Tag Archives: Goal Setting

Still Time to Achieve Your Goals

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man on a mountain looking at the next mountain
Still struggling to achieve your New Year’s Resolution. There is still time. Create a strategy for your gola to nest in.
-Photo by Josh Willink on Pexels.com

Author’s Note: So this was supposed to be a bonus edition. It seems fitting that life interfered with my intention to help those struggling to accomplish their New Year’s Resolutions with this extra February post which ended up later than planned. As advised below, I simply continued and accomplished the task. The result is now my regularly planned end of February post is behind. That will be up soon as well, but not until March.

It is the end of February. How’s your New Year’s Resolution going? Many people start the new year with wildly big goals for changing their lives. After a few weeks, the excitement for the change wanes, and they return to their old habits and ways. To successfully implement lasting change, people need three things to help. They need to understand how to change habits. They need written goals. Finally, they need a strategy for their life. Goals support the strategy and help change habits. Habits that support the goals need to be developed and implemented through consistent, disciplined action. Excitement over the potential for a new life wanes because change requires lots of work. When you have a strategy, you understand how your New Year’s Resolution supports that strategy so even on those days when there is little excitement, you can still muster the discipline required to follow through on your action steps and accomplish your goal.

Often people think strategy is only for nations or large businesses. Strategy is important for those organizations, and it is also important for individuals. In his book First Things First, Stephen R. Covey talks about the importance of having a vision for your life that transcends your entire life. He encourages readers to look beyond the Friday night ball game. What to you want people to remember about you on your deathbed? What do you want them to say about you at your funeral? Thinking about what the end of your life will look like helps your focus on the things you need to do today to achieve that vision!

I recently completed a new strategic plan for the organization I lead. I engaged a number of stakeholders over the course of nine months. We talked about our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, aspirations, and desired results. We clarified our guiding principles, often called values. I talked to lots of people and did lots of research and writing. In the end, we accepted a plan to run our organization for the next five years, only five years. Am I suggesting you spend almost a year figuring out your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, aspirations, and desired results and also clarifying your personal and family values? No, I am not suggesting that; I implore you to do these things if you really want to change your life.

The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, aspirations, results model (SWOTAR) focuses your attention. You identify those areas that move you forward, and those that will cause failure if not addressed. Always play to your strengths and work only on improving your fatal flaws. When you start looking forward, remember you really have no idea what the future holds.

People who graduated from school in the 1980s did not know they were at the end of the Cold War and that in the next decade, the Berlin Wall, and Iron Curtain would fall. Many of the jobs that exist today were not even a thing in 1980. None of us really have any idea what January 1st 2025 will look like let alone January 21st 2060. However, with clear personal values, and a vision of your aspirations and desired results, you find your true north.

For example, as a result of going through this process, you discover you really want to find ways to house more people who do not have homes. Based on history, I suspect homelessness will still be a problem in 2060 because it has been a problem for centuries. However, homelessness has been a bigger and smaller problem over time for a variety of reasons. You may not know exactly what will work right now, but using your strengths and skills, you can identify things you can begin today to improve the homeless situation now and for 2060.

man looking through binoculars
Your vision helps you foresee what you will do in the future with the understanding the view might be a little unfocused.
-Photo by Mike on Pexels.com

Now that you have your vision for your life, or your life in the next decade, you can pick goals to make your vision a reality. When you work in this way, your New Year’s Resolutions support your vision for your whole life. A lesson I frequently have to remember is that change takes time. You can only harvest apples from an orchard one time each year. It takes the tree a year of changes to create those apples. In many ways, people are the same. We need to grow to make change. As change begins to occur within and around us, we find those changes enable us to do more and different things. Your vision and values remain constant. Just because you failed to achieve your New Year’s goal does not mean it is unachievable; you may need more time to develop the education, skills, or acquire other resources. If that goal supports your life plan, you can find the motivation and discipline necessary to achieve it. You can always begin again.

