I had the wonderful opportunity to begin working with The Social Adviser team in 2013 and what an intoxicating and challenging experience it has been. So during my downtime between 2013 rounding out and 2014 kicking in, I thought it was definitely time to take a look at those 2013 goals and see just how well I had done; then cast in stone the 2014 goals.
Hmmmm…
On reflection, I had worked well on the little steps to help me to achieve some of my key goals but in the scheme of things, I actually hadn’t done all that I had set out to do. Worse still I had forgotten some of the goals that I had actually set. So how was I going to ensure that the same situation didn’t occur this year?!
Whilst on holiday visiting family and relaxing by the Richmond River in Ballina, I took some time out to think the whole thing through. When it came down to it, I really felt like 2013 had been huge – full of highs and lows but incredible teaching and learning experiences had occurred and amazing personal and business development had been the result.
Had I taken my eye off the ball? It was a massive feeling of contradiction. It became incredibly difficult to set my goals going forward until I resolved how I was going to do it differently.
At The Social Adviser, we speak regularly to our clients about relationships, communicating and pushing down barriers to constantly promote being a better business and most importantly a more professional you. One of the critical steps in this process is testing and measuring your progress along your journey. And it was there that I found the answer…
It was time to apply this same methodology to myself!
Integral to the growth of any business, a key part of The Social Adviser’s Market Leaders Program highlights the benefits of asking for feedback, being prepared to take the good with the bad and sharing the results. As professionals, we seek the feedback of our mentors and peers on the steps we take within our businesses, so to apply the same principles to myself seems reasonable.
So here’s what I did and what I recommend you do also:
1. Document your goals
Now this isn’t rocket science but unless you are prepared to write your goals down, you have nothing to commit to and reflect on.
Goals that aren’t written down are just daydreams… they are nothing more than wishes.
2. Choose your method
Some people love good old-fashioned pad and pen, others like to write them up on a white board, or perhaps digital technology is your flavour. Whichever way you go, just make sure your goals are easy to access!
3. Set your goals:
a. Short term – the goals you know you will find easiest to get to but still require some energy and focus;
b. Mid term – these are usually more complex and require a little more planning and focus to achieve.
c. Long term – these are the ‘big ticket items’ that may take longer than twelve months to achieve. But each week, month and year brings you closer to achieving them.
4. Now that is done, make them specific and share them!
This is the first step on measuring and testing! It’s easy to say I want to travel or I want more clients but where are the milestones and how do you know if you have reached your goals? It’s too easy to just reflect and say: “Yes, I achieved that”. Decide how you will specifically measure each goal, choose who you wish to share them with and ask them for their feedback. You may choose a family member, mentor, coach or perhaps you’re brave enough to share them with some of your social connections but either way, these people will be benchmarking you because you’ve asked them to!
5. Put a system in place for review
You may choose to have a mixture of people acting as facilitators to you in helping you achieve your goals, but without a clear understanding on how and when you will review your progress, then it will just be a repeat of the past. Take the feedback from each of your review sessions (ideally this should happen monthly, quarterly and yearly), and use it to help you build on achieving the goals that are still ahead of you. The key here is to take action and reflect regularly.
6. Progress, progress, progress!
Don’t be afraid to talk about the results; life is all about the ‘WINS’ and the ‘LOSSES’. Remember too that what may seem like a loss to you make in fact look like a win to yourGoal Keeping Champion.
So whether you are testing and measuring your clients, your business or yourself; it’s an important part of the journey to help you achieve the goals you aspire to. Bringing others in to provide you with feedback and help keep you accountable is paramount. But as they say, the only way to get something done is to make a start. How are you planning to kick off 2014?
Ready, set, bring on 2014 (and be focussed in ‘Getting Social’).