I have personally given up on the idea of New Year’s Resolutions.
Most of the time these are superficially formulated “wants” that don’t have the strong roots of a good strategy or the active fertilizer of a cohesive plan to ensure they flourish and flourish for you all year long. The inevitable failure we often face when Easter rolls around further reinforces feelings of powerlessness and loss of control that may already be holding us back in our personal or professional lives.
In other words: “Wishes are for cowards!”
I firmly believe in establishing structures that help me achieve specific goals anchored in a purpose.
I start by defining the key areas of life that I feel I need to improve on, and then I pinpoint no more than two or three key goals in those areas to focus on over the next year. Limiting the number of goals allows me to maximize my energies and disciplines me to better focus on my true priorities throughout the year.
Objective:
- What does “anchored to purpose” mean?
- How do I decide which areas of my life really need to be improved?
- Can you really reduce your goals for a whole year to just two or three and expect real change?
- How do I go about developing a strategy (and backing up that strategy with an actionable plan) that constructively supports me in achieving my goals?
- Are there tools, techniques, or methods that help me stay on track, despite setbacks?
To help you keep your energy and resolution high in 2011…
… I want to share insights on five powerful questions that can help you navigate the choppy waters of successful goal achievement more effectively.
Whether you’re still on track with your 2011 goals or itching to hit the reset button, let these questions resonate with you as you think about what you aim to accomplish in 2011. Sometimes your gut reaction to a specific question will reaffirm that Yes. ! – You are on the right track. At other times, the uneasy feeling of a question lets you know that you may be on the wrong track or just haven’t dotted all the “I’s” or crossed all the “T’s” when it comes to your strategy and planning.
1. What is your “why”?: Many of us find ourselves spinning on the hamster wheel of life, feeling increasingly disoriented and dissatisfied because we are chasing what others have told us to look for instead of listening and trusting. – that small inner voice that speaks for our True Self.
When you are evaluating your life and developing the necessary strategies and plans to improve it, it is essential that you get back in touch with your own deep and authentic intentions.
- Is your life in need of a major makeover or are you just itching to take it to the next level?
- Was the vision of life you are heading towards born from your own innate values and vision? Or do you expect to live up to what those around you (family, spouse/partner, friends) feel is “right”?
- How will it affect your life, and your belief in yourself, if you don’t change anything?
two. Is your progress powered by JOY?: One of the most effective ways to discover if you have (re)connected with your inner voice is the sense of joy you feel at the prospect of actively inviting positive change into your life!
If you want to know whether or not the goals you plan to focus on for the next year come from somewhere deep inside you, take a few minutes to do the following exercise:
- Take a moment to think about the three most important goals you have for 2011. Think about each one separately; Actually, visualize what you and your life will be like once you’ve reached that goal. In other words, truly “see” yourself standing in front of your own boutique or autographing a copy of your newly published book or handing out business cards with your new job title printed on it.
- Allow yourself to be silent long enough for your body to register how the visualization of each of your scenarios affects you on a physical level. Is your heart rate constant? Do you have a spontaneous smile on your face? Or you feel a tight feeling in your chest. Do you have suddenly cold hands and feet? Your rational mind may try to convince you that this goal or project is right for you, but your body won’t—it can’t! – link!
If you have a hesitant or negative reaction to any of your goals, take a few minutes to write down what this particular goal means to you. Get to the root of why you feel it’s important for you to achieve this particular goal, but also ask yourself what possible advantage(s) it is to postpone or forget. – This goal could have for you.
Once you’ve identified the core values that are most important to you, and then chosen (or redefined) goals that honor and support those values, the joy you’ll feel in pursuing those goals will make it easier to stay on track.
3. Are you really motivated by the goals you have selected?: In recent years we have encouraged ourselves to enlarge everything in our lives; That includes the goals we set for ourselves. But bigger is not always necessarily better.
When it comes to defining goals, I recommend being as specific as possible about what you are committing to accomplish. Pursuing a goal simply because it is BIG, and only loosely defined, only leaves more “wiggle room” for disappointment and failure. When it’s time to get to work, you can feel overwhelmed by the mere thought of the task ahead. Going after something you can’t see clearly makes it impossible to stay focused! You can’t be 100% satisfied with your success if you don’t quantify what success really means to you in the first place!
Instead of a random list of “New Year’s Resolutions”, get out a pen and paper and start clearly defining your vision for your life in 2011!
- Instead of “I want people to pay more attention to me at work.“Commit to signing up for personal development workshops on negotiation skills or presentation skills or public speaking, so that in September there will be a noticeable improvement in the way you present yourself in the office.
- Instead of “I want to improve my skills in foreign languages.“Commit to learning Swedish so well by next January that you can hold your own during a short presentation (including answering simple questions) with that colleague from the Stockholm office.
- Instead of “I want to set up my own businessCommit to having a workable business plan by mid-February, securing your financing by the end of April, and distributing your promotional kit to 500 potential customers by early June.
Four. Are you acting like “help” is a 4-letter word?: Instead of immediately getting caught up in “action-itis”, spend some time figuring out what resources you already have at your fingertips, but hadn’t thought of activating before. Pull out your list of goals for the coming year, as well as your action plan to achieve them. What circumstances would make your efforts to achieve each of those goals more effective?
- Instead of reinventing the wheel, ask yourself who can share relevant information with you or connect you with people who can.
- Instead of living in perpetual multitasking mode, ask yourself how you can delegate lower priority tasks to someone else to free up your own time for the tasks that are crucial to achieving your goal. If you can’t delegate, are there any tasks that can be postponed or crossed off your to-do list entirely?
5. Are you the tortoise or the hare?: In the planning phase, we can be too focused on the task at hand and develop a “blind spot” for everything else that happens in our lives. And because – as the German saying goes – “paper is patient“- Red flags don’t automatically go up when our timeline leaves us with little room to breathe.
No one wants to get to the day when there are more overdue tasks on their project list than there are currently pending tasks! If that happens too often, we find ourselves frustrated and unmotivated. We find ourselves achieving one goal at the expense of another or lowering our quality of life by succumbing to the stress we have created or simply giving up altogether.
It’s only the beginning of February though – take a look at your current project and to-do lists:
- Is everything up to date? If so, congratulations! If not, why not?
- Is there a to-do on your list that’s already dangerously behind schedule? If so, be honest with yourself about how and why that happened.
- What will it take to get that project or goal back on track? Are there tasks on your list that you can delegate or postpone? Where can you add more flexibility to your project/goal timeline without compromising the integrity of your results?
To finish, I confess that I am one of those people who strongly recommend putting things in writing. Whether you’re a computer buff or still a fan of the “old school” notebook and pen:
- Write down your goals!
- Write your strategy and action plan!
- Keep a written record of what you do and how well it works for you!
The simple act of writing things down triggers something in our brain. It takes our hazy thoughts and shapes them. Our written words also serve as a reminder and motivator. When we look back on something we’ve written in relation to a goal, whether it’s to celebrate a success or overcome a temporary setback, it allows us to reflect on where we were, where we are, and where we need to go next. to go.