So here we are at the end of February with a failed New Year’s Resolution. Instead of accepting failure, create a vision for your future. Identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, aspirations, desired results, and personal values during the rest of the year. Figure out what goals you need to accomplish to make your vision a reality. Setting and accomplishing goals is easier when you understand how they support your vision and when they are aligned with your values. I wrote a few posts on goal setting. You can find the links below. The rest is up to you. Create your vision. Set your goals. Achieve your New Year’s Resolution.

Woman climbing a mountain.
As with any goal, disciplined activity is required to accomplish it.
-Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Look for the closing article in my series on developing personal trust in the next two weeks. I look forward to being back on schedule by the end of March.

References

  • Covey, S, Merrill, A, & Merrill, R. (1995) First things first. Fireside. New York, NY
  • Warren, R. (2002) The purpose driven life. Zondervan. Grand Rapids, MI
  • Zenger, J, & Folkman, J. (2004) The handbook for leaders. McGraw-Hill. New York, NY

More on setting goals:

Accomplishing New Year’s Resolutions: https://christopherstcyr.wordpress.com/2014/01/01/time-to-reflect-plan-act/

Establishing Measurable Goals: https://saintcyrtraining.com/2021/12/

Creating a Personal Development Plan: https://saintcyrtraining.com/2018/01/24/road-map-for-your-life-creating-a-personal-development-plan/

Goal Setting Worksheet: https://www.slideshare.net/ChrisStCyr1/sample-goalsworksheet

(c) 2024 Christopher St. Cyr

Leadership Reflection

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Reflection-Theophilos_Papadopoulos.jpgReflecting on past mistakes and successes teaches leaders how to adjust behaviors improving successful.  Few new leaders understand the importance of reflection.  As a result they do not understand which traits lead to success so they can repeat them, nor which actions impede them preventing them from avoiding similar actions in the future.  Leaders achieve effective reflection by following some easy steps.

Record what happen.  In another piece, I described how and why to conduct post event reviews (https://christopherstcyr.wordpress.com/2017/07/29/review-action-record-results-learn/).  Another example of recording what happened is a leadership journal.  Use a few minutes every day to write down something you learned, someone you helped, how someone helped you, an important task you must accomplish, or anything else you feel you may want to remember.

Document how you can use what you recorded.  Think about and write down ways to modify your behaviors to improve success.  How you can implement a lesson learned?  Decide which behaviors you helped another person.  Identify behaviors of others that were both effective and not effective.

Path-J-O_Eriksson.jpgPeriodically review your reflections to adjust your course.  Taking time to figure out where you are is an important step in the goal achieving cycle.  Reviewing things you allows you to consider the path to achieve a goal.  You may see a lesser traveled trail is more effective.  You may realize a new behavior provides access to the express lane.  Either way failing to apply what you learn unnecessarily lengthens time of achievement.

Recording reflections on successes and mistakes allows leaders to become more effective.  Using a leadership journal is one way new leaders can improve their reflective skills.  Writing down key ideas on your journey ensures they are captured for future use.  These lessons and ideas help leaders adjust course seeking to accomplish goals.  A few simple steps, and a little bit of time, allows improvement of success for leaders through reflection.

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Photo Credits

All Photos are from flickr.com under a Creative Commons license.

Reflection by Theophilos Papadapoulos

Path by J-O Eriksson

 

Everyone Needs a Mentor

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“Every Soldier needs a Sergeant.” is an old Army adage based on the traditional role of Noncommissioned Officer taking care of their men. More senior sergeants use the phrase to encourage new platoon sergeants to look out for their young lieutenants with the understanding that the lieutenant is in charge, but the sergeants know what needs to be done, why it needs to be done, and the correct way to do it. Smart lieutenants understand the wisdom of their sergeant’s advise and follow his lead.

