Habits

of Resilience
9 Steps to an
Extraordinary 2021!
 The average North American worker gives less than 65% of their capacity to their
current boss and, I would argue, to themselves. Are you giving more or less than that?
You can’t rely on your employer (and, if you’re an entrepreneur, solely on yourself) to
carve out your one year plan and your 10-20 year map.

Most people have great ideas, but lack the built in systems and accountability to
support their dreams.

Goal setting is just the start.

> Your chances of achieving them is 6-8% when they are set.
> 25-30% when set and written.
> 55-60% when set, written and shared.
> 85+% set, written, shared with an accountability partner.
The following process will give you a compass for where you are going, help you
build the habits and routines to hit key milestones, and create momentum and systems

to get you there. I have been using it for 15 years, and in the last 5 years I’ve been
innovating on it as the world changes.

I was fortunate to interview author Ryan Holiday this year and he shared a passage
that I think sum’s up many hopes from the past year.

To be like the rock that the waves crash over and eventually
the ocean falls still around.
­—MARCUS AURELIUS

I want you to have the most successful and graceful life you can design. I want you to be
that rock for you and your family. I want you to be able to bounce back from challenges
along the way. You can do it and ultimately it’s up to you.

What do you want? What do you really want??

To create your North Star vision, you first have to gain clarity about where you have been.
Be where your feet are and create your plan. Then we will look into the future and dream
about what you want. Be ready to put in the hard and exciting work to get there.

(Reference Goal Setting That Works, Edwin A. Lock and Gary Latham)

Habits of Resilience - 9 Steps to an Extraordinary 2021! 2

 Here are your 9 Steps
to an extraordinary 2021

Reflection + Structure + Choice + Habits = Wild Success

1. Gain clarity from 2020

2. Leverage Your Unique Strengths

3. Get Intentional and Motivated—Then Dream

4. Focus on Your Big Rocks and Get Committed

5. Create Momentum and Accountability

6. What Does Success Look Like?

7. Leverage a Leadership Framework (V2MOM)

8. Set Your Plan in Motion

9. Create Your Habits and System to Support Your Dream

Habits of Resilience - 9 Steps to an Extraordinary 2021! 3

 1 Gain Clarity
From 2020

We are all on the marathon of life, pushing one mile at a time. I

encourage you to lengthen the view and play the long game. To do that,
you need to know where you came from and where you are right now.
Where are you on the journey of life? You should be where your feet are.

As famed investor Ray Dalio has outlined in his book Principles, Pain +
Reflection = Progress.

What are 10 things you learned in 2020?

What were you most proud of?

What were some of your Magic Moments? What was magical and
extraordinary?

Habits of Resilience - 9 Steps to an Extraordinary 2021! 4

 If you think about highlights from the last ten years, you are likely to
remember big events, trips, marriages, children, promotions, etc. Magic
Moments. That is what life is all about. Why not be intentional about
learning from them and creating more?

What did you accomplish in 2020?

What went well that you would like to see happen again?

What was challenging and frustrating? What was painful?

What would you not like to experience again?

What did you learn by going through these experiences?

Habits of Resilience - 9 Steps to an Extraordinary 2021! 5

 What did you learn about yourself?

What were some of the biggest commitments for you this year?

What commitments may you make next year because of them?

Habits of Resilience - 9 Steps to an Extraordinary 2021! 6

 2 Leverage Your Unique
Strengths

Famed activist Jane Goodall learned early in life she had a love for
nature and helping animals and people. Over time, she would come to
understand she had two unique gifts: A strong constitution to serve and
the ability to communicate a compelling vision. She uncovered what
gave her energy and life. She started her Roots & Shoots program with
12 people to help teach young children about gorillas specifically. Her
program would grow to serve millions of people and be taught in 98
countries. She is an award-winning conservationist and documentary
filmmaker.

“Nature often holds up a mirror for us to more clearly

understand the process of growth, renewal and
transformation.”
Like Jane, each of us are unique and have a distinct set of skills. If you
have not completed the Gallup Clifton Strengths (survey) or a similar
model, I have included the link at the end of the document in the Assets
section. I have been leveraging my strengths for 15 years and, it’s one of
the best things I have ever done. Do you know why you are competent or
passionate about certain things? Whether learned from a survey / test or
self-taught, it’s important to start with what we know.

Once you know what you are good at, you can start to build the capacity
to take on anything you can dream about and make it real.

