Happy 2021!
Gretchen Rubin’s quote “The days are long, but the years are short” comes to mind, as it is hard to believe that we are in the planning stages for all 2021 has to offer.
Have you taken the time to set your direction for the year… for the coming years? Goal planning is a time for reflection. If you have not already, I would suggest that you start by reading the End of Year Planning blog post.
Today, we are going to dig in a little bit more with some concrete suggestions for the road ahead.
Start with a peek in the rear view mirror: Did you meet the goals you set for 2020? Did you have to change course and regroup? Have you acknowledged the successes you had?
Now it’s time to survey the landscape in front of you. Where would you like 2021 to take you? Create short term, long term and always have that one goal that seems a little out of reach. You probably already know to create SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based) for your success.
Once you have your goals there are a few steps that I suggest you take now to position you for success.
- Talk through your goals with someone. This helps on several different fronts. Helps you to formalize the goals – fine tune them. In addition, you now have a support team for your goals. Someone to help hold you accountable.
- Answer this question: Do your goals motivate you? This answer should be YES. Goals should be things that we want to do. Even for reach goals, the desire still needs to be present.
- Put your goals where you can see them. Out of sight is out of mind.
- Add regular Goal Checks to your calendar NOW. Preschedule the time to circle back on your goals to review, adjust and create new.
If no planning happens, then time passes and we either wish we would have planned better or try to fit A LOT into a short period of time.
I hope the holiday season was refreshing and that you were able to take some time for reflection. Go ahead and set into practice your goals for 2021, and you are ready to move forward!
