision, update areas as needed, celebrate achievements with accountability partner or coach.

This is the most important part of the entire process. Create a system for leading yourself that works for you. There are no rules! Be creative. Be innovative. Be structured or be wild. Above all…first, be the leader of you!

Learn more about all nine self-leadership strategies + download a Self-Leadership Map as a fillable PDF so you can use this valuable tool well into the future.

I’d love to hear at least one strategy that works best for you. Send me an email.

You Don’t Have to Write All Your Goals

In my 20s, a dental hygienist said to me, “You don’t have to floss all your teeth.” I said, “Great!” Then she landed the one-two punch with, “You only have to floss the ones you want to keep.” Her trick worked. I’ve been a devout flosser ever since. The same is true for goals: You don’t have to write all your goals, only the ones you want to achieve.

Like flossing your teeth, you know setting goals is important to do on a regular basis; however, do you understand why writing them is crucial? Let’s learn from the experts. 

The results of Harvard Business Study found that:

• 83% of respondents had no goals

• 14% of respondents had plans but didn’t write them down and still, they were 10 times more likely to succeed

• 3% of respondents had written down their goals and were 30 times more likely to succeed compared with those who had no goals

Are you convinced that goals are valuable for you? I am. And still, finding what works for me has been, and continues to be, an evolution. I know that goals lead me to a satisfying life I love. Conversely, I know that chasing shiny objects leads me to frustration. What do you know about the role goals play in your life? 

I’ve struggled with goal writing because I make it too complicated by following someone else’s complex system, too overwhelming with more goals than a mere mortal can accomplish, and too time-consuming to stay on-track. 

Now I believe you must design your own goal system. Using someone else’s process is an awesome way to start, but you can’t stop there. You need to make it work with your lifestyle, work, values, thinking style, physical environment, technology preferences, creative and professional style, etc. The key is to give your goal system that special zing that motivates you! 

A study by the Dominican University of California revealed a basic goal system structure. Participants were divided into five groups. They found the group with the highest success rate of 76% did this: 

• wrote their goals

• wrote their action commitments

• shared with a friend

• sent updates to a friend

When you’re ready to get serious about building your goal system, use this guide to begin.

Write what you want.

This first step is about envisioning the big picture of what you want more of or less of in your life. You can use time frames to imagine what you want in 30 days, 90 days, 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years. You can find more details in this blog post.

Write your goals.

Decide what you will do in order to get what you want from step one. Each goal needs to be S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound). These questions keep me on track. 

• Can this be checked off? If not, I need to be more specific.

• Can I really do this within the time-frame I set? I have a tendency to be unrealistic in my completion dates. Separate your goals into the same time periods as your “wants” above e.g., 30 days, 90 days, 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years

• Is this really important to me? Sometimes I think it is and then after continually not doing it, I admit to myself that it’s not important or figure out why I’m not doing it, which is usually related to being scared or not having enough knowledge. Without writing the goal, I wouldn’t know this.

You might want to add to this process by creating a vision board (cut out images that represent your goals and glue them onto paper) or hand-writing your goals (like note-taking, this conveys to your brain that this is important). 

Build your container.

Don’t skip this part! This is what will make writing and accomplishing goals satisfying, and dare I say, enjoyable.

• Where will you keep your goals so that you can review them on a regular basis? Ideas: hang them near your work space, put them in a digital spot that you consistently see, tuck them in your planner, purse or cell phone holder.

• How often will you read your goals?

• How often will you update your goals?

• Who will you tell about your goals?

• What might make this fun, efficient, fascinating, or exciting for you?

You can build your own goal system to receive what you truly want. Start by envisioning what you want, then decide what you will do to get it, and finally, build a container to support your goal system so it can support you. 

Creating your own goal system may not change your life, but then again, it just might. I’d love to hear about the structure of your goal system! Send me a note to Jalene@JaleneCase.com.

Note: This is part three in a series of nine blog posts exploring a blueprint for self leadership. You can read the previous post here.

