If you’re like many of us out there, setting new goals brings many different thoughts & emotions. The past is behind us, & a bright new future is out there in front of us….kinda like the winter months winding down with the fresh, bright springtime not too far off.
With the right attitude, mindset, & behaviors you can make a pattern of building habits & actions that set you on course for your best life yet. There are endless possibilities out there, & hopefully you’ll choose to tackle new goals with determination, optimism, passion, & gratitude.
Because, after all, regardless of who you are or where you are in life, you can make the future stand out from the past & present for all the right reasons. You have the opportunity today to make your tomorrow better than ever.
For that reason alone there should be optimism in your emotions as you look ahead to setting & achieving new goals. Some will capitalize on that optimism by setting the bar high on goals they want to meet in the future. For others there may be drastic changes on the horizon.
Many will just choose to stay the course without much goal-setting or aspirations for improvement. Whatever it is that you hope to achieve & experience in the coming weeks, months, & years there are a few simple ways that you can set the course now for what will happen tomorrow.
Routines that encourage growth become habits that create improvement, so build routines where growth becomes the team culture. A simple concept here, but one that can carry you, your goals, & aspirations to fulfillment.
Simple as that, if you can keep this simple piece of advice at the top of mind, at the top of your “to-do” list in the future I think you’ll find that you can consistently achieve the tasks & goals that you have in mind to help make yourself the best possible version of yourself & if you’re able to achieve these tasks & goals consistently I also think that you’ll reflect back on your past (maybe this time a few months from now) & realize how great of a run you’ve had! So let’s get to it.
Ready, Set, Go
Quarterly goals, team objectives, aspirations, resolutions. We’ve all done it. Some have achieved them, but for many the attempt doesn’t last long. I’ve read where most folks don’t even make it until the end of the month of January (let alone the end of the year) with their New Year’s Resolutions still intact. I know for me personally I’ve stopped short on many, many goals set due to frustrations, impatience, or just a general lack of motivation or inspiration. Hell, none of us are perfect are we?
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Too many folks set their goals unrealistically, & this really does set one up for failure IMO. For numerous reasons. But one of the most common themes of goal-setting unfortunately is one of unfulfillment.
I want to lose 20 pounds. I want to quit smoking. I’m going to walk more. Read more. Spend more quality time with my family. Eat healthier. Watch less TV. Spend less time on my phone. The traditional list of goals, objectives, & resolutions goes on & on. The thought process is usually a good one, & the targeted goal is pretty solid. But is there a plan in place? How do you go about achieving these goals? Unfortunately, for most, the setting of these goals is the only part of the plan that plays out.
Ever go to your gym at the beginning of January & are surprised at the crowd? Where did everyone come from? Who are all these folks? They must still be off for the Holidays you think. But wait, there it is….it’s the classic reaction to the New Year’s Resolution, a beginning of the year example of goal-setting.
I’m gonna hit the gym this year! I’m gonna make some drastic physical improvements & you won’t even recognize me this time next year.
Yeah? How many of those new faces that you saw at the gym over the 1st weekend of 2026 do you still see on the last weekend of January? Or in February, March, etc, etc? How many of those gym memberships just sit there un-used & wasted as the months tick by? I bet that by the end of January your space at the gym will be back to normal as most, if not all, of those Resolution folks have faded out on their goals.
It’s too difficult, too time-consuming, too inconvenient, blah, blah, blah. The list of excuses for unfinished, unmet goals can be a loooooonnnnnnnggggggg list.
So how do we avoid this trap?
1 Bite at a Time…..
It’s one of my favorite slogans, one of my favorite philosophies, & ultimately a big part of how I try to live my life:
You eat an elephant 1 bite at a time.
That’s right. It’s impossible to eat an elephant in 1 gigantic bite, so the only way to go about it is to take 1 bite at a time. Achieve that 1st bite, move on to the 2nd. Finish the 2nd bite, move along to the 3rd. Eventually, at some point, you’ll get to the last bite & finish the job if you stay the course. It might not be the quickest way, it might not be the smoothest, but If you keep taking bites you’ll eventually eat the entire thing.