Habits of Resilience - 9 Steps to an Extraordinary 2021! 7

 When you take the strength finder survey, list your top 5 strengths
below. Where is an example of how you recently leveraged each one?
Over time, you will have some ah-ha moments where you see your
strengths come to light.

We can also rely on our strengths too much sometimes. Pick one
strength and think of a recent example of where you leaned too hard into
that strength. What was the impact?

Leveraging our strengths bring us energy and life. I believe managing

your energy is more important than managing your time. Draw up a quick
list of things that enhance your energy (bring you energy and life) and
ones that drain your energy. This is good awareness to build in the sup-
port of your goals and dreams.

Habits of Resilience - 9 Steps to an Extraordinary 2021! 8

 3 Get Intentional and Motivated—
Then Dream

“You begin to fly when you let go of self-limiting beliefs

and allow your mind and aspirations to rise to greater
heights.”
―BRIAN TRACY

Write down anything in your life that was once merely just a goal,
dream, or desire. What are some of the big and little things that at one
time seemed extremely difficult or impossible to achieve? Write down
anything you once dreamed about, something you once wanted?

What were you most proud of?

What were some of your Magic Moments? What was magical and
extraordinary?

Habits of Resilience - 9 Steps to an Extraordinary 2021! 9

 Choose the two or three items on your list that seemed the most
difficult or impossible to achieve.

For the two or three items you circled, write down the steps you went
through to turn each one of them into reality. You may not know why
you went after something, but it’s likely there was a strong why behind
them that you may not even have realized. You may have been micro-fo-
cused on this goal or desire and chased after it obsessively. You focused
on it; you felt emotion, overcame pain and discomfort, and created a plan
to achieve it.

What was uncomfortable that you overcame? What did you need to
accept? How did you persevere, prep, plan, and get help? What did
you do: Who did you go to and who helped? (If you would like some
help, there is a link in the Reference section at the end of the document
where you can see a list of 50 values.)

What values did you live by in order to achieve these goals? What did
you stand for? Who did you need to be?

Habits of Resilience - 9 Steps to an Extraordinary 2021! 10

 If you have not defined your values, now would be a good time. What
values would you like to represent you in 2021? (There is a link in the
reference section at the end of the document to see a list of 50 values if
you would like some help)

It’s time to get inspired and creative. In flow state, write down every-
thing you want to accomplish in the next 20 years. Include all areas
of your life: Family, spiritual, career, finance, intellectual, personal growth,
fitness, relationship, etc. How do you get in flow state? For most people,
it’s a workout, a walk, being in nature, or even strong coffee! Include any-
thing you want to create, have, build, or develop. This is a brainstorming
exercise; all ideas are valuable.

When complete, go through and put a number (1,2,3,5,10,20) next to

each goal for the number of years from now when you would like to
complete it. You will have long-term compass goals and shorter-term,
GPS-type goals to get your life’s road trip off and running and on your
way to your north star.

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 4 Focus on Your Big Rocks
and Get Committed

Out of your list of goals (from the previous step), circle your top three
to five one-year goals.

Out of your dream list, what do you want most? What are your top 3-5
goals that, if you could achieve, you would be over the moon, thrilled, and
fired up? What you would get up before sunrise to accomplish?

Habits of Resilience - 9 Steps to an Extraordinary 2021! 12

 4 GET
COMMITTED

For each of your top one-year goals, write a paragraph about why you
feel you must achieve them.

For each one-year goal, write down a few sentences about why you are
committed to achieving it. What is your WHY when the chips are down?
When obstacles present themselves, why will you be excited to overcome
and persevere? What’s the emotion? What’s the essence? What past
achievements and difficulties will you leverage?

There is an old experiment about filling a jar with rocks, pebbles and sand.
If you fill it first with pebbles or sand, you have no room for the rocks. If
you start with the big rocks, you can fill in the gaps around the rocks, with
pebbles and then the tiny gaps with sand. If you don’t start with your big
rocks, you won’t find room for them when life happens to you.

What is your commitment?

What are some of the hard things that you will need to do in order to
achieve these goals? What are the obstacles? If you have enough energy,
passion, and perseverance, you can overcome any obstacle. You need to
be really clear on what it will take.

Habits of Resilience - 9 Steps to an Extraordinary 2021! 13

 Equally, you need to be clear on what you are not committed to! We can
only take on so many things. If you try and do too many things, you will
do them all at a 5/10 level instead of doing a few at 9+/10. Keeping the
noise-to-signal ratio in check is critical. Micro-focusing on your signal
and big rocks will get you to the finish line the way you want to get there.

