Last year I read the book by the 2 Time NCAA Mens Basketball National Championship Coach Rick Pitino, titled “One Day Contract.” The premise of the book is at the end of the day everybody should do an analysis of your day and determine objectively, if you were on a one day contract with your employer, team, department, etc., would you sign this person for another day of work. So what did you accomplish that day and would you be willing to pay for it another day. Now life doesn’t work like that, well at least not in the real world, but would if it did? How would you do? Would you get re-signed for another day?
For the last three years I have done some very very detailed goal setting at the beginning of the year and at times will modify my goals through out the year as needed. This year was really no different, other than I have shared those goals with one person and we meet each week and we run down through each of our goals and rank ourselves 1-10 on how we did overall and in each area. Really we are accountability partners. It is one thing to know yourself where you fell short, but it is different when you have someone else tell you or at least you share with them that you fell short. Now some of these goals are very personal and some are professional, but by doing this exercise it is making me better. Especially the personal stuff. I have never had anyone hold me accountable to my personal stuff? Business sure, but personal.
What I appreciate more about this meeting each week than anything is our openness with each other, our candor with each other, the trust we have in one another. Neither one of us judge each other, and honestly I have some out there goals. We now have started asking each other by text or by email, how do you rank today. This extra push is making us better each day.
Whether you want to share your goals with someone else or not, do an analysis everyday or at least every week, and rank your self objectively, you are either getting better or getting worse, there is no in between.
Leave a Reply