In Brief: Essential Insights for Post-Military Transition
6 Feb 2023 · 6 min
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In this solo In Brief episode, Jordana Megonigal, CEO of the Recon Network, addresses the common failure of New Year’s resolutions—by early February, about 80% of goals have already been abandoned. She frames this setback not as a reason to quit but as an opportunity to hit a "restart button." Jordana walks listeners through a concise, three‑step process: (1) revisit the original "why" behind the goal to clarify its purpose and envision the desired outcome; (2) create a short, concrete list of five specific actions to take in the coming month that will move the goal forward; and (3) make the vision and action list visible (e.g., sticky notes) to keep focus sharp. Throughout, she emphasizes that focus determines outcomes, that effort is required for big results, and that self‑compassion is essential—mistakes are normal, and resetting can happen repeatedly. Listeners are challenged to write down their vision and five monthly steps, celebrate small wins, and use the reset habit whenever motivation wanes.
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This is In Brief. Let's get to it. Hey there, and welcome to the In Brief podcast, where every single week we take just a few minutes and dive into a topic that hopefully makes your transition a little bit easier and gives you a perspective to take into a new week. Once again, I'm Jordana, the CEO of the Recon Network. This week, we're going to be talking about hitting the restart button. So just a few weeks ago, we talked on this podcast about setting goals and starting the year over with a clean slate. And then last week, we talked about the importance of actually doing the work to accomplish your goals. They don't just automatically happen, right? So we've talked about goals and resolutions a lot already. But the sad reality is that this week, the first week of February, marks the point in time where 80% or more of all resolutions and goals set at the beginning of the year have already bit the dust, right? 80%. They're not coming back. They're done. The motivation for change has ebbed, routine has set in, and for many of us, we're due to face another year where our dreams or big ideas get backburnered, right? And maybe we'll pick them up next year. Maybe we'll do the same thing all over again. I mean, I'll admit it. I have a few goals that seem to appear year after year after year when I'm setting resolutions. And when I'm thinking of all the things I want to do better, they're always top of mind, right? And they never see the light of day because for one reason or another, I don't have the motivation or the discipline to actually do them. Year after year after year. I guess somehow I think they'll just magically happen without my input. And while that would be great to have success just fall in my lap without me doing anything other than saying, I'd love for this to happen this year, somehow I just doubt that's going to be the case. So my question to you is, how many dreams have you buried? What was your big idea for this year that you're now sitting on that has kind of fallen by the wayside? And if it really is important to you, or if my goals are important to me, how do we hit the reset button and try again? Right? We've already failed. It's really easy to say, oh well, I failed at that. I just won't try it anymore. But if you really want to do it and it really matters, why not restart? Why not reset? Let's say this is you. You've got something you really want to happen. But January was rough right out of the gate. And I think it was for a lot of people. You got sidetracked. Your big goal got backburnered. So it's okay. Life happens. What we're not going to do is beat ourselves up over it. Instead, we're just going to hit that restart button. And this means that we recommit. Let's go back to square one and find your why. Why was this goal important to you in the first place? What is the end game that comes into play when you accomplish it? Get that vision in mind first. That's the first step. Once you've done that, you're going to figure out how to put some power into it. If you missed last week's episode, Do the Damn Work, this is where we build a plan to do the doing. Remember, big things don't fall in our lap. Typically, big things happen when we put effort and energy into them. The bottom line is this: our focus determines our outcomes. I want to say that again, and if you're at your desk, I'd encourage you to write yourself a note. If you're in the car, make a mental note to do the same once you're out from behind the steering wheel, because this is the key to restarting any project at any time in your life. Your focus will determine your outcomes. Basically, in more scientific terms, what you put in, you get out. So here's the challenge for this week. Let's revisit that ball that you dropped. And then we're going to do 2 things. One, we're going to set your vision for success. This is essentially your outcomes. This is what would happen if you were successful at achieving this goal. The second thing you're going to do is make a short list of the 5 ways that you're going to work toward making them happen this month. This list, that's going to be your focus. This is the focus that you're going to put into reaching those goals this month. Now, this list doesn't have to be complicated. If you're planning on writing a book, you don't have to write the whole book this month. But you do need to make steps towards it. Okay. If you haven't set your actual plan, like we talked about in the last episode, then this is the time to just kind of reevaluate what are 5 things that I can do that will get me closer to that this month. Make that list. That's your focus. So now you've got your outcomes and your focuses really, really in mind. And if you've got that sticky note somewhere, go ahead and jot them down there to keep them all visible, right? Because visibility helps us remember, oh, this is important. I need to do something on that today. Then once you've gotten some air in your sails with your 5 steps forward, once you've accomplished that for the month, come back and do it all over again. You can feel free to hit the restart button at any time if you lag, right? It's called getting back on the wagon. People do it all the time. So if you fall off or if you get distracted or life pops up, that's okay. And more than anything else, Go easy on yourself. Change requires focus, and life has a really funny way of stealing your focus whenever it can. So don't get hard on yourself. Celebrate your wins, hit that reset button, and start focusing on those outcomes. I promise you, there's little you can't do when you do.
