You’ve likely read advice about “SMART” goal setting. There are two crucial ingredients missing from goal setting tips: a friendly audience, and dinner.
If you’re working on a big goal, then put a date for a dinner party on your timeline. Especially if the goal is eluding you or the project will take years to complete. This dinner party is special because you’ll be serving stories and, well, food for thought.
Here’s the reason dinner party(s) are a great idea. You spend a lot of time thinking about big projects, doing research, writing, editing, polishing and fine-tuning. The bigger the project, the longer it takes before the content sees the light of day. Having a dinner party takes the project out of your head. It gets you talking out loud. It brings your work several steps closer to reality. It gives you the chance to get acknowledgement for all the work you’ve done and validation that what you are doing is interesting and meaningful.
The cool thing about the dinner is that it can take place before you’ve finished writing that book or launching that website. In fact, that’s even better. You could be building an audience for that project as you go along. You could test audience reaction to an idea or theory. You could ask people to brainstorm with you. You could ask for input. Or not!
I challenge you to think about what you’d share at your “great goals” dinner party. Would you present a chapter from a book you’re writing? research about an endangered species? data trends that you’ve uncovered about oil spills in urban areas? a drawing technique that you are using to strengthen self-awareness? a legal argument you brought to the Supreme Court? Ideas about how to be a better boss?
I am confident you have interesting ingredients to share. I am confident that your friends and colleagues want good dinner conversation and good meals. They want to dine on ideas and projects, especially those that are locally-sourced and mean a lot to you!
All you need is a commitment to bring your work to life (!) and the courage to tell your guests that you want them to listen and savor the main course because it is something you’ve been cooking up for a long time.
Remember that it’s your dinner party.
- You are the organizer.
- You can be the center of attention.
- You get to decide who is there.
- You get to set the agenda (!)
- You get to ask people to savor the stories.
A hungry audience is waiting for your great work. Organize a dinner party and serve food for thought to your friends. It will bring all of us joy.