A New Year – New Goals or New Excuses?
A New Year – New Goals or New Excuses?
It is time to take stock on how you performed in the past 12 months. How did you do?
Often people set goals every January with the very best intentions of achieving them. We have all learned over the years the importance of writing our goals down, having clear outcomes and setting milestones to help us step by step to success.
So what happens? Often a strong start then nothing!
Having written goals is only part of the equation. One of the most important elements of setting powerful goals is to tie them to your values and get connected to why you want to achieve the goal in the first place. By taking the time to ask yourself questions like: “Why is this important?” “What difference with this make?” will give you the fuel you need when the going gets tough.
And the going will get tough at times, especially if it is something that takes you out of your comfort zone.
SMART goals have been taught to leaders, managers and employees for many years and while they are somewhat effective, there are other components that go a long way to help keep you on track. Listed below are a few questions to help to ensure success.
Ask yourself:
Do the results I will achieve once I achieve my goal energize me?
How passionate am I to achieve my goal?
How personally committed to my results?
Is my intention clear?
Will I be in integrity with my commitments? (say what I will do and do what I say)
What structure have I put in place to support me? (a way to measure milestones)
What is the opportunity for growth? What difference will that make in my life?
Do I have an unstoppable attitude? How do I know?
How do I intend to track my program?
Have I created a step by step action plan?
Who can support me in achieving my goal?
What are any possible obstacles? What can I put in place to be sure they don’t stop me?
At the end of the day there is only two things you can have – Reasons or Results. You can have the results you set out to achieve or the reasons why you didn’t achieve them. It is really about self leadership.
You choose.
Often the smallest steps forward can make a huge difference. If you think about a horse race, the winner wins by a nose, or in the Olympics it can be a few seconds that makes all the difference.
What little step can you talk today to move you closer to your goal?
In December 2013, what do you want to look back on? A year of results or reasons? I suspect you want results!!!