6 steps for a successful year
If you’re super organised and serious about your future career aspirations then you probably already have something similar to what I call your “personal career performance roadmap” or PCPR. If so by now you’ve started to review and update your plans for this year aligned to your broader vision. But if not this is a reminder to get it moving and all it takes is prioritizing 20 minutes of quiet time with a pen and paper or your laptop. Did you know that writing your goals down and keeping them visible means you are 42% more likely to achieve them! This 20 minutes seems like a good investment to me.
Perhaps having your own PCPR is too much to contemplate and you prefer something that seems simpler? No problem, there are many paths to results and successful outcomes so lets try this quick exercise to get you moving.
Take a blank piece of paper and write down all the goals, challenges, tasks and stuff in general you completed last year. No need to have it in order and just list items out as they come to you. Big and small, even if it was a DIY job at home that was put on the long finger but last year you got it done.
If you already have a list from last year, we'll review that one and tick off what you achieved. Ensure you add to the list whatever is missing that you did work on and achieved.
Sometimes it helps to discuss with your partner, friend or work colleague as a year is a long time and we can easily forget something. Or worse still not class something as an achievement when we should. We can be harder on ourselves than others and sometimes you need help to see that.
Once done, take a moment to reflect on what you’ve achieved. Bask in the glory of your success and the many things you’ve accomplished. Okay you don’t have to go over the top but this is an important point. We need to be comfortable congratulating ourselves on the good work we do. If we don't tell ourselves who will? You can bet there won’t be a queue around the corner of people waiting to shout to our success.
Acknowledge what you didn’t achieve and show yourself some compassion. You did your best so draw a line under it and move on with the mindset that you just got different results. No failure and only great learning to continue focusing on what is important to you.
Rip up that sheet, kill it, burn it, blow it away. Be happy to let it all go and clean the slate for a fresh start for this year.
Take another piece of paper and write down everything you would like to accomplish this year. Title it something like: Goals, Wants and Dreams. The reason I like to have dreams called out is because so often we have dreams that we think we can never achieve so we keep our needs hidden. But all it can take is allowing the thought to surface and with a small bit of courage to write it down. Then you have a chance for something wonderful to happen.
Lastly pin this paper somewhere visible so you see it often and you consciously and subconsciously start to make things happen.
Now this is great I hear you say but you’ve done this before and don’t always have much success. Why is that? Only you know for sure and more often than not, it's not the goal that is the problem but something within you that you’re not facing that needs to surface and be dealt with. That problem is unique to you so no quick fix list can solve it. But perhaps there is something you can take from these goal setting must do’s:
Ensure you are working on the right goal! As alluded to already, sometimes we are not addressing the real problem. Unfortunately we don’t always see what’s blocking us or are afraid to bring it up and so need help to figure it out. If you have this feeling then look for a coach to help you or talk it through with that person you know listens to you.
As with any goal the benefit of achieving it needs to make sense and motivate you to take further action. It needs to be aligned to your purpose especially if it's a big goal and not a one off task. Random goals have a short shelf life.
Attach emotional context to the goal. Ask yourself, What do I want? How do I want to feel? Visualize yourself having achieved it and ask how am I feeling? What are the people around you saying and doing?
Paint a picture and tie your emotions to it so the goal is not just words on paper. What do you look like? What are you saying once you have achieved the prize? Who is around you? Are they happy and supportive?
Test your motivation and link back to your goal desire again and ensure it's the correct goal for you. Ultimately ask, why am I choosing this goal? Is there another goal I would prefer to achieve? What price am I willing to pay to make this goal work, is it worth it? Is the goal aligned to what is important to me and my purpose in life or work? Ask, will this matter in 5 years' time? It might sound corny but in 5 years time if you have not achieved it, will it matter or will you still feel something is missing in your life? Time flies by quickly and there is nothing worse than regret. But this works both ways because if you start the time will fly and you’ll be done before you know it. If you don’t start the time will fly too and you’ve lost precious time and still feel incomplete.
Prioritize your goals, I prefer a prioritized list of 3-4 top level goals for a year that break down into smaller tasks to be worked on as I go. But it's fine to have a bigger list and really it's what you're comfortable with and what works for you.
Yes, write the goal(s) down, create a list. Reiterating this again because written goals are 42% more likely to be achieved.
Tell someone about your goals. Having a partner in action shoots success of achieving your goals from 42% to a whopping 90%. We all need help to get to the top, so ask for it and let the universe conspire to help you.
Get the list visible. I’ve often misplaced my lists over the years even if I store them digitally. Out of sight is out of mind after all so pin them to a place you will look upon often.
If it makes you happy then it's not a waste of time. What you go after doesn’t always have to be the “big rocks” and having smaller tasks that keep you happy is great too. After all with each success big or small you are building your muscle memory for successful action.
In my experience with clients there is usually something hidden or unwilling to surface that is blocking performance in life or career. Once we address the problem the performance machine only needs a bit of oiling as it goes.
