Goals, Strategy, Tactics

When it comes to being the person you want to be, investing your time doing the things that are most fulfilling, most inspiring, and most effective, there’s a lot to think about. My coach and mentor Jim Bunch taught me a framework that helped me make sense of things and I thought I’d pass the lesson along to you!

There’s a clear distinction between goals, strategies, and tactics. Sometimes they’re used interchangeably and that’s because they’re so interconnected. Let’s take some time to understand exactly how they connect so that you can put your energy and focus into the right things.

First are goals. I prefer to use the word desired outcomes. These are the results we want to achieve. They can be concrete and definitive or broad. In either case they are designed to give you a target to aim for that’s inspiring and gets you into the next layers of action.

Then there are strategies. These are the paths you can take to make progress toward a goal. There are an infinite amount of ways you can approach obtaining a certain result, and what’s most important about strategies is that you have one. This then provides a filter through which you determine the actions you’ll be taking, which leads us to…

Tactics. This is the real mechanism of making progress. You need to take action in key ways to achieve key results. This means that the tactics need to align with specific strategies that serve as paths to our desired outcomes and goals. 

So in order to make sure that you’re creating the right results, you need to work from the top down to then arrive at the right tactics. You are always generating results in your life, and without the extra consideration you might be receiving results that aren’t what you want.

You have accountability at each of the 3 levels of goals, strategy, and tactics. You can make adjustments to each of the 3 levels as well, but know that any adjustment you make at one level impacts everything that happens under it.

So if your goal is to become the best version of yourself, you need to define the strategy. Maybe you’ve been pursuing that by listening to podcasts and reading books... Has that been impacting your life how you wanted to? Do you feel like anything tangible is improving? Do you feel like every day you’re sprinting toward being the most energized, fulfilled, productive, inspiring version of yourself?

If not, then maybe it’s time to try a new strategy. And I have one that works better than anything else I’ve ever seen. It’s to install a Self Improvement Operating System. This is the process that helps you become more disciplined to your best-self habits and accountable to living in alignment with your best self.

And if you want to take action on it and implement this strategy for yourself, all you have to do is register for the Best Self Breakthrough Challenge. If you commit to this new strategy you will reach levels of daily productivity and fulfillment that you didn’t know were possible!

Of course I’m here to support you regardless, but beyond the content if you really want me to help you, this challenge is the best way I know how! So take your dreams to be a better version of yourself seriously and register for the challenge, we go live on Monday.