People are creatures capable and, indeed, predestined to behave purposefully. This means that our actions are meant to benefit something. And they generally do tend to do so.
As we enter a new year, many of us choose to examine our conscience and reflect. We identify things to improve and think about how to operate better. Can we approach this in the right way? Also, is it even worth it to set goals?
Read on and find the answers!
Every moment can be a fresh start.
Each new year presents an opportunity for a brand new opening. In fact, at any moment, you can decide to start something from scratch. Perhaps it’s the case that you have entirely failed to meet your goals for the past few years.
You may have been unable to achieve the business goals you set for yourself. Don’t worry about it! Continuity allows you to put the past behind you and make a new opening. Evaluate what might be feasible this year and get to work: set goals and start achieving them.
Don’t jump into the abyss.
If you’re a freshman in goal setting, you may find yourself setting too many goals related to new habit creation. All those goals are supposed to help you start doing something regularly (e.g., regular phone calls to clients, regular check-ups, etc.) These are the most challenging goals to achieve, so do them sparingly.
If you want to set more than one such goal, stagger them so that you only work on one habit in a given month or quarter. Ideally, create a “goals queue,” a list of practices you want to build in the new year. And only after you make the first habit start working on the next one in line. Quality, not quantity – sometimes you only work on one pattern for a whole year.
Support should be an integral part of the process.
If you set goals in which you involve other people, e.g., co-workers, then even if you are an outstanding leader and have infected people at the beginning with the vision of what you want to achieve and people are on fire to achieve the set goals – help them in this state.
I see the tendency of everyone initially having lots of energy to work on achieving a common goal, but over time the enthusiasm disappears. In fact, managers have the highest impact on preventing and coping with burnout among employees. There can be many reasons for this, and everyone will probably give a few basic ones right away: motivation, reward, unclear evaluation criteria, lack of management support, etc.
Be aware of the obstacles to your goal.
Good co-workers know how to manage to accomplish a goal, but the amount of external stimuli that can hinder them from doing so is simply so great that they may not be able to deal with it. As a leader, look with a broad perspective, look for hindrances and eliminate them effectively.
It’s worth thinking about what events, activities, procedures, or what people get in the way or can get in the form of actions to achieve the goal and what can be done to eliminate these elements.
Feedback is key
It’s worth adding another component: it’s easiest to achieve and maintain motivation to keep up with your goals when we have the opportunity to receive feedback and track our progress toward each goal. Such feedback allows us to determine whether our efforts bring effect. And nothing drives us further than visible results….
Effective action is when you are conscious of what you are aiming for. Goal setting alone does not translate into self-realization and a sense of purpose. Your goal should guide and dictate your course of action.
