It’s a new year AND a new decade, making it the perfect time to evaluate your goals and craft plans to take those goals from paper to reality. Follow our goal setting tips below to help you get started.
- Reflect – Take time to reflect on what you want to accomplish in the new year. I’m a big believer that goals don’t always have to start on January 1. Who needs that pressure? Sometimes an event takes place that spurs on the need to focus and sometimes you just need to sit and think about what is going on in your life and career and evaluate what needs to come next. Are your main goals for the year personal, professional, or both? Maybe you just have one goal, or direction you want to move in, now’s the time to start brainstorming.
- Determine your objective – Once you have reflected, take some time to be realistic about what you are hoping to achieve and make sure that the goals align with your personal values. When considering a goal, if it doesn’t align with your values, you are less likely to want to do the hard work for yourself or your team. It doesn’t mean the goal can’t be achieved; it just means you need to make sure you are evaluating all the angles.
- Set guidelines – As you begin setting your goals be very specific about how you are going to achieve them, being aware of challenges that may come up along the way. As you are setting the goals, work with a mentor or friend to bounce ideas off them and get their feedback. They may be able to help you find some speed bumps you hadn’t thought of, or some ways to make your path easier. Take some time to prioritize and schedule the goals. This may sound very specific, but a timeline can often help create focus and places for others to help keep you accountable.
- Reflections – Based on the timeline set, be sure to reflect on your progress. It doesn’t matter if you check in daily, weekly or monthly, just be sure to gauge how you are doing. Evaluate if you need to make changes to continue moving forward in a positive direction. If you are sharing your goals with a friend, mentor, boss, or your team, carve time out to talk about how you are doing. Remember, accountability and support can help you achieve those goals.
- Celebrate – Be sure to celebrate the small milestones along the way, as well as when you reach your end goal. You’ve focused, worked hard and accomplished something, it’s okay to be proud of what you have done.
No matter what system you use, find some time to reflect on where you have been and where you would like to go and get going on those goals for 2020!
Maggi Spurlock
Maggi Spurlock is the Director of Talent Development for the Baton Rouge Area Chamber. In her role, she leads all aspects of BRAC’s talent development program, including talent attraction and orientation.