Episode Transcript
Alara Sage (00:02.156)
So my love, tell me, have goals always been something that came easy to you?
Dominiece Clifton (00:09.065)
I have always been a planner and someone that's very organized and logistical about things. I don't know if logistical is a word, but I haven't always set goals and stuck with them. always like, I used to be one of those top of the year people that was set like a new year's resolution, or maybe I would pick out a couple of new year's resolutions and I would set goals and then I would forget about them a few weeks or a few months in. But I have found in being an entrepreneurship that goals really helped me to keep
to stay focused and aligned on what I'm working on. And so I've become more of a goal setter over the last few years of being an entrepreneur. And it's continued to like tighten up as I've gotten more experience and just kind of begin to find a flow of what works for me. And so where I've settled now is that I typically set quarterly goals and then I focus on those goals for the quarter following a similar model to the 12 week year.
And that has become a really helpful framework for me to not only set a goal, but actually to keep it top of mind and not forget about it.
Alara Sage (01:09.324)
Hmm. Yeah. And it kind of breaks it down, doesn't it? Into smaller chunks that you can. And then I imagine, yeah, it's all about breaking it down, isn't it? Because we have these ideas, these visions, especially as visionaries, as entrepreneurs. And then if you just hold the vision, sometimes it's like, OK, where's my next step? What am I supposed to do? And the vision gets pushed off to the side for daily tasks and all of the things that we have to do.
Dominiece Clifton (01:12.553)
Yeah.
Dominiece Clifton (01:32.905)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Alara Sage (01:38.228)
address it. feel like goals, creating goals, setting goals helps to anchor that vision in. And I love how you break it down. Is that part of your clear framework?
Dominiece Clifton (01:50.354)
Yeah, so I will. I love talking about the clear goals framework because it's something new that I've been really being consistent and intentional about over the last year. But to go back to what you said about setting smaller goals, there's two reasons why that actually becomes an effective way to go about things. The first thing is that it gives you a smaller timeline to focus on. So when we set one or a few goals at the top of the year and we're like, OK, by the end of this year, I want to accomplish X, Y, Z.
Because we have so much time, there's not really a sense of urgency around getting it done. And so either you forget about it or you continue to put it off and you're like, it's January. Like, surely if I mess up, I'll jump back in in February. And then we kind of find ourselves in that flow of thinking, I have so much time, so this isn't urgent. So when you set quarterly goals, you give yourself something to focus on, but you also increase the urgency around getting that thing done because you've now gone from 12 months to 12 weeks, right? So that's the first thing. And like you said, once you focus on setting
clear goals, which we'll talk about in a second. And I usually try to be intentional about how many goals I set. You now know what you're focusing on for the next 90 days. And so again, you're just going into things, whether it's business or personal, professional, being a lot more intentional about how you're moving and the decisions that you're making. So goal setting has again, kind of been something I've dabbled in, in my professional arena. We are all familiar with, I would say for the most of us, SMART goals, whether we use them or not, we've heard of that acronym.
And I was someone who again, kind of dabbled in using smart goals in my profession, but I could never really stick to them. And so as I was going back and stepping back into business full-time recently, after working for a bit, I started thinking about the fact that I needed to set some goals in business. Like, you know, I have all these things I need to do, but let me focus on just identifying a few things. And this download started to come to me over.
a few days and I started writing it out, which is what has now become the Clear Goals framework, but it's a five-step process. so CLEAR, the C stands for first identifying your cause or your why. And so that's thinking about how this goal is connected to a greater purpose. Like, why is this important to you? In the L, you start to think about how this goal pushes you to level up. And so another way of saying that is thinking about, how does this goal challenge you? Because there should be...
Dominiece Clifton (04:04.924)
some challenge, some tension, and the goals that we set, don't want to make them too easy. The E is for the end game. And so that's really you being very clear and specific about your income. And so let's just say, for example, if you wanted to lose weight, you wouldn't just say, I want to lose weight. You would say, I want to lose 15 pounds by the end of this quarter, whatever that date is. I'm going to focus on X, Y, Z. So you're getting very specific about the outcome. The A, and this is where I believe the clear goals framework becomes different from other frameworks that are out there.
