Alex Hoffer

This month’s theme is intentional living, and so far I have written about how time can be your enemy and how you can decipher where to go in ‘22. Today, I’ll cover another aspect of intentional living: Setting goals.

Careful readers of this blog might have noticed that last week I shared that I create quarterly goals in pursuit of my overarching vision for the year. I will repeat that this is what I do, but it is not what this post is about. 

Rather, this post is about getting REAL about your long-term future. 

Did you notice I capitalized the word REAL? 

These are not the goals you are “supposed” to make. 

These are not the goals you think others would want you to make. 

These are not goals given to you by well-meaning people in your life. 

These are REAL goals.

These are YOUR goals. 

I know this sounds super cheesy. But, these are the kind of goals that are deep within your heart. 

Trust me, they are (still) there. 

I know that the last two years have been filled with so much stuff that your heart may feel callused and cold. Or is that just me? 

Honestly, it was me until a Friday morning in December. With the aid of some good coffee, a closed door, and quiet, I asked myself a simple yet profound question: 

What are the REAL goals that exist deep in my heart? 

I turned to a blank page in my notebook, took a deep breath, and began writing. 

About an hour later, I had 20 goals on the paper. They were the kind of goals that came to my mind immediately. In other words, they were not premeditated. Nor were they ones that I thought I “should” write down. 

They were simply real. 

For example: 

• I want to be known as a Christ-follower that lives according to God’s word.

• I want to have the best marriage with Sarah possible. 

• I want to have healthy friendships with our kids when they are adults. 

• I want to be known as someone that is ruthlessly generous. 

• I want to live my full allotment of years so that I impact my GREAT grandchildren’s lives. 

• I want to help lead Hoffer Plastics to 10X growth during my time here — for those on our team, I can share figures! 

• I want to help set up family governance that ensures G4 and G5 success at Hoffer Plastics. 

This is a sampling of seven of my goals. Notice that they are aspirational in nature. They are heart goals, meaning they might not check off every aspect of the S.M.A.R.T. Goal framework. But they are inspirational and real. 

They are the kind of goals WORTH LIVING FOR. 

Here is what I know: the road ahead will not get any easier for you or me. There is no such thing as “normal” until events change again and you refer to whatever this is as “normal.” 

Read that last line again. 

Time is short. 

Live intentionally. 

Start by spending a few minutes this week dreaming about what you want to accomplish with the time you have left. 

Just be REAL. 

And then live it. 

It is a cold, sunny November morning as I write these words. It will be January before this post is published. Another month, another year. 

Three things are on my mind as I contemplate 2022:

1. I write these words precisely one year after our friend’s daughter lost her battle to cancer. 

2. I write these words two weeks after attending a conference where one of the exhibitors did not get out of bed in the morning. 

3. I write these words as I enter my fifth decade. 

Time moves quickly. And there are no guarantees we, or those we love, will be here tomorrow. 

Time will march on nevertheless. 

So, the question then becomes, what are we going to do? Are we going to celebrate because “life is short but sweet for certain?” Are we to hunker down and do work that matters? Or, are we to leverage the time we have with the people we love? 

Yes. 

I point out the brevity of life to invite you to contemplate what matters. 

There has been a lot of STUFF infecting the limited time you and I have the past two years. 

Political divisiveness. 

COVID-19 commentary.

Mandates. 

News. 

Social Media.

Entertainment. 

Alcohol.

Drugs.

Consumerism. 

The list goes on. 

No lecture forthcoming. But, what jumps out to you? Has any of the above robbed you of the necessary headspace to live intentionally and well? 

What is important but not a priority? 

What is both unimportant and emotionally taxing? 

Do any offer a positive ROI on energy spent? 

No lecture. I trust you to decide. 

I have discovered that most of the items I have gotten worked up about are not worth getting worked up about. Further, most of the “fixes” do not offer the ROI required.

And I have discovered that time marches on regardless. 