TelemachusMentor

Career progression outside the military is less clear. What works in one company or organization does not work in the next. Even if you are the boss, like that young lieutenant, you need a trusted, wise guide to show you the path to success no matter how you define success. Like the old Army saying above, everyone needs a mentor.

It can be difficult to find a good mentor. Mentors are trusted guides. Typically mentoring relationship occur voluntarily between a person with less experience and another who has accomplished similar goals as the protege. The relationship is characterized by mutual trust and respect. Frequently these relationship occur outside supervisory channels.

Good mentors are interested in the success of others. They help their protege gain confidence and encourage growth. Mentors serve as role models. Mentors help their protege develop achievable goals, identify steps required to accomplish those goals, and as a result increase the likelihood of success.

Next time you take on a new task, think about finding a mentor to guide you along the way. You may find their experience leads you down paths you never would have found and methods to overcome obstacles. Every journey is an adventure, but with a mentor to guide you along the way, you improve your chances of reaching the end of the road and achieving the success you envisioned at the beginning of the trip.

http://www.12manage.com/methods_mentoring.html

Check your Map & Compass

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Hard to believe, but it will not be long before people start making resolutions for the New Year. Last New Year I posted a piece on how to successfully complete your resolutions (https://christopherstcyr.wordpress.com/2014/01/01/time-to-reflect-plan-act/). I used the system I described before and also during this year to achieve goals successfully. One more birthday card and I can say I achieved the three resolutions I set for my self. How did you do? 2014 has not yet ended so there is time to dig up the written goals you started with and determine how much you completed on each of them. You may find there is time to finish one or more in the remaining days. If not, you can try again next year. Reviewing your progress is important, and so it reviewing your achievements. Today schedule time to take stock of how you did with your goals, the lessons you learned along the way so that your plans for next year include strategies to avoid pitfalls. Assessing is an important action to achieve continuous success.

Start your assessment by asking questions about your goal and plan.

AMCHutOverlookbyReg

  • Was my goal specificity stated?
  • Was is it measurable and did I have reasonable expectations and standards?
  • Did I allow reasonable time to complete the goal?
  • What resources did I lack? How can I obtain those resources for the future?
  • Is completion still desirable and reasonable?
  • Who can help me achieve my goal; a mentor, supervisor, friend, spouse or trainer?
  • If I choose not to complete this goal (notice the key word choose), what lessons did I learn that will help me with similar projects in the future?

As I discussed in my blog on taking time to review your progress (https://christopherstcyr.wordpress.com/2014/03/22/check-your-map-achieve-your-goal/), it is equally important to review and evaluate your successes. Learning to set small, achievable goals allows you to complete what you start. Evaluating your success enables you to see your new location on the map. As you set a small goal, achieve success, evaluate your achievement you begin to understand that small, regular improvements are more likely to help you obtain long term success that lofty big goals. Smaller goals allow you to adjust course frequently ensuring you end up where you wanted to go, not just arrive at the end of the road. Assessments also allow you to determine if you are still on the correct road, or if your course corrections have really established a different goal and destination.

This is a busy time of the year for everyone. Taking a few minutes to review your achievements allows you to learn from both your achievements and mistakes. It allows you to determine if you are on the correct course or if you need to make some adjustments. Even if you have not completed what you set out to accomplish, this assessment shows the progress made encouraging further small improvements. Dig up the resolutions you made at the beginning of the year. Assess your success and chart your course for 2015. Do it today!

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Photo Credit:  Reggie

For more information see my deck on SlideShare: http://www.slideshare.net/ChrisStCyr1/achieve-29982036 and

Check Your Map…Achieve Your Goal

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At the beginning of the year I pitched a way to achieve your New Year’s Resolutions. (https://christopherstcyr.wordpress.com/2014/01/01/time-to-reflect-plan-act/) 0322141247One of the steps I suggested was to periodically check your list to measure your progress and adjust your course. That time is upon us. I know because the reminder I set in my calender alerted me to check my progress on my goals.