Create a Goal System that Works for You With These 13 Ideas to Get Started

Simply setting a goal and expecting to reach it is a recipe for ongoing angst. A goal you truly desire to achieve needs a solid foundation, stepping stones, and tenacious support.

Conversations with my clients lately almost always include the mention of goal-setting. While that may sound logical, that’s not the energy I sense. I hear things like, “I should set some goals for next year. I really want to set some goals but I’m no good at it. I’ve tried doing the goal thing but it doesn’t work for me.” The energy I sense is frustration, self-judgement, and desperation.

I’m with you! I used to feel the same way. Setting goals was no fun. The process led to beating myself up for forgetting to look at the brilliant goals I had written and then when I finally read them again, realizing I had allowed shiny ideas to distract me from what I truly wanted to accomplish. Not anymore.

I’ve built a system to support myself; however, I’m not prescribing my process for you. Instead, I’ll share the components of it so you can create your own awesome way to do what matters most to you. I purposely didn’t go into detail on every element because my intent is to give you enough information to use as a springboard in creating your own system.

Before we begin, let’s set a larger context for goals. The purpose of designing a goal system is for you to create a life you love. Goals are simply the stepping stones along the way. As you continue reading, feel free to change the words to fit your style. Words matter; they can be a turn-off or a turn-on! Also, choose the parts that feel right for you and let the rest go.

Start with a Solid Foundation

This bedrock will be a continuous source of strength for you. I recommend keeping it front and center as a reminder of the larger purpose of your goals.

Annual Theme: Choose a word or phrase to represent your guiding theme for the year. Ex. Fierce Focus, Create a Life I Love, Generosity and Abundance

Values: Which 2-5 values define who you are at your best? Ex. Connection, Usefulness, Curiosity, Courage

Purpose: If you got to design a billboard on a super-busy road, what would you say? Ex. Do what matters most. Be kind.

Love Notes to Myself: What encouraging words do you want to hear? Ex. Keep It Simple Sweetie (K.I.S.S.). Yay you! You got this!

Lay Out the Stepping Stones

This is the working information about your goals. Choose a location and format that works best for you such as a spreadsheet, notebook, or app.

Key End Result: What’s the overall objective or desire? You’ll have 3-5 of these areas. Ex. Build an effective goal system.

Internal Belief: What do you want to believe about that key end result? Ex. I can achieve meaningful goals.

Measurable Action: What are you going to do to achieve that key end result, and when will you do it by? You’ll have several of these for each key end result. Ex. I will start building my goal system by answering each of the questions in the “solid foundation” section by December 31, 2020.

Simple Step: What is one thing you can do immediately to accomplish the measurable action? These will keep the momentum going on your measurable actions. Ex. Schedule 30 minutes to work on my goal system.

Give Yourself Tenacious Support

I’m not going to lie. Sticking with a goal system takes work. But don’t get overwhelmed! It’s totally worth it when you see your desires becoming reality. This last section will make the difference between losing interest in your snazzy new goal system and continually innovating it as you evolve. Tenacious support means giving yourself what you need to be successful.

Visualize: Using all of your senses, what does it look and feel like when your goal is accomplished? Ex. Create a Vision Board or write a detailed description.

Character Traits: Which character traits will support you in reaching your goals? Ex. I will be courageous, tenacious, and kind to others and myself.

People Support: Who will support you in reaching your goals? Ex. Hire a Coach. Start or join a Mastermind group. Find an accountability partner to check in with on a regular basis.

Self-Care: (The secret sauce!) How will you take care of yourself so you have the kind of energy that will support you best? Ex. Exercise on a regular basis. Set aside time to be alone with yourself. Journal. Make art. Get regular massages. Do what makes you feel energized!

Celebrate Often: How will you celebrate the tiny and gigantic successes? Ex. Fist pump in the air while saying, “Yay you!” Share with a friend or colleague. Do a happy dance. Give yourself a special treat.

Now is when the fun and creativity begin. Choose what stands out for you. Innovate. Build your goal system to support yourself in doing what’s most meaningful, important, and exhilarating for you. You got this! If you have questions, I would be happy to support you. Connect with me at Jalene@JaleneCase.com.