The A stands for accountability. And so you identify an accountability system, whether that's some sort of self accountability system that you do with yourself or a person or a group of folks that you're going to check in with who are actually going to hold you accountable. And then you get to the R, which is thinking about how you are going to track this goal on an ongoing basis so you don't forget about it. And then how you reward yourself once you achieve this goal.
Alara Sage (04:59.424)
Yeah, so wonderful. The why is huge because I feel like it's that fuel that helps us in those moments when we're like, it would be so much easier to just not pursue this goal right now, right? If it's limiting belief structures that are showing up or just challenges in your life that are, yeah, making it feel a little bit harder than normal. That clear why to me is that fuel that helps us move through that.
Dominiece Clifton (05:02.907)
Okay.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Alara Sage (05:28.938)
I love the accountability part of it as well because, without accountability, I feel like a lot of times people just don't show up. I would love to hear a little bit more when you said setting up self accountability. What does that look like?
Dominiece Clifton (05:36.68)
Yeah.
Dominiece Clifton (05:41.896)
Mm, yeah. So this has been, I love challenging myself and lately I've been challenging myself in a lot of ways with self accountability. So I used to be someone who was very inconsistent with whatever the thing that I tried was, whether it was my personal goals or professional goals, I would set goals or I would set a intention to do something and then I would fall off after a couple of days. And that was how I existed up until about four, four and a half years ago.
When I went on this 90 day challenge and with this 90 day challenge every day for 90 days, the idea for it came to me during a meditation. I focused on my mind, body and spirit daily. And in order to make sure that I did those three things daily, I started to print out a monthly checklist where I would check off and I have this list still hanging on my fridge. use it, I use this method still to this day. But for that 90 days, I would check off, okay, I've done something for my mindset today. I've done something for my body. So I've moved my body and then I've sat, you know, sat with myself. I've been intentional about.
my spiritual practice and cultivating the relationship with self and spirit. And after doing that for 90 days, that like daily accountability, I started to notice that like, wow, that's a really helpful way for me to stay on track of whatever I'm doing. self accountability is thinking about some sort of system, whether it's a daily checklist or some sort of weekly metric, but some way that you schedule time on your calendar, if it's weekly or just daily, put it somewhere visible, you have a visual cue and it's a reminder to like do the thing.
And so that's what I talk about when I talk about self accountability. Now, some people will still struggle with that. Like that's, I think, a muscle that you build over time. And so if you're setting goals and you haven't been consistent in the past, I would say start out with some level of external accountability. So whether that's a person, a group, like you're identifying your check-in system. And then as you begin to build momentum and notice that it's becoming easier for you to stick to this goal, then you can move to...
more of the self accountability because I think for a lot of us, it's easier for us to give up on ourselves and not keep our words to ourselves. But when we tell other people, we care about what other people think. And so we're more likely to keep going with the thing if we kind of bring some other people into this goal and let other people know that we're doing it.
Alara Sage (07:49.058)
Yeah, wonderful. the other person can be your partner, could be a friend, or it can be a group, like you said, or a mentor even, right? Any of those things, depending on your availability for that. I know that for some people, that the idea of setting a goal can be scary, because there can be this belief of, if I don't achieve it, then they're facing their own
Dominiece Clifton (08:13.288)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Alara Sage (08:17.932)
failure, their own inadequacy. What do you feel about that? And what would you say to people maybe who have that?
Dominiece Clifton (08:23.824)
Yeah, that's such a great question. I always believe in starting small and building. so I don't think, although I believe that we should set goals that challenge us, I don't think that they should be so unbelievable or unattainable, or we believe that they're unattainable, that we're like, yeah, I'm not going to set a goal because I'm not going to achieve this. And so what you do is you break that goal down into bite-sized pieces. So let's say someone is listening and I always...
like an examples to either weight loss or money because they're things that most of us can like health, know what I mean? Health and wellness and money are the things that we can relate to. And as someone who struggled in the past with my weight, setting goals around weight loss was always something that was really hard for me, anything that was health and wellness related because I would try and then I would do it and then I would not stick with it. And so I can totally resonate with being afraid of whatever the goal is because you've tried it in the past and it hasn't worked.
