One thing that I wish I had learned earlier in my life was that in order to I reach a goal you would often have to change behavior. Sounds really simple, right? Then why do most people fail? I believe the answer is simple: we fear change. It’s uncomfortable and we don’t like feeling that way. But that begs the question, if a goal doesn’t push you out of your comfort zone is it really a goal or just the continuation of an existing behavior or a slight modification to it? My belief is that the continuation is nothing more than a new standard or norm. There is nothing wrong with having standards, but goals should drive us to do something greater or something different. I’ll use myself as an example.
When I graduated high school I felt very lost. I thought I had dreams of becoming an architect and even a psychologist. I had no plan to get there and looking back I think these were things I said to people to make others happy. I graduated high school with a 2.78 GPA, ranked 222 out of 636 students in my graduating class. The fact that I remember things like this should tell you something about myself. I believed these things matter, but I was lazy, unmotivated, and had no direction. In many ways, I was just comfortable in my own uncomfortability. Psychologist might refer to this as a form of learned helplessness. It wasn’t until after my first semester of college and experiencing academic success that I truly began to understand the importance of goals.
I was fortunate in the fact that I began to dream big during that time and I laid plans out on what I wanted to do. I can remember make a list of things I wanted to accomplish at Montevallo the summer before attending. That list had about twenty things marked on it. It wasn’t until 2015 that I got to mark off the last thing on the list, getting inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. I didn’t have what most individuals would consider the typical college experience; I had an extraordinary one that I’m still reaping the benefits from today. Many of my goals during that time took me way out of my comfort zone and I had to grow to achieve them. What held true then still holds true now. However, what I value and how I do so has changed significantly. So my approach to goal setting has had to make that shift as well. I still follow the SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely) method, but I look and manage my goals through a five capitals model I was introduced to several years ago.
The Five Capitals
The basic idea behind the five capitals is that you use one capital to gain something in another capital. The capitals in order of importance from least to most are financial, intellectual, physical, relational, and spiritual. Think of it like a pyramid, similar to Maslow’s Hierarchy with Physiological which has (basic needs) on the bottom and Self Actualization (fulfillment, enlightenment) at the top. The Five Capitals Model is similar with Financial on the bottom and Spiritual at the top. In between you will find Intellectual, Physical, and Relational in the middle.
The idea behind the five capitals can be found in Jesus’s parable of the crooked/shrewd manager in Luke 16:1-20. The shrewd manager actually swindles his boss and his belongings to better himself when finds out he is going to be relieved of his duties, and likely losing a place to stay. I recommend you go back at read it AFTER reading this post. This tends to be one of the more confusing parables, but the point that Jesus was presenting was that the shrewd manager was using the most basic/financial means to gain relational favor. In this case, somewhere to go after he was let go. Hence, he was using the most basic capital (financial) to attain a more valuable capital (relational). This is an oversimplification of the story and the capitals, but I don’t really want to write 10,000 words delving into the deeper meanings. My goal is to make you think of a different approach to goal setting as well as realizing you are likely going to have to change your behavior to reach it. But to give you a more practical understanding of the five capitals, let me give you two examples:
- You (yes,you) use your money to join a gym to get into better shape. You would be using your financial capital to gain physical capital.
- You buy a Dave Ramsey book to learn how to manage your money. You get good at managing your money and start helping people. You make new friends through helping them save money. In this case you use some financial capital to gain intellectual capital. Then you use the intellectual capital to gain relational capital.
I don’t feel like I can do the five capitals justice in 500 words or less, but I tried. If you really want to dig into the concept of these particular five capitals, I recommend Oikonomics by Mike Breen & Ben Sternke. That leads me to my goals for 2020. Hopefully you have a proper frame to view them through now.
Financial Goals
- Double the amount of money that I have in Savings by the end of the year.
Intellectual Goals
- Read/listen to 24-30 books by the end of the year.
Physical Goals
- Achieve and maintain weight range of between 195 – 205 lbs. (The Mendoza Line)
- Achieve a body fat percentage less than 15%
- Complete more than 1, 100 mile or more races including The Endless Mile.
- Complete a 1,000 kilometre race
Relational Goals
- Develop and maintain 2 or more new life enhancing/giving/breathing relationships this year.
Spiritual Goals
- Seek God’s wisdom first in my decision making
- Become literate in all of Jesus’s parables by the end of the year.
I started out my year with most of these goals. Most experts will tell you that you shouldn’t have more than 3 -5 goals, but I believe many of these are interconnected. For example, I’m listening to audiobooks when I go running/walking. That’s hitting at two goals at once for me. The goals that are underlined and in italics are ones that I’ve added since January. If you notice, I’m still trying to use the SMART system in writing out these goals where possible. A resolution to lose more weight provides no accountability nor destination weight. How can you measure something if you don’t know where you are going? What you can/will measure you manage.
I currently believe I will complete most of these goals. I’ve had to change my behavior in all five capital areas to make progress towards them. Some of these changes have been more uncomfortable than others. But I’m already starting to see benefits of it my physical and mental health. Others have noticed and asked what am I doing, so that’s one reason I’m writing it all down. I’m giving you the first step of my game plan. Goals become more real when you write them.
My questions for you today is are you making progress towards your goals? Do you even have goals? Today is May 1st. There is no time like the present to start goal setting. You still have 8 months left in this year. Heck, I started my quest to get below 200 lbs. well over six years ago. I didn’t start changing my behavior to reach that goal until September of last year. Only then did I start making progess. I know for many of you that 2020 has been a big ol’ bag of crap. As an old friend used to always tell me, “Nothing changes until something changes.” So what’s stopping you?
Final Thoughts on a First Impression 