As the current year begins to wind down, NOW is the perfect time to begin thinking about your Personal and Professional goals. Don’t wait until the New Year has started to create them, as devoting time now to this critical process gets your head and your heart in the right mindset for a strong start in 2022. Here are some pointers to get you started:
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- Begin By Just Scratching Them Out: Many times those new to goal development try to perfect their goals right out of the gate. The beauty of goal setting early and before they are “due” is that you can noodle these out over the next several weeks. Have one list for Personal, and another for Professional. Write them on paper, on your phone, heck write them on a cocktail napkin if a great thought comes to you! The point is to just create and not be concerned at this early stage with perfection.
- Edit, Re-Edit, Edit Again: Now that you’ve created two lists consider determining how many goals each list should carry? I usually have between 6-8 very solid goals, each for Personal and Professional. My experience is that 6-8 goals provide for good coverage of what I’d like to accomplish in the coming year. All of them are stretch goals – things I’m trying to change or make a strong impact towards. Once determined, begin the editing process where you edit, re-edit and edit again. As the great Dr. Suess stated “ So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads”. You’ll want your goals easy for you to recall throughout 2022.
- Finalize & Place Where You Can See Them: Now the fun comes in by finalizing your goals and posting them in places important to you. Each New Year’s Day I print my goals on nice paper and frame them to hang in my office. I typically print and attach a smaller version of my professional goals to the inside of my padfolio, my iPad, and have a list in my briefcase. On the personal side I attach a copy to my bathroom mirror, so I’m reminded of them each day. Whatever works for you is great provided you see your goals daily and they become part of you.