But what I have found is again, by chunking that goal down. And so instead of saying at the start of the year, I want to lose 40 pounds this year, focus on, I want to lose five pounds this quarter or 10 pounds this quarter. And then start thinking about now what are the daily tasks that I need to do to focus on that? And don't identify seven things and think that you need to do all of those things at one time. So if you're saying, okay, for the quarter, right, I want to lose 10 pounds.
Now, what are the things that I need to do? Now, which one do I want to start with? And so now you've taken this really long annual goal. You've broken it down into 12 weeks. And instead of saying, I'm going to go to the gym. I'm going to do my meal plans. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that. We're just going to pick one. So now I'm just going to start adding water into my daily routine and maybe taking away one can of soda. Like, get your mind wrapped around.
that one thing, start to do that one thing and feel good about that thing. Because when you start to do that one thing, whether it's the daily accountability of, I drink more water today, or checking in with someone, whether it's a friend or nutritionist and letting them know I've been drinking my water, you start to build momentum. And now that momentum will translate into adding other tasks. And so now that I've been consistent with drinking water and I'm feeling really good, maybe I'll start going for a 10 minute walk once a week. You know what mean? And so what you do is you really
Dominiece Clifton (10:34.78)
trick your brain into goal setting because the reason why there is fear when it comes to goal setting is there's this subconscious belief that we have to work through. Our brains just want to keep us comfortable. And so if we shock ourselves too much with too much change, it stretches us out of our comfort zone too fast. And so the way that you go about working against the subconscious that just wants to keep you boxed in and comfortable.
is that you introduce small changes over time and you allow yourself to get comfortable with that small change and you steadily build up from there. And so to summarize that, start with chunking down your goals. so again, looking at a quarterly system is really effective. whether it's personal, business, financial, like, know, whatever you're thinking about, think about it on a quarterly basis and then identify the things that you do need to do, but don't feel like you have to focus on all of those things at once. Pick one small one to start building momentum and then just allow yourself to build over time from there.
Alara Sage (11:29.46)
It's so powerful to chunk down because it not only builds momentum, but it builds that confidence. It's builds that I can instead of that I can't or I failed, right? And that confidence ends up building conviction of self. And that's where we're able to face harder things, go through, move through more challenging challenges.
Dominiece Clifton (11:30.386)
So, yeah.
Dominiece Clifton (11:35.314)
Yes.
Alara Sage (11:51.924)
With knowing that, you know what, when I really want to, I can really move through any level of challenge, right? But it's through those little small ones first. And even what's coming through now is like celebrating doesn't matter how small the goal is, right? It doesn't matter what it is. I love that your reward is at the back because I love celebration. To me, it's about celebrating all of those little wins, all of those little things that we accomplish. Because again, that really amps up.
our conviction and our personal power. It also reminds me of when I was a kid, I was training horses and so I was learning how to train horses. And you see an animal do something really spectacular and they're like, wow, how did they teach that animal to do that? Well, they chunked it way down and started with the most simplest of tasks out of that massive thing that whatever it is you're seeing the animal do and
Dominiece Clifton (12:21.428)
Yeah.
Alara Sage (12:49.964)
built it from there. And so I learned to chunk things down. And that also really helps how we learn in our neurological system, as well as our nervous system.
Dominiece Clifton (13:01.816)
Yeah, chunking down is so great. And I love what you said about building confidence because anything is really a relationship with self and learning to trust self. so again, just using my own life in the past, when I was set goals, I was starting each goal with defeat because I was like, I tried this in the past or I tried something and I didn't stick with that thing. I didn't do that thing. So I was always coming into whatever I was doing new with like the energy of the past.
But what I have found is that just over time by again, those small wins, like you talked about those small wins that daily checkoff, like even if it's just, I drink an extra glass of water today, you start to build trust with yourself and that makes you excited. Like you said, to stick with the goal. So I do think that the trust and confidence piece are huge and it translates like once you start doing one thing really well, then you, another beautiful thing I've found is that like how we do one thing is how we do everything. And so when you build consistency in this one part of your life,
you start to notice that consistency translate into other parts of your life. And so my learning to be consistent started with health and wellness, but I've now been able to translate that into my business and that's helping me as an entrepreneur. And so that's another benefit is that you might be starting with a personal goal, but over time of doing that thing consistently and really sticking with that goal, you'll notice that you become stronger in other parts of your life as well.
Alara Sage (14:19.298)
Hmm, so beautiful. And you actually speak of the 4 % formula of consistency. What is that?
Dominiece Clifton (14:26.772)
I love it. So I briefly mentioned that back in 2020, was in my life was there was a lot of things going on. There were marital issues. I was a new mom. had a toddler March of 2020. We also know what was happening internet or globally right around the world with COVID. And so I was at a space of being unemployed. I had invested in a new business venture and that was not going well, partly because of COVID and partly just not a great fit.
And so it was just like, my gosh, like my life is falling apart and I don't know what to do. And so the only thing that I knew to do, which is the same thing that I do today when I don't know what to do is I get still, I just surrender. And so I started meditating and it was just like, spirit, please throw me a lifeline. Like I need some help here. And one day while I was meditating, I got a download and it said every day for the next 90 days, focus on your mind, your body and your spirit.
And so I came out of that meditation, Alera, and I was really excited. I keep journals around me when I meditate often. And so I wrote down really quickly the directions that came through and I jumped in right away on this. was either that same day or the next day where every day I started being very intentional about prioritizing all three parts of myself. And what this looked like was when I say focus on mindset, it's 15 minutes of mindset work. And so that's being intentional about what I'm taking in, listening to instructional or informational content.
And so podcasts such as this, like I would listen to podcasts for at least 15 minutes. I was also devoting 15 minutes to my relationship with self and my spiritual relationship. And so time for meditation, getting out in nature, just allowing myself time to connect and hear from my higher self and also to hear from spirit on a daily basis. And then the last part of that was moving my body for 30 minutes daily. Now, if you add all of those up, that comes up to one hour per day.
So I've been doing this practice for four and a half years. And this year, Spirit started guiding me to begin to share this out. So then I started thinking, well, how do I put this in a way that's relatable and easy for people to understand so that they can implement it into their lives? Because that's ultimately the goal. And I started doing the math. And I'm like, OK, so one hour of a 24-hour day is only 4 % of our time. When you chunk down, again, that one hour, I'm just asking you to give yourself
Alara Sage (16:44.236)
You
Dominiece Clifton (16:45.972)
4 % for these practices. And the last thing I'll say here before I pause is that this doesn't have to be done all at the same time. So some people might hear one hour and instantly go, I don't have an hour on my day. I can't do this. But chunking down, you can split that one hour up. And so you can be listening to 15 minutes of a podcast or an audible book on your drive in to work or in the shower, getting ready.
The 15 minutes of spiritual time, can add on 15 minutes at the start of your day and just wake up 15 minutes earlier. And then the moving your body, like going for a walk on your lunch break or taking a 30 minute pause in the middle of the day to do some stretching. You can be intentional about breaking that up so that you get it in. doesn't have to be all at once. But I did that for 90 days and it changed my entire life. It was...
Like at the end of that 90 days, I felt alive for the first time and I didn't even realize how asleep I was until after that period. I had also lost about 15 or 20 pounds since then I've lost about 45, but I mentioned that I struggle with my weight for most of my life. So I'd lost 15 pounds. got in a better relationship with food. I felt less stressed because I was moving my body every day. I had a lot more mental clarity. Like there were so many benefits. have been continued to be so many benefits of this daily practice.
And so now I'm sharing this out with other people because especially as entrepreneurs, I think it's so important for us to prioritize ourselves in the midst of building these empires that we envision and we're working to create. And this has just been a really easy way for me to do that on a consistent basis.
Alara Sage (18:20.628)
Yes, yes, yes, yes. And I actually think that breaking the hour up throughout the day is more effective because you keep coming back to yourself, right? Throughout the day, it's that remembrance, yes, this is my 15 minutes to go for a walk right now, or this is my 15 minutes to listen to something that inspires me. You're saying yes to yourself, to your self-care, to your body, to your spirit throughout the day, not
Dominiece Clifton (18:25.46)
Bye.
Alara Sage (18:48.906)
just in the morning, right? And then detaching from that and going, you know, into the real world or whatever. It's that keep coming back that I have found when I work with clients and people like keep coming back throughout the day is more effective, even if it's small, tiny little chunks than like one big chunk first thing in the morning or one big chunk first thing at night. Do you find that as well?
Dominiece Clifton (19:15.486)
I love that. And I was just thinking, wow, you know, I've never thought about it that way, but I totally agree with you that when I do that, like when I have time in my day and I break it up, I typically like to do like two of the three parts, let's just say. So I like to do my morning routine because that just gets me started. And because of the way that my schedule is, I like to start with movement. And so I'll start with yoga or, you know, walking something in the morning because it helps to get me energized.
However, there have been days where, especially on the weeks where I'm a mom, I shift my schedule a bit and just allow more flexibility and flow. And so maybe I don't get my walk in until later that day. And I find that like that does ground me and help me to show up as a better mother later in the day, as opposed to at the start of the day. So I had actually never thought about the intentionality behind breaking it up. Like I've just done that because that's worked better for my life. But I never thought about like why that can be an important part of this practice. Like you said, a constant.
like settling in and coming back home to self. So I love that so much.
Alara Sage (20:14.216)
Yeah, so beautiful. I love what you're talking about your mornings. I'm a really big morning, a proponent of morning time and you starting your day off intentional. And, know, I meditate first thing in the morning and then I exercise. How have you always been a morning person? Is that something that you have had to set yourself up for? First question and second question.
Dominiece Clifton (20:15.7)
Okay.
Dominiece Clifton (20:20.109)
And.
Alara Sage (20:41.064)
How has being intentional first thing in the morning helped you throughout your day?
Dominiece Clifton (20:46.088)
Yeah, I have. So the first book that I read about seven years ago when I really got serious, I would say about personal development and self growth was The Miracle Morning. And I always tell people that like it's such a simple book, but it changed my life. And that was really the catalyst of me getting to where I am today. I started with my morning routine. So for the last seven years, it has evolved and shifted as my life has changed. There's been a lot of transition and motherhood and all of these things that have happened in seven years.
However, there's always been some sort of way that I start my morning. I used to call it a morning routine. And a couple of months ago, I was listening to a podcast and I heard Sarah Jinx call it sacred start. And I was just like, that resonates with me at this point in my life. Like before morning routine was like the thing, but now it's a sacred start. it's sacred time that I get to spend with myself, that I get to spend connecting with my higher self, that I get to spend like in prayer and meditation and hearing about.
what needs to happen for my day, my week, you know? And so I have for the last seven years been really consistent about a morning routine or, you know, starting my day with intention, but it wasn't always my practice. It has become now though, something that is so like etched into who I am, that if I go, let's say two days without doing it, I feel completely off. I don't feel as grounded.
and so yeah, it's been a practice for me for the last seven years. And I definitely noticed a difference. The second part of your question, when I don't start my day that way. recently I was on a family trip with family or family trip with family. Recently I was on a cruise with family and my mom and I shared a room and she was like, I'm so impressed that on vacation every day you still woke up to do your morning routine. And I was like, it is a part of me. Like I am not myself without it. So we were on a cruise and this, you know,
Alara Sage (22:19.478)
Ha
Dominiece Clifton (22:33.178)
relatively small room and I went out on the patio, whatever it's called, every day for our room and I just sat and I had time with myself and I was on the water so that was really beautiful. And so, yes, the second part of the question is I have to have that intention now and I notice that when I don't do it occasionally, if I'm tired and I decide to sleep in, I just don't feel the same throughout my day. I'm not as...
friendly as a human, I'm not as great of a mom, I'm not as intentional of a business owner or as focused as of a business owner. And so for me, it has just become a part of what keeps me grounded in the midst of trying to navigate this human experience.
Alara Sage (23:13.874)
I love that so much. love how you speak to doing it. Yeah, even when you're on vacation, because it's so easy to slip off of those things. I've always luckily been a morning person, but my morning routine and meditating every morning obviously happened with my spiritual journey. And, you know, I would go through phases where if I did not have that morning meditation, I really felt it in my being.
And now I can actually go without it, but there is just not a single part of me that wants to. It's just so much of who I am. There was a point at one time that a higher self told me to let it go for a little while. And I think I only stopped it for a couple of weeks and I was totally fine. But I was like, no, I want it back. Like, I just really love that time. Like my days were great. I energetically was holding my ground and staying in alignment, but there was that yearning of just, no, that precious time.
means so much to me and so I started back up again.