So, here I am back on that November morning. I’m aware of the brevity of life. I am aware of the pain around me. I am aware that the clock is ticking for me too. 

I feel alive. 

I feel hopeful. 

Scroll back to the top. What did you notice in the first sentence? November? Cold? 

Or, did you notice that the sun was shining? 

The sun is shining.

It is still November, which means it gets dark too early in these parts of the country. 

It is cold, which is self-explanatory. 

So, 2/3 of the equation is negative. 

I am seeing the sun regardless. 

Are you? 

The clock is ticking. So, this month I am going to share thoughts on intentional living. Whether it is our individual lives or our leadership lives, intentional living is paramount in its importance. 

Intentionality starts with setting a direction. 

Next week I will dive into that. 

In the interim, choose to see the sun.

This is the first post of a New Year. A Happy New Year, if you choose for it to be. 

This month I will share thoughts about the importance of intentional living, how to decipher where to go in the New Year, and how to discover what your real goals are. But first, I want to invite you to reset. 

Yes, reset. 

Isn’t it American of us to blow past the holidays, celebrate the New Year, jot down a few resolutions, and keep going? 

I am type-A plus, so make no mistake that this blog will MOVE this year — emphasis included! 

But, not yet. 

We need to take stock first. 

To that end, here are some guiding questions:

What is the most important thing you accomplished in 2021? 

What are you most proud of? 

What course correction do you need to make in regards to how you lead yourself? 

What did you learn? 

How will you use what you learned to live differently in ‘22? 

I could easily write more questions, but I want to keep them manageable in length. My invitation is to STOP. Before you resolve to go forward, understand the road you have traveled to get to where you are currently. 

To be someone worth following, you need a clear understanding of yourself. Without that, you cannot positively influence other people well because you, yourself, are lost. 

To get you started, I will model these questions. As you will see, the answers do not have to be long. They just have to be authentic. 

My answers: 

What is the most important thing you accomplished in 2021? 

My marriage with Sarah is as strong or stronger than it was going into the COVID pandemic. This is the most important human relationship I have, and I am proud of where we are. Praise God! 

What are you most proud of? 

I am most proud of how I showed up for my kids’ events in the midst of an extremely busy year at the office. This was not true pre-COVID, but I have intentionally shifted some things to prioritize this limited time with them. I am proud of this. 

What course correction do you need to make in regards to how you lead yourself? 

This will go hand-in-hand with what I learned below, but I need to be more gracious to myself. There have been too many anxious Sunday nights (post coming later in the month on this), and I have wasted too much energy on non-consequential things. 

What did you learn? 

One lesson I learned over and over this year was that my leadership flows out of my abundance, meaning I cannot give what I do not possess. This sounds lofty, so allow me to unpack it. What I mean is that I cannot give love to others when it is lacking inside myself. When I am stressed, anxious, and bogged down by extraneous issues, I am not a good leader of others. Therefore, I need to pay attention to the limits I have as a leader. I need to rest. I need to practice detachment from the non-consequential things. I do not have to have an opinion of everything. Instead, I need to be centered in Christ, whole, and content in Him. I need to live with the realization that in “this world, there will be trouble. But take heart! I (Jesus) have overcome the world” (John 16:33). This world IS messed up (emphasis mine). So, I have to be detached from the reality of its messiness and focused on my mission. When I operate this way, I have the power of God to bear all circumstances.  

How will you use what you learned to live differently in ‘22? 

I have rewritten my Key Results Area (KRA) for 2022 to begin with, embracing my calling. It is clear to me that the future of work is human and that impacting humanity is work’s highest calling. As a Christ-follower, I am called to full-time ministry right where I am. This means that I need to lead in a way that uplifts, encourages, and dignifies others. What’s clear to me is that our business is successful due to the hard work of OTHERS. The best and highest use of my time is in encouraging, inspiring, and incentivizing their hard work. They are the indispensable ones. 

A note to the reader: Admittedly, not everyone shares my worldview, and I am okay with that. My covenant to you this year is that I will not hold back. What I wrote above is real.