I use a goal setting check list to help me focus on task steps and measures for success. I used to keep them on paper, but as time and digitization have progressed, I have found using a word processor or even better, the task list on my email client work great. Your worksheet does not have to be fancy. I combined the format I learned in the Army to evaluate training with some of the great ideas Ken Blanchard pitched in his book, The One Minute Manager with a couple of theories I have learned about SMART goals. If you did not put your New Year’s Resolution in writing in January, you still have time to do so. The benefit of having your goal in writing is being able to sit down periodically (like now) to review your progress.

For those of you who did make some notes, dig them out and lets check your progress. I have learned several things throughout the years I have used this process. Your work sheet is like a map. As you travel you find roads exist not appearing on your map, and some roads on your map are more like mountain foot paths. For goal setters that means you may have found some of the steps you planned to take were not required, however things you did not know when you began the journey require you to complete tasks you did not anticipate, and that is okay. Just like our journey on an previously unknown but shorter or better road, as one works towards a goal and finds a shorter or better way to complete the task, you do. Note the changes on your map during your review. Enter comments about the progress of each task and check off completed steps. Open your calender and schedule time to complete the next series of activities on your journey to completing your goal.

An important question to ask as you check your progress is, “How will I recognize success?” The answer to this question becomes the measures of the success for your journey. If you goal is to improve your health (a common New Year’s Resolution) how will you know you are healthier? Some metrics may include a target weight, the ability to lift an amount of weight, the ability to be able to run a certain distance in a given amount of time, the measurement of your waist so you can once again fit into your High School jeans, your blood pressure number or the levels of cholesterol. What ever standard you select, make it specific and measurable by some recognizable value.Image

Checking the progress of your goals on a regular basis is important to your success. By having a map in the form of a goal checklist you improve the chances of your arriving at your intended destination, your goal. Your check list should include the route of travel and measures of attainment so you stay on track, or recognize when you have to adjust course. If you don’t know where you are going, it is impossible to know when you have arrived. Take a few minutes today to review and update your goals. For those of you who have yet to do so, set ONE goal today and develop your route and metrics. I have posted a sample goal setting worksheet on SlideShare. Check it out and use, change and adapt it to your needs. Move forward by taking that next, charted step to your personal success.

Photos by author

AW…do we have to plan AGAIN?!

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“Plans are nothing; Planning is everything.” Dwight D. Eisenhower. Planning is one of the fundamental functional areas of management. Leaders at all levels plan. Depending on the event and their level in the organization determines how they plan, but the planning process should remain the same. Whether you want to develop a new vision for your organization, or you are putting together a small meeting for your staff, planning is the process that identifies the needs for what is desired in the future, the resources necessary to accomplish the task, actions requiring completion, controls and guide posts to watch for along the way and a statement of success. One of the reasons planning is valued more than the finished plan is understanding that no battle plan ever survives past first enemy contact, but in the planning process, key leaders have opportunities to evaluate different courses of actions allowing them to change course as the situation evolves. This topic deserves more than the few hundred words dedicated here, however my intent is to provide readers a general direction for their own planning processes.Image
The first step in any plan in to identify the objectives. Plans are only required if there is difference between the current situation and what you expect in the future. The purpose of the plan is to change the future. At the strategic level, leaders develop mission statements, share their vision and establish guiding principals. At the operational level, leaders develop work processes, gather resources, train workers and establish goals and task steps.
Once the object is identified, develop alternative actions. Often this is done during brain storming sessions although other idea generating activities also work. Ideas do not have to appear practical or traditional. The important action at this stage is to developing ideas. You may find that some of what originally appear to be flaky ideas in the beginning, when paired with other ideas may work the best.
Now that you have several alternatives, take time to evaluate them whether alone or in a group. Identify their efficiency, alignment with organizational guiding principals, likelihood of success and other factors selected by the group’s leaders. During this stage you should start to develop the measure for success. As alternatives are eