In this short solo video, entrepreneur and author Mike Michalowicz walks viewers through his personal "typewriter technique" for staying aware of his yearly goals. He shows a vintage typewriter placed in his New York office, on which he types his major intentions for the year across personal, business, and writing categories. By keeping this physical, visible list in his daily environment, the goals become visceral and constantly in view. He explains how he reviews the typewriter daily, tracks which goals are achieved, marks missed or adjusted goals, and pins a yearly collection on his wall. Michalowicz notes that most of his goals are met, and that the system allows flexibility to modify goals as circumstances change. He encourages viewers to adopt a similar visible, tangible goal‑tracking method—whether on a desktop sheet, planner, or other physical medium—to keep their aspirations top‑of‑mind.
Chapters
Hey, it's Mike Michalowicz here. Occasionally, I like to post little videos that I think may help you in all your entrepreneurial endeavors. Something I'm doing here at my own office. And, well, I don't know if you've seen my office before. So this is my office, my standing desk over there, my homage to Virginia Tech, all those football helmets over there, and beautiful views out the window of New York City. For me, it's an inspirational space. It's a little bit of my own man cave. But one thing that's really unique about this is right here, this typewriter. Because I'm an author, I found a vintage typewriter in honor of the work that the people before me did with their books. And what I have on here is my intentions for 2018. I don't know if you can see it so well, but I have on here typed up every major intention I have in my personal life, my business, with my books, and so forth I look at every day. And the tip is this. When you set goals for yourself, do something so it's visceral so you can see it consistently. That's always in front of you, I think, having a goal sheet or something. Maybe put it on your desktop, or maybe you put it in a planner that you carry with you are very helpful. For me, this is my space I come into almost every day, unless I'm out traveling, speaking, and I see that typewriter sitting there every single day, and with my goals on there, it's just a fun way for me to revisit it and. And explore it. And sure enough, most years, I hit my goals, or most of them, at least, and then I now have a collection of them at my home office. I've been pinned against the wall every year with the one circle that I've achieved and an extra ones I missed and an adjustment for goals that changed. Sometimes a goal I set in the beginning of the year is not the perfect goal for the end of the year, and I changed what I did, too. So there you have it. That's my typewriter technique, and I encourage you to do the same thing.