I was not the best basketball player by a long shot, but as someone that grew up during the heyday of the 1990’s Chicago Bulls, I knew the role I was supposed to play on any team I was on. I was definitely not Michael Jordan, nor was I supposed to be Scottie Pippen. I was there to do the things that no one else wanted to do, which meant I was supposed to be Dennis Rodman without the tattoos, piercings, and colored hair. 

I prided myself on diving for loose balls. In fact, by most seasons’ end my knees were so many colors that my mom could not even look at them. She tried to convince me to wear knee pads, but there was no way I was letting any girl see me wear knee pads. I was willing to get my knees bloody if that is what needed to be, but I was going to do so on my terms!  

My basketball career may have been short lived, but I look back on it fondly all these years later. All the elbows, floor dives, and running, prepared me for the reality of “the real world.” Much of life comes down to the things our basketball coach taught us many years ago: fundamentals, toughness, and “who wants it more?” It sounds cliche, but it is not. 

I am asking myself a few simple questions as fall progresses into winter that I will share with you: 

Given that life has not been easy the last 20 months, and that my body is tired, am I willing to keep running? 

Am I willing to outwork the opposition? 

Am I willing to still dive for loose balls? 

Am I willing to get my knees a little bloody? 

It is time to look in the mirror and recommit. 

December is often the most busy time of the year. But, I challenge you to make time to reflect on these questions right now.

It is almost time to sign back up and do it again for another year. 

Are you in? 

I am. 

The last few weeks I have observed a few thought patterns of my own that are worth sharing. I am constantly reflecting on my attitudes, thoughts and beliefs because they all shape my character as a person and a leader. Frankly, as I write these words I feel tired, agitated, and in need of some rest. 

The first thought pattern that I have been pondering is more of a question that I am asking myself. The question is whether I (really) believe in leadership development? I know the correct answer. But, we recently have had a team member leave to pursue their dream job. And, I have to be honest, it is a dream job in many respects. I am admittedly happy for this person. Yes, happy. My happiness is genuine and not B.S.  At the same time, however, I also feel a sense of loss and sadness. I love this person. I have seen them grow, develop, and what they are going to do is going to be absolutely awesome. But, I am sad because they won’t be doing it here. At least not yet. I have heard some of the naysayers tell me things like, “this is what happens with young people,” and that comment infuriates me. It makes me want to go Mike Ditka on a wall (punch a hole in the wall) because it is demonstrative that we have people in our organization that do not get leadership development. Have I mentioned that I am agitated?  And no, I have not hit anything. I have only worked out a little harder lately… 

Going back to the question which I seem to be dodging …………… Do I believe in leadership development? I have come to realize that the sadness I am feeling is part of the journey. It is inevitable. But yes, I believe in leadership development. Yes, I will keep investing in building into our people. Yes, that will lead to more loss. Yes, it is worth the risk. So, as I say often, onward.

Next, I have to confess that I have been annoyed with people problems lately. While our business results are really good (praise be to God), I would not characterize our culture as healthy. I suppose I am not supposed to put that in writing, but I am not going to get fired by doing so. The biggest problem with the culture is me. I have the wherewithal to not put up with the griping, side-swiping and gossip. So do my sisters. While our problems are not major league in comparison to some of the other leaders I chat with, they are annoying enough to produce frustration. Perhaps, frustration is inevitable after twenty months of changing health guidelines, political divisiveness, supply chain madness, and no one applying for jobs. (Given that list, it IS frustrating!) But, leaders are not the kind of people that become victims to their external circumstances. So, I am not going to. 

I am going to start with me. My job is to show up and work with people. Period. That’s the basic level of leadership. My job is to also set clear expectations and hold people accountable to those expectations. At the risk of getting defensive, I feel like I have done that with the business (i.e., results indicate we are healthy and improving). In regard to culture, however, I have not done as good of a job in 2021. I will step up this part of my game. This reflection is helpful in getting started.  