What will you say NO to in order to say YES to these high-priority goals?

Habits of Resilience - 9 Steps to an Extraordinary 2021! 14

 5 Create Momentum
and Accountability

Never leave the sight of setting a goal without taking some action toward
its attainment. Take action! Decide who your accountability partners will
be. No one achieves big hairy audacious goals without a support group.
Who are they for you?

Any olympic athlete, broadway performer, or corporate executive has

whole teams of people that help keep them on track and focused on the
right habits. Building momentum and having accountability to the right
people are key.

What is one small thing and one big thing you can do for each goal in
order to leverage momentum?

Who can you email and tell? What support do you need? What research
will you do? Who will you ask to help you? What personal improvement
will you focus on? Will you need a coach or a mentor?

Habits of Resilience - 9 Steps to an Extraordinary 2021! 15

 6 What Does
Success Look Like?

This is a great centering question I ask myself daily. When I climbed Mt.
Kilimanjaro in 2009, we had daily hiking and elevation goals. It was all
planned out well before we arrived, and we had all of our supplies pre-
pared for each day. We would hike to 400 meters higher than we would
sleep and come back down. We were improving and focused daily on
a successful journey to the top. How do you know when you get to the
top? What do you do when you get there? In mountaineering, the descent
is often underestimated and where accidents can happen. What is your
plan to come on down from achieving a goal and drive momentum into
the next?

Every goal needs a specific time bound measurement that will help keep
you on pace on your own climb.

Write down a paragraph on what success looks and feels like to you?

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 7 Leverage a Leadership
Framework (V2MOM)

What is a V2MOM? It’s a simple leadership framework at Salesforce that

is easy-to-digest and implement.

Vision
Values
Methods
Obstacles
Measures

The V2MOM focuses collective energy

“We need to be in the present moment and pay

attention to where we are and what’s going on to
help us deal with those smaller, less monumental
issues that dominate the bulk of our time. You have
to convince others to align with your vision to plot a
course forward. You need to prioritize. And at a big
company, you need to scale the process of setting
priorities for tens or hundreds of thousands of
employees.”
—MARC BENIOFF

Your vision is your Compass, your Goals or Methods are your train, your
Values are the coal firing the engine, your Measurements are the throttle
and pace. Let’s get started; get the train in motion.

At Salesforce our CEO Marc Benioff has been innovating and

inspiring for 20 years using this method. I’ve used it with great

Habits of Resilience - 9 Steps to an Extraordinary 2021! 17

 success over the last decade. We had an amazing V2MOM for 2020
at the start of this past year, and when the pandemic hit, Marc and
our leadership team completely rewrote it to respond to our new
reality. I rewrote my personal V2MOM for my family at the same
time. It was critical for getting us largely unscathed through this
tumultuous year.

V2MOM Article

Instructions:
Vision
Write your vision of your dream in 3-4 sentences. Review what you have
contributed above and write below. What is this all for?

Values
What are my values that support this vision? Take the ones you wrote
down in Step 2 above or pick three values (here is a good list from
James Clear) and write down what each value means to you. Your val-
ues support how you show up.

Methods or Goals
Take your success paragraph from step 7 and write out how you will
measure success. Be specific, action-oriented, realistic, and time bound.
Has this captured all of the ways you will measure yourself and success
on this journey?

Habits of Resilience - 9 Steps to an Extraordinary 2021! 18

 Obstacles
Take all you wrote down from Step 4 and Commitments (under
obstacles) and add them here. Are there anymore that have come up?
What else may be difficult on the journey to achieve your goals?

Measures
Take your success paragraph from step 7 and write out how you will
measure success. They should be specific, action oriented, realistic and
time bound. Has this captured all the ways you will measure yourself and
success on this journey?

Habits of Resilience - 9 Steps to an Extraordinary 2021! 19

 8 Set Your Plan
In Motion

These are your train tracks to keep the engine moving and on time at
each station. You are the conductor of your own life. I have found that
daily review of where you are going, our why, and reflection on how you
perform each day will keep you laser-focused on your 2021 goals. In
addition, scheduling the right people to support you at the right time will
keep you on pace to hit each station on time.

