As we near the en do Q1, I’m here to do a follow up on my implementation of EOS for my personal goals in 2024 — the good, bad, and the ugly.
If you didn’t catch the initial post, you can read it here.
TL:DR: I wanted to use the Entrepreneurial Operating System to help me achieve personal goals this year, as someone who is allergic to goal planning and more or less accomplishes things in a slipshod fashion.
First, a Little Background Information
If my effort towards personal goals could be visualized, it would probably look like some type of dilly-dally morse code. No no no. LOTS. Nooothing nothing no. LOTS LOTS nooooooooooooothing. LOOOOOOTS. N n n. Lo. Ttts.
Once upon a time, I could outwork anyone. I have incredible drive and when I lock on to something, no one can convince me otherwise. I suppose it’s a blessing and a curse not to need anyone else’s buy-in to go after what lights me up. But it does mean that when I’m not lit up by my work, I feel like a bug in molasses.
This is what I know about myself:
- I like to work in spurts and I need breaks in between
- I like to be around people but not engaging with them, like in a cafe
- If there’s a deadline, I will either get it done immediately or wait till the last minute to finish it
- Completing all to do items used to be my definition of a good day, but I’m trying to shift into measuring my day by how SATISFIED I feel. More on that later.
- Despite my unpredictable style, I hate having pending to do items. I feel immense pressure to get them off my plate
- I’m highly creative, and when I catch a wave, I can work for a long time
- I’ll work at the expense of my health and wellbeing if I’m not careful
- My ingrained beliefs are that success requires tons of work, and I need to work really hard to prove myself – this is bullshit. This is societal programming, and it’s simply not true OR logical when you break it down. It’s my mission to divest myself from this belief system and adopt a balanced approach where rest is just as valuable as work and I lean more on the Universe, God, whatever you want to call it to help me.
- I’m responsible. If I have client commitments, they’ll get done. Unfortunately sometimes at the expense of what truly matters to my heart (see above).
So we have ourselves a tug of war. Between philosophies, sides of myself, and universal truths.
On one hand, I see the value in having and sticking to a system. When people (me) are left to their own devices, we might forget our good intentions, miss key points, and slow down the potential progress we could be making.
On the other hand, forcing yourself to do tasks just because of an arbitrary date leaves no room for divine intervention in the form of more information, a personal connection, or some other unplannable event or circumstance which makes the end result 10x better than if you had simply plugged along because that’s what the system dictates.
Is there a happy medium between following a system and allowing for flow and synchronicity?
EOS Experiment
Recap of Q1 EOS Rocks and what got done:
- Add in 1 cardio session per week- DONE
- Consistently promote podcast- DONE but needs work
- Consistently create 2 emails per month for my list- DONE but later than planned
- Take the SEO course I purchased- NOT DONE
- Go to one writers’ group meeting- DONE
Here’s what went wrong:
- I had a construction project pop up at the end of January, and that threw me off quite a bit. EOS tasks had to get re-prioritized in light of “the tile guy is going to be there Monday, and I have no materials and haven’t moved out yet.”
- I got a new client and completely forgot the mental energy required to understand someone else’s entire decades-long entrepreneurial venture at light speed to start making an “immediate impact.”
- I learned that I overestimate the amount I’ll get done simply because I know that I can do a hell of a lot in a short time period. Heck, I’m writing this in a Tires Plus right now while I get a new car battery just because I have time to kill, and I suddenly got the inspiration to start.
- There were some days when I had to dos for my rock, and I had no will or desire to complete them at that moment, but did so at a later time
Here’s what worked:
- Very clear goals for a 90-day period let me focus on just those things and not start side projects or go down alternative rabbit holes
- In theory, I liked the trackable progress and checking things off as I went, knowing eventually I’d get there
- Despite not finishing milestones by the appointed date, I did finish the tasks. So, in that case, EOS did help me focus and accomplish what I wanted to
Becoming One of Those Goal-Stalker People
Initially, following EOS for my personal goals made me feel like I was cosplaying as an organized person. The Milestones part of the Rocks is what trips me up because I can’t guarantee that I will get them done on the appointed due dates.
The ironic part is that I’m extremely organized when it comes to client work, but not as motivated to keep promises to myself. My overall goal for 2024 is to be a people “dis-pleaser” and saying yes to my priorities is a huge part of that.
I eat with my eyes when it comes to goal planning and next quarter, I’ll force myself to eliminate a Rock or two. It’s better to actually accomplish things instead of feeling like I’m letting myself down with a dozen half-started projects. My rebel heart needs a lot of space and flexibility when it comes to goals.
Most importantly, I can look back and praise myself for getting most of my Rocks done while having a lot going on. There’s no question that we get more done when we’re in alignment, in a flow state, or just in a good mood. The tricky part of EOS is not getting too hung up on the milestones but still making progress.
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