One thing I try to do each year is spend time reflecting on the previous year to see how I did on my goals. I believe that if you take the time to reflect, this will help you come up with strong goals for the next year. The important part of this is to be brutally honest with yourself. Where did you do well and where could you have done better? There are definitely areas that I crushed and areas that I failed this year. Be ok with failing but understand why you failed. Did you lack discipline and focus in that area? Did your priorities shift? Or did you set unrealistic goals?
If you don’t know where to start on goal setting or are just looking for new ideas, here are a few things that have helped me.
- Start with the End in Mind– what are your long term goals, visions and values? This is your compass. Understanding the big picture will help you set up your roadmap. This may feel overwhelming and you might be thinking that you don’t know what your long term goals are. Break it down into categories. Some areas that I focus on are: Family, Marriage, Career, Health, Finance, and Spiritual. I focus on what I want my life to look like in those areas long term and then think of ways I can move toward those goals in 2020.
- Don’t be afraid of Big Goals– We often set our goals too low. There are many reasons why, perhaps we are afraid of failing or lack the confidence. Whatever the reason may be, by setting small goals we limit our potential. Set big goals. Goals that scare you and challenge you. Will you hit them all, probably not but will you get better? Most likely. In 2019, I set out a goal to read 52 books. I didn’t even come close. I read 16 books this year. That’s more than I’ve ever read in a year. If I wouldn’t have set such a big goal, I may not have hit that number. Guess what my goal is in 2020?? 52 books. When I met my husband 13 years ago he had a quote hanging up in his room that has always stuck with me: “Shoot for the Moon, even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” -Les Brown
- Understand that every choice has a consequence – good or bad. I think this is one of the lessons I learned in 2019 and I think it’s very powerful. Every choice you make has a consequence. I knew this concept from a standpoint of a negative consequence but never connected it as much with the positive side. For example, if I go out to dinner and eat bread, sugar and drink alcohol, I know I am going to have a headache the next day because my body is sensitive to those things but my choice was to enjoy that dinner and face the consequence in the morning. If I choose to go to the gym every night with my family, I am going to make less time for friends outside of that gym, won’t have as much time to cook or do any other activity BUT I am choosing to put my family in an environment that is positive for us all. I am choosing to be healthy and make friends who are like minded and make me better. When you choose to do something, make sure it aligns with your goals and own the good and bad that comes with it. You are in control of creating the life you want. Recognize that and make decisions the support the life you want.
- Write it down and focus on it daily. I have 12 goals I write down every single day. Some of them are big and I write them down as if I have achieved them. For example, one of the things I write down is “I am a Black Belt in BJJ”. I am not even close to that, I am a white belt and probably won’t be a Black belt for 10+ years but by focusing on what my goals are I get my mind in the right spot. Some of my goals are aligned with what I believe is my greater purpose. For example, “I help people accomplish what they never imagined they could.” This is a reminder every single morning of the person I want to be. Last night I was at my son’s wrestling practice and my daughter needed to go to the bathroom. The closest facility was the the Varsity girls locker so I took her in there. On there board they had 4 quotes that made me smile so I took a pic.
One thing that I have learned that has been a big part of being successful is making sure you are focusing on the right things. My 2020 word is “Intentional” Being intentional with my choices to hit my goals and create the life I want.
Happy New Year!
-Melissa
P.S. – My kids have words they are focusing on too… one of them is super excited about his word.
melissabucher.com 