Here are three things you want to do:

Review your plan with 5 people
> Get their input and feedback
> This enrolls people on helping you be successful

Place a written version of your V2MOM where you can review daily
> Write onto a 4 x 6 index card and place it on your mirror
> Take your written version and put into a task list on your iphone
> Create a vision board--a visual representation of your goals--and put it
in a place you can see daily

Create a list of everyone you need to meet with or to support you on

your mission. Here they are by category
> Weekly - Each direct report I have or, if I’m an individual contributor,
those on my extended team who are critical to my success. Remem-
ber you are the CEO of your life.
> Bi-Weekly - People that impact the success of a project where you
require input and alignment.
> Monthly - People on your team you are guiding for long term success
or who are guiding and partnering with you. This category or the next
could also be key customers.

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 > Bi Monthly / Quarterly - I use this cadence for mentors or executive
sponsorship on projects. People whose calendars are usually full on
shorter notice.
> Mentors - Who is guiding or coaching your success? This can be
someone who is mentoring you or someone you are mentoring. The
cadence is up to you. Just write down everyone who has been on your
team or who you want on your team to achieve your vision. Then slot
by time period.
> Inspiration - Many years ago I started sprinkling meetings into my
calendar twice per week of different people who inspired me. I learn
so much and look forward to those meetings every week. They keep
me motivated and inspired. If you come up with eight people, you can
meet with each person once per month. You will be surprised how
fast that month flies!

Habits of Resilience - 9 Steps to an Extraordinary 2021! 21

 9 Create Your Habits and System
to Support Your Dream

What do I do now?
You’ve now created the game plan for your marathon of life. It’s time to
start training and seeing growth toward race day. I like to think of how,
when you train 5 of 7 days a week, you will grow 1% in your long-term
capacity. Similar in training for a marathon, you cap your mileage increase
weekly at 10%, so your body can handle the grind. You rest for two days,
allowing the muscles, tendons, and mind to recharge, and then start at
your new level. It’s the same in progressing in your purpose and career.

Former President Barack Obama has his own rituals. One of his missions
in life was to unleash potential in others. He sets a good example here.
Obama had committed to reading 10 letters a day when he first took
office, becoming the first president to put such a deliberate focus on
constituent correspondence. Late each afternoon, around five o’clock, a
selection would be sent up from the post room to the Oval Office. The 10
LADs (for “10 letters a day”), as they came to be known, would circulate
among senior staff, and the stack would be added to the back of the
briefing book the president took with him to the residence each night.

He answered some by hand and wrote notes on others for the writing
team to answer;on some he scribbled “save.” He never wanted to lose
touch with his WHY--why he was in the job and who he was serving.

Create Habits and Routines

Each morning I want you to Breathe, Dream and Move and Journal

Habits of Resilience - 9 Steps to an Extraordinary 2021! 22

 Breathe
> Sit quietly in mindfulness or meditation starting with 5 minutes per
day

Dream
> Review your V2MOM
> Answer these questions:
• What does success look like today?
• What am I excited about?
• What am I happy about?
• What brings me energy? Note: Take out grateful question
• Write down your intentions in 3-5 words.

Move
> Get 30 minutes of exercise each morning (Walk, Yoga, Run, Spin)
> Some people walk and include mindfulness

Journal - End-of-Day Reflections

> What are two things I am grateful for?
> What is one thing that I could improve from today that would allow me
to do it better tomorrow? (Beginner’s mind)
> On a score out of 10 (high), how did today go? You will find your own
way to calibrate over time.
• What made it so?
• What would have made it better?

Creating Habits
> I have organically built my own habits over time, however, James
Clear’s book Atomic Habits is world class on the theory behind build-
ing habits. You’ll find a couple of examples from me below.
> On Monday mornings at 7am in my bedroom, I will spend 15 minutes
reviewing my V2MOM, answering morning questions, writing down my
daily intentions and getting started for the day.
> On Tuesday nights at 9pm, I will set my shoes, shirt, shorts and socks
out for Wednesday’s morning’s workout, and put them beside my bed.

Habits of Resilience - 9 Steps to an Extraordinary 2021! 23

 Assets and Attribution

Assets
Here are assets I mentioned above and other ones I recommend.

> Gallup Clifton Strength-Finder

> Sign up for Colin Nanka’s Blog on Defeating Average Daily to keep up
to speed on new iterations and innovations.
• www.colinnanka.com
• Suggested Reading that has helped me

Attribution
I have been using something like this for 15 years and have iterated and
innovated this doc over time. I have taken what I have learned from Tony
Robbins, Marc Benioff, Ray Dalio, James Clear, Jay Shetty, Ryan Holiday,
and many more!

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