Problem is that too many of us WANT to eat the entire elephant in one humongous bite. We need to get it done. Now. Especially these days where everything in our culture, in our society, is based on immediate gratification. For far too many of us, if you can’t get to your desired result immediately then we won’t stay the course & put in the time & effort. Instead we’ll just move on to the next thing or look for an easier solution to our problem.
So what if we start setting our goals in smaller, more directly attainable steps? Instead of getting that gym membership for the year because we’re convinced that we’re going to make this the year where we finally do 20 unbroken pullups, why not register for a week- long class at the gym instead? Hit that class for 1 full week, then reward ourselves by registering for another class. Not only is it a little easier to achieve a week of gym classes, it also sets us up for a reward (& we all like rewards), & small rewards after small accomplishments can provide momentum, motivation, & maybe even inspiration if you’re so lucky.
Give it a try & see how after 1 week of positive behaviors & habits you’ll actually look forward to riding this positive momentum into a positive change. Positive momentum & change in one area of your life (in this example the gym) will also leak into other areas of your life. You’ll start to ask yourself “Why not?” when contemplating other areas of your life where you could stand some positive changes. Soon enough you’ll be finding ways to read more or watch less TV on top of your newfound path to the gym each day. You’ll expand your horizons. The possibilities are endless, so give it a shot. This year, instead of trying to eat the entire elephant in 1 bite, try cutting that elephant up into tiny bites, & enjoy the process of achievement one step at a time.
1 Word Challenge / 1 Word Focus
One of my favorite podcasts gave me a new idea for goal setting that I’ve been using for the past few months. They suggested setting a 1 word focus or theme rather than setting a concrete goal. I liked the idea, so I gave it a shot & I’m glad I did.
I fell in love with the concept, & even started using it with my daughters (more on that a little later). I used this 1 word focus for different parts of my life too – I had words for home, work, physical, & mental. You can go on & on, using a 1 word focus for all areas of your life. Common words that many folks use include gratitude, resiliency, growth, learning, progress, focus, commitment, clarity, strength, balance, calmness, kindness, courage, etc, etc. So many great words to choose from; hell, a quick Chat GPT search & multitudes of great words for a 1 word focus fly off the page. That same Chat GPT search can also categorize these words for you so if you need help finding a theme just let the old Google machine lend a hand.
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Prior to his time with Kashbox, JP spent 28 years as an NCAA Lacrosse Coach (22 years as a Head Coach). During that span, JP had the opportunity to coach with & against some of the top lacrosse coaches in the country.
Once you’ve selected a word for your 1 word challenge I suggest you categorize all the ways that you can group some of your goals, under this category. Coming back to the 20 unbroken pullup goal – maybe use strength as your word. If that doesn’t quite work, what about consistency (we all know that without consistent workouts any physical goal will be just about insurmountable)? Examples abound here. Looking to read more & get off your phone more? Try unplug as your 1 world focus. Need to shed some extra pounds & get fitter, lighter? What about restraint? For me, grouping some of my goals & resolutions under a word has allowed me to pursue my goals with a little bit more intention than I was able to when I just chased an end goal. Instead of a specific goal such as 20 unbroken pullups I’m able to get a little more of a 10,000 foot view with a 1 word focus on strength, or consistency, or discipline. I’m also able to drag other goals into this focus, & it enables me to fully encompass a lifestyle that is focused on strength, consistency, or whatever that word may be.
My favorite thing about the 1 word focus is the ability to share & collaborate with others. I don’t know about you, but for me collaboration is key to finding success. I fully admit I’m not smart enough or driven enough to solve things oftentimes on my own. But when I’ve collaborated with people in my circle I’ve found that my chances for success are much better. A 1 word focus is a great way to collaborate with others. I’ve used this with teams I’ve coached, with colleagues I’ve worked with, & most importantly with my family. I charged my daughters with coming up with a 1 word focus, sharing it with our family, then having open discussions about our words, why we chose them, how we planned to implement them into our lives, & so on. It brought some good thoughts to the table, but more importantly was a great conversation starter. It was a fun way for us to have a family discussion about the types of people we wanted to be, & some goals that we wanted to achieve.
