Create Your Core Four: The Strategic Framework for Achieving Any Goal
The Power of Strategic Focus
If there were only 4 major moves to make your goal happen, what would they be and how would you find them?
This is a key question in our executive coaching model at Paradigm Solutions. With our high-performing clients, they have no shortage of goals, and even worse, distractions. Helping them be successful is not a practice of telling them what or how to do things; it's simply the practice of defining what their goals are, and then closing the gap. That gap is the distance from here to where they want to be. We have found remarkable success in defining the Core Four.
The Stretch Goal Paradox
Goals are big, and when set correctly, they are audacious and scary. These types of goals we call stretch goals, and they're the most effective at producing results. By setting big, exciting goals, we subsequently produce motivation that mundane goals do not inherently generate.
The act of setting goals is a fantastic and imperative tool for success—this is no groundbreaking paradigm shift. People have been setting goals for millennia, but despite their prevalence, we all know few ever come to life. The hard facts here are that goals typically involve you, the goal setter, leaving where you are now (a place you know very well and are comfortable in) and arriving in a foreign future place you know nothing about. It's only logical that this will impede action, mainly because we only have an idea of what's important to reach that goal, and we try everything.
The Multi-Tasking Myth
Humans are masterful jugglers. We have a circus-like gift of keeping many spinning plates in the air. Worst of all, we wear this gift like a badge of honor: "I'm a multi-tasker."
Multitasking is not a gift. It's not a talent. It is purely the act of being distracted. Rather than being focused in your effort and attention, you're doing a little bit of a lot of things, and that's never going to work as well as intentional action.
Most of us, however, have experienced a fair amount of at least early success by being a multitasker. It's in many cases a necessity. Take your business, for example. When you launched into the unknown, all the tasks came at you fast. You likely thought you would start the business and just become the best at your craft, and life would be perfect. Fast forward even a few weeks, and you realize that your core skill looks like the smallest part of what you're going to be doing.
The Growth Ceiling
In many cases, entrepreneurs experience some success despite wearing many hats. They produce great results for their clients, and the business starts growing. These tasks become routine, and they become quite gifted at juggling it all with a smile. But there's a reason many businesses hit a ceiling at a certain point.
What's fascinating is that businesses who change ownership often experience a sudden growth spurt. The advantage realized by the buyer is the ability to step back from all the plates and look objectively at the business needs, stepping in with clarity. No plates in the air. However, what happens next? They put their own plates in the air and eventually hit their own ceiling.
Sure, we all know outliers who broke through their ceilings on their own, with their scout badge of multitasking. Yet imagine how much faster they would or could have grown without it. In those outlying cases, if I were to review their schedule, those "lucky few" would actually have obtained this luck by a greater clarity of focus.
The Forward-Looking Approach
Which brings us back to the point: What got you here won't get you there, and that will be true throughout life. Looking to the past for answers won't solve your future goals—we must look forward. To do this effectively, we have to leave behind the belief that you're going to do it alone, and that you're going to do it by multitasking. Instead, we must drill down on key tasks and apply all your focus to them.
A plan. [gasp] Many well-intentioned people spend considerable energy trying to find reasons why they don't need a plan, but the data will always solve for the whole. The most successful people have a plan. However, it doesn't need to be a dissertation—just clarity of focus. Because when humans start making many things happen with no clear trajectory, they begin losing their power and passion. You achieve things, but the meaningfulness wanes. This is the problem of not having a plan: We lose sight of what matters—the why—for what's.
The Core Four Framework
At Paradigm Solutions, we've experienced transformative growth by focusing on our Core Four—the key initiatives that drive our primary goal. For us, these are:
Our Executive Apex Program to make individual impact and break limiting beliefs
Our development programs to help businesses grow while retaining their identity
Our creative assets designed to inspire paradigm shifts
Our media platforms, which include blogs, podcasts, and social media
Everything we do supports these Core Four because we know these are the most important elements to our goal: transforming perspectives through innovative business solutions.
Finding Your Core Four
So back to you—what are your four major moves to make your goal happen?
It's okay if you don't know what these Core Four are yet. And yes, there can be more than four. It's just that our experience shows less is more, so don't willingly distract yourself. You likely have more than one goal, and yes, each goal has its own Core Four. In our example above, each of those four areas has their own four sub-areas. But don't get overwhelmed just yet.
There is a system, and it has worked well for all of our clients:
Decide what you want. It doesn't matter what it is, just decide on it clearly.
Determine your Core Four—the four major moves that will make that goal possible.
Do the deep work on each of those Core Four, allocating 60% of your time and schedule to these efforts until completion.
Designate all else as distraction, tasks to delegate, or things to do in blocks of time allocated to the remaining 40% of your schedule.
Protecting Your Core Four
Which brings us to the last and most important part: Now that you know the goal and the Core Four, show me your calendar, and I'll tell you your future.
Once you've defined your four, they must be protected—and by protected, I mean the time needed to advance them. We call this timeblocking with our clients. Setting aside protected time for these key initiatives. Time blocks are not detailed itineraries, but just set-asides for these things.
For example, I ensure that each morning I have two hours set aside for writing. This includes blogs, social media, and long-form creation—every day. On Wednesdays, I record podcasts and video content during the time protected for it. Tuesdays through Thursdays, I coach executive clients in the time set aside to advance that initiative. Weekends are for creating strategic assets.
What I will do in those specific time blocks is never planned in detail—just that during these times, I don't do other things or allow distractions. This has allowed me to write hundreds of pages, create countless posts, and develop multiple programs—all of which has nothing to do with me being super productive. In fact, I am the most productively lazy person you will ever meet. I call it my superpower: because of this laziness, I'm unwilling to waste time on anything I don't want to do.
Your Path to Focused Success
Which is my hope for you. Use the 4-step process listed above:
Define any goal worth pursuing
Create its Core Four
Protect the time
Achieve success
At Paradigm Solutions, we help entrepreneurs and business leaders define their goals and identify their Core Four. We provide the framework—you protect the time.
Ready to achieve clarity through strategic focus? Schedule your consultation today.