Dominiece Clifton (24:16.434)
Yeah. And for anyone who's listening, who's maybe like, so before seven years ago, I didn't say how I used to start my day. I used to start my day very frantic. I was like the roll out of bed 30 minutes before I needed to leave the house when the alarm clock goes off. And it's it's cringy to think that I existed that way, but that is how I was. And then I had my first daughter and it was like, Ooh, can't just do that anymore. So I had to even before having a morning routine, start to put a little bit more intentionality behind my morning. But I would,
When I didn't have a intentional morning practice, I would wake up in a frenzy. I would move through my morning trying to get dressed in a frenzy. I would drive to work at that time I was commuting in a frenzy. And then I would get to work and start my day in a frenzy. And that frantic energy, that anxious energy just carried throughout my day. And so for me, when I start my day, like with a morning routine, with sacredness at the beginning of my day,
I'm able to typically, I mean, of course, you know, we can't control the things that happen, but I am typically able to move through my day with a lot more peace and calm because I've started my day with setting the attention for how I want the day to go. And so I would just say for anyone who's listening, who can relate to the frantic start of the day and like that energy spilling over and it just doesn't feel good. This might be your sign to be more intentional about starting your day with some sort of morning practice.
And it doesn't have to be a lot, right? Like even with the miracle morning, there's, think, five or six steps that he gives us that you can start with. But again, you can chunk that down and pick one. So you can start with five, 10, 15 minutes and just be intentional about sitting for five minutes and breathing for five minutes. And that can be your morning routine. And then what happens is over time, you start to feel better because of that five minute chunk of time.
and you want to do more. And so maybe now it's adding in meditation or journaling, but you don't have to start with doing all of the things at once for it to be effective. And so I want people listening to know that you can wake up tomorrow and start a morning routine and it can be five or 10 minutes and still have a massive impact on your day and how you feel.
Alara Sage (26:18.974)
so important, such an important comment. that frantic energy puts us in a reactionary state. So we are reacting to our environment, the stimulus. We're reacting to our own belief structures and the ways we're getting triggered rather than consciously creating ourselves, which is completely two different realities completely.
Dominiece Clifton (26:27.187)
Yeah.
Alara Sage (26:43.702)
And I feel like this is a very important topic that we touched on today. And I feel like this is going to hit some people in a really beautiful way. And I absolutely hope that those who are listening that are resonating with this conversation, that you apply these wonderful techniques that Dominice has given us to your day, even just a little bit, and see how it transforms your life. Dominice, my love, how can people reach you, connect with you?
Dominiece Clifton (27:09.396)
Yeah. So if you are interested in learning more about my world, at the top, Alera mentioned I offer a business coaching, a 12 week coaching program for women who want to start a business, who are aspiring entrepreneurs, or perhaps you're in a business right now, but it's not feeling very aligned to you. I love the work of self discovery and helping us to discover who we are so that we can really build businesses that feel like a good fit.
If you are interested in the Clear Goals framework and want to learn more about that, I actually have a digital download for that, which gives you the overview and walks you through all of the steps. so I'm not sure when this will be coming out, but we are in the fourth quarter right now. And you know, it's the end of this year and soon it'll be the top of a new year. And so goal setting is, this is a great time to set goals and really be intentional about your business and your life. And so you can go to my website, domrclifton.com and you can gain access to the goal setting framework, the digital download, and they're also
free resources there as well. So, you know, we talked a little bit about like feeling stressed and frantic today. There's some breath work downloads and things there for folks to take advantage of as well.
Alara Sage (28:12.022)
Beautiful. Thank you so much, my love, for bringing your genius, your own personal experience, and all of the beautiful information and insights you brought forth today. I truly believe it's going to help a lot of people.
Dominiece Clifton (28:24.18)
Thank you for having me and for starting our conversation off so beautifully with intentions.
Alara Sage (28:30.396)
And to the audience, thank you so much for being you. Thank you for listening to the podcast. Be sure to share this with somebody that you think, hey, could maybe use a little bit of goal setting work, right? We all know somebody who could benefit from these conversations. And I look forward to seeing you as always. Tuesdays are our solo episodes. We go deep into a topic. And every Thursday is our wonderful guest appearances. I love you so much.
