Before Setting New Goals, Listen to This

Blake (00:00)
Before you start thinking about goals for next year and writing down what you want to accomplish, I want to invite you into a different kind of pause. This week between Christmas and the new year carries a very specific focus and energy. Things slow down just enough for thoughts to surface that we usually push away, questions we may not normally have the time or space to sit with.

And this episode is absolutely not about doing more. It’s not about fixing yourself and it’s not about setting better goals. It’s about listening. Because sometimes the most important thing to do before moving forward is to notice what no longer fits or the patterns you’ve been carrying that you don’t want to anymore.

As we close out this year, we are not just ending a calendar year, we’re closing a much longer chapter. For many people, the last nine years have reshaped everything—how we work, relate, define success, how we measure our worth. The post-COVID effect is real, and we’re still experiencing the second and third order consequences of a world that radically shifted, perspectives about what a meaningful life and career look like, and technological changes that moved businesses forward at warp speed.

So let’s take a moment and reflect, not just on this year, but further back. Where were you in 2016? What were you focused on accomplishing? What did you really care about back then?

Chances are your life looks very different now, and yet many of the roles you are living by were formed back then or earlier, and that matters. For me, nine years ago, I was ending an 18-year corporate career, stepping into entrepreneurship without certainty, without a map, and without the tools to navigate uncertainty and change that I have today. That single decision reshaped my work, relationships, and who I’ve become.

And as this cycle comes to a close, I’ve been asking myself a simple and sometimes uncomfortable question: what am I still holding onto that once helped me succeed, but might now be limiting the impact, fulfillment, or ease that I’m capable of creating?

This is the part most people don’t realize. We do not cling to things because we’re stuck. We cling to them because they once worked. We hold onto them because we believe that that’s just the way things are, or we have hope that maybe they will change—beliefs, ways of working, roles we took on, environments we adapted to. At one point, they kept us safe, they helped us succeed, and earned us respect. But over time, what once supported us can quietly become the thing that drains us.

I’ve heard from several people this week who shared some version of this statement: I’m on the brink of a major change, and this really hit home. And that word “brink” matters because this is often where the questions show up, not when everything is falling apart, but when something no longer fits and the next step is not yet clear.

For most of my life, I asked one question in moments of uncertainty: how do I get through this? How do I work harder, be stronger, figure it out faster? And then I’d spend time beating myself up for why I was still struggling to get clarity, finally create the change that would give me better balance or a deeper sense of peace long-term, despite all of the work I kept putting in.

And it wasn’t until I started doing this work that I came to understand what I was feeling, struggling with, and experiencing were common struggles. And if you can relate, I want you to know that you’re not alone and nothing is wrong with you.

After years of going through this, eventually, I had to learn to ask a different question: what if this could be easier? Not less meaningful, not less ambitious, not less impactful—just easier. Easier because I’m no longer forcing myself into ways of working, leading, or living that are out of alignment with how I’m naturally wired to thrive.

Ease does not come from doing less of what matters. It comes from letting go of what no longer does. And in doing so, you open up space for relationships, opportunities, and moments that are more meaningful and more aligned.

Here’s what I know to be true. We often become so focused on outdoing our best or setting goals to achieve things we haven’t yet hit, but most of the time, raising the floor is the fastest and most effective way to achieve what you want out of life by shortening the depth and duration of your worst moments—hours, weeks, months, years.

So before you set new goals, before you decide what you want to accomplish next year, I want to offer you three simple but very effective questions. And you don’t need in-depth answers right now. Just notice what comes up intuitively, that very first thought or emotion that rises.

Question number one: what am I still doing that feels difficult or is getting heavier carrying?

Question number two: what one problem, if solved, would massively improve my life?

And then finally, ask yourself, now that you know the answers to those two questions, what do you need to get the clarity and resources necessary to make those changes?

An old mentor of mine used to say that people are so frustrated, but they have both their foot on the gas and the other one stuck on the brakes. And it’s such a beautiful analogy. We often keep pushing harder on the gas and the wheels are just spinning, but what we really need to do is remove our foot from the brake by no longer holding onto or doing the things that are keeping us from the direction that we want to go.

This season might be one of refinement or one of change for you, but as I’ve seen in almost all cases, it’s likely asking you to stop carrying what no longer serves.

You don’t have to figure out everything on January 1st. Clarity often comes after we let go, not before. But if you feel like you’re standing on the edge of something—not because everything is wrong, but because something no longer fits—that’s information worth listening to. And it may very well be the opportunity that unlocks the next stage of possibility for your life.

Thank you so much for being here and for being a part of the Impact with Ease community.

I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week. And as always, lead with intention and create your impact with ease.