The dreaded season of resolutions

So here it is another January and of course it is going by way too fast. How many broken resolutions are out there already? Just the thought might be sending you into a panic but instead of looking on resolutions as a way of torturing yourself into a new behavior perhaps resolutions should really be an opportunity to set goals for the future. After all, without goals how do we know where we are going and what we are doing? For this post, I am going to look more on a personal level because to obtain business acumen we need to take care of ourselves too. I hope this discussion will develop over the next few posts through a business all the way up to executive goals.

Personal goals – where to begin? For a simple level, I think it starts with two questions: Where do you see yourself at the end of this year and what steps do you need to take to get there. Thinking with those two questions might guide you to in different categories such as family, home, health, friends, community, education, religion and so on. Approach this as you would in your business - create a list or tool that you can measure your progress against. It doesn’t matter if it is hand written in a notebook or an elaborate spreadsheet but make it so it speaks to you personally. Something that will keep you focused on the steps you need to take to accomplish your goals. Put the items as tasks on your calendar and hold yourself accountable. It is your future after all. There will be some goals that are easily accomplished while other items might have to be deferred due to unforeseen circumstances. All of that is alright as it is a process that needs to evolve to move forward.

Don’t believe me? Don’t think you have an hour to spare for this exercise? Fine, but think about next December 31st. Do you want to be celebrating the success of your accomplishments this year or woefully thinking about your failed resolutions? By spending a little time now to create your list and then dedicating a little time every month to check in on your progress you will create your path. You owe it to yourself to put your life’s plan in place.

But it doesn’t end have to end with the year. If you really want to get a little ambitious and dream a little, create your bucket list – you know, “everything you want to do before you kick the bucket!” My husband and I did this a few years ago and call it our “life’s to do list.” It has everything from the typical, such as finding fulfilling careers, to the extravagant, including living by the ocean someday. We might not obtain everything on that list but it is a guidepost for our lives. In thinking about our year ahead, we are trying to figure out if this is the year we go to the Indy 500 or maybe next year it’s Hawaii for our 10th anniversary (both destinations are on our list). Most of all it’s just fun to think about and strive for the future. It keeps us going and it is one of our strongest common bonds. I highly recommend this exercise to anyone – single, couple, old and young – your demographics don’t matter for this exercise what counts most is your will to want the best out of your future. Additionally, I do think that future goals are constantly changing with time and on that note, one of my goals for this year is to plan time when we can update our own list. Checking off accomplishments only opens the door for new additions to the list!

It may seem that this is one of those topics that is “easier said than done.” Really though I don’t think that it is really the case. In our business lives, we have goals and are judged by our accomplishments – why should it be any different for us in our personal lives? This post just skims the surface and if you want to discuss this more in more detail please contact me. I am convinced that setting your own personal goals will help you to never regret a resolution again.

Next post will take this just a little further and will discuss a book called the “Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family” by Patrick Lencioni. This book takes the business planning concept and applies it to a family. I really like this approach because by being happy at home takes some of our stress off at work.  After that, it is back to a business setting. 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”