I know some people from our team read my posts, so I will say one more thing. We are one family. Let’s start expecting the best of each other again. We don’t need a major course correction, but we do need a little one. It starts with all of us expecting the best in others. It starts with us helping, serving, and unashamedly loving (doing for others what we would have done to ourselves). I will start with me because that is the only thing I can somewhat control, but I need your help. 

Finally, I want to confess my anxiety. I can’t even put a finger on why I feel anxious. In fact, I have talked with my doctor about it and the only thing I can point to is what I refer to as the “collective residue of all the crap of the last twenty months.” I have no idea why I put that in quotes. Then again, my golfing buddies call me Doc these days because the kid in the halfway house at the golf course mistakenly called me Dr. Hoffer for half of the summer. So, maybe I am one? 

Kidding aside, my (real) doctor says there is a lot of that going on. By “that,” she is referring to a collective build up of stress. 

Unfortunately, I do not have some magic pill to offer, or any new advice to give, but, I am acknowledging it publicly because I am not hiding from its reality. 

In fact, one of the Biblical principles that has aided me is bringing internal struggles to the light (i.e., talking about them with others, writing about them, and not allowing them to wallow inside).  It seems as though they become less powerful when they are brought out into the light. So, there you go….my anxiety for the world to see. It is there, I feel it, and I am learning to live with it. Now, the question is what do I do next? Since I have acknowledged it, I no longer have to wallow in it. Onward again. 

Ironically, after writing all of this I feel different. Thank you for being my sounding board. 

I do not write these posts to be popular, or get a book deal. I probably started out four years ago with the intention of doing both, but I don’t care anymore. I don’t mean that negatively, I’m just trying to keep it real. To that end, expect more of this going forward. And, do me a favor, gently call me out when you feel like I am faking or being inauthentic. Call me out when you think my writing is showing off, or making things sound either better, or worse, than they really are.  My goal here is to keep it real.

No real good way to end this, so I’ll wrap up with this:

Make it a great day! Choose for the day to be great. 

It is the Doc’s orders.

Last week I gave a leadership talk at the MAPP Benchmarking Conference. I prepared and rehearsed my talk, but I did not like how the talk was received. What follows is an honest self-appraisal. I reflect out of the hunger to improve, but that process would not necessitate me blogging about it. I am sharing my reflection publicly to model one way of reflecting to other leaders. I do this by asking myself three questions:

What did I do well? 

I liked the energy that I brought. I was willing to be vulnerable in the beginning of my talk by talking about how I had lost my way earlier in 2021. For example, I shared that my doctor had me consider taking antidepressants at one point. This connected with the audience (measured by the instant feedback I received after the talk was over, and the messages I received later). I also was prepared. 

What did I learn? 

My talk was not as effective as I hoped because it was way too long. Instead of sticking to my belief that no talk I give should be more than 20 minutes, I expanded it to 40 minutes. While this was to fill the time allotted, I learned (again!) that the audience could not stay with me for all 40 minutes. A 40 minute time slot is probably best suited for world-class speakers like John Maxwell! Regardless of who is speaking, the speaker should aim to get off stage five minutes too early, rather than five minutes too late. I was about 15 minutes too late. 

What will I do with what I learned? 

This was my first LIVE talk since pre-Covid. Therefore, this lesson was somewhat necessary as it reminded me of how I can be at my best going forward. To that end, I will embrace my TED learnings by limiting talks to as close to 20 minutes as possible. For example, I could have filled the 45 minute time slot with a Q&A, or simply allowed attendees time to get caught up on their own work. After all, my goal was to encourage them and serve them (rather than show up and give some kind of commercial about our company or myself). In the future, I will do a better job of that. 

Note to the reader: I do not know who deserves credit for the questions I used above. I first heard them from golfer Ben Crane. He used (perhaps still uses) them to appraise a competitive round of golf. I have found them helpful for appraising all kinds of performance. That said, my encouragement to use is to simply reflect in one way or another.