As regular readers know, I spend a lot of time on goal setting. Every week, month, and year, I devote hours and hours thinking about my goals, tracking them, and figuring out the obstacles that are getting in my way. My mind is always thinking about goals, GRAVEL, and how to improve my life. When I saw the below graphic from Ray Dalio and his Principle of the Day, I thought I would share with our community.
While the graphic is simple, execution is hard. Always.
In my book, rocks GRAVEL sand, I delve deeply into the process of goal setting and execution. Rocks represent your big goals, while sand symbolizes the daily actions you take to achieve those rock goals. The process in between is called GRAVEL. GRAVEL is the most challenging/difficult part of achieving your goals because you have to identify your obstacles and create a process to solve, go around and eliminate every one of them to reach the finish line. You can’t just wake up and decide to run a marathon by starting with 26.2 miles a day. I believe you need a structured plan, like running one more mile each day/week until you reach your long training runs of 20-22 miles
Whatever your goals are, please create a process for your GRAVEL to increase your chances of being successful. So here’s your thought for the week: how can I create better processes for my GRAVEL to help me figure out the path to reaching my rock goals?
rocks GRAVEL sand Rule:
Create/Execute Systems
A system that helps you achieve your goal must embody three principles: it must be simple, repeatable, and easily modified. Only through systems can you hope to break down your rock goals into GRAVEL.
Click here to view the full-size graphic.