Quarters
Another trick I’ve used in the past year with my family is to divide our year into quarters. Probably the old lacrosse coach in me, but I started looking at the year the same way I’d look at a game & I break it down into 4 quarters. The 1st 3 months of the year are the 1st quarter, next 3 months are the 2nd quarter, etc.
This year my girls & I will reset our 1 word focus each quarter, so we’ll do it 4 times this year instead of just once. It breaks the year up a little, but will also allow us to refocus every few months – I’m excited about it & already have our days where we’ll switch words on my calendar. Instead of revisiting the same word every so often now we will be able to discuss new words, why we chose them, & how we plan to implement them every 3 months. I’m looking forward to seeing this progress over the next year, but I encourage you to split your “quarters” up into any timeframe that works well for you.
I’m envisioning a couple of different scenarios here. For some I can see a world where our quarters complement each other, & where we can use a word from 1 quarter to build onto the word for the next quarter. For others I can imagine a scenario where the 1 word focus for the previous quarter did not take, where it did not work well. Well now, in this scenario, we have the chance, the opportunity, to reset our word every 3 months instead of being stuck with the same word , & ultimately failing at the set goal. Either way I’m excited for the change we’ll make to our 1 word focus this year; if for nothing else just to try something new every few months.
Final point on breaking your goals down into quarters: ever hear of the goldfish rule? Years ago I read that a goldfish had an attention span of approximately 8 seconds. In that same reading the youth of the present day was compared to the aforementioned goldfish……Point being that the younger generations who have grown up in the technology age of light-speed information at their fingertips didn’t pay attention to anyone or anything longer than 8 seconds. Valid point. It changed the way I communicated with my teams, & I’m going to use the “Goldfish Rule” again now. Yes, I know 3 months is way more than 8 seconds, but you get the point.
Embrace the Suck
Sometimes you just gotta grin & bear it. Embrace the suck. Revel in failure. However you want to frame it, don’t allow “defeats” to get you down for without these defeats there would be no victories.
So many folks set a goal or objective, & then get discouraged or down when the results aren’t met immediately. Instant gratification is great, sure. But it’s not always realistic or even possible sometimes. So don’t allow speedbumps or hiccups along your journey to get you down or to veer you off track.
Instead learn how to dance in the rain; learn how to take your momentary setback & turn it into positive momentum to move forward. The more resolute you are in any goal-setting activity the more success you’ll find along the way.
A great quote from legendary University of Tennessee Women’s Basketball Coach Pat Summit comes to mind: “Sometimes just believing that you can, makes all the difference. At Tennessee, we have won games by the margin of a single, good thought.”
So embrace the suck, keep your head up, & get to it.
In Summary
Off track with a recent goal? Frustrated & given up on an objective lately? Don’t see the point in completing the task at hand?
Start by setting smaller goals that will lead to your end goal; I referred to this earlier as the 1 bite at a time theory.
Reshift your thinking from goals to words (or actions) that will get you to your goals. Try the 1 word focus method.
No team has ever lost a game after the 1st quarter or at halftime, & you haven’t lost out on your hopes, goals, or objectives either. So jump back in the saddle & let’s go. Establish new goals, words, habits, practices, behaviors periodically like I described earlier. Try breaking your year down into quarters (if you’re a hockey fan try periods, if you’re a soccer fan try halves). Regardless of the method you choose, breaking your calendar down into smaller periods of time could be very helpful, but at the very least you can test out that Goldfish rule.
Don’t forget to fail a little along the way; it’ll only help you climb that mountain in the end. Be strong, be humble, & be respectful as you go. You got this!
Along with his responsibilities as an NCAA Coach, JP has also been a small-business owner for the past 22 years. He founded & built a successful lacrosse camp business that, in addition to camps, expanded into travel teams, clinics, lessons, & consultations.
In both of his careers as an NCAA Coach & small-business owner, JP has helped to teach, coach, mentor, & develop hundreds of players & coaches.
