Here's some brutal honesty.

 

This month I set a goal for myself that I knew was probably a stretch.

 

As you know, I've launched a goal-setting program that is the opposite of what you read in self-help books, because those are nearly always useless platitudes and fluff.

 

My program gives you seven criteria to make sure you've got a good goal that is specific, measurable, and attainable. This goal met six of the seven, so even I figured: that's good enough.

 

Well, I did not achieve it. In fact, I didn't come anywhere near achieving it.

 

I'm reworking the goal so that it satisfies all seven of the requirements (I should have followed my own system!), and I think I should be able to reach it next year.

 

But I want you to know what happened next.

 

I had told my kids about this goal and that although it was unlikely to be attained I was going to give it my very best shot.

 

So when I failed to achieve it, I decided to tell them rather than leave them hanging.

 

I said that sometimes they may get the impression that their dad always succeeds. But I don't want them to think that. Failure is normal. Nobody succeeds all the time.

 

I still consider it a win of sorts, I said, because I even thought to try in the first place, given how tall an order I was facing.

 

That is how I want my daughters to think about failure. My failure doesn't mean that I'm no good, or that there's no point in trying, or that I'm never going to amount to anything. I am modeling for them the way I hope they respond when faced with a setback.

 

Right now I'm not sitting around looking for people to blame, or criticizing myself, or feeling hopeless. Instead I'm thinking of other ways I might achieve this goal. I'm generating new ideas and thinking about potential opportunities.

 

If you can get to a place where you respond to setbacks like that, there is no stopping you.

 

Next year I'm aiming for big wins in several important areas of my life. I'm going to get there not by drifting and hoping, but by following a strategy that flat-out works.

 

And it won't work just for me. It can generate significant results for you, too.

 

These can be goals for your financial life, your family life, your social life, for your own personal growth (I have a hobby I plan to get better at), for your career, for your relationships -- you name it.

 

I'm 51 years old -- downright ancient in terms of how I thought when I was 18. I genuinely thought I'd probably be winding down by now, if you can believe that.

 

Instead, I'm looking ahead to the new year with a sense of purpose, expectation, and excitement, because instead of letting life happen to me I'm taking the bull by the horns.

 

You also have a bull. Grab its horns by clicking this link and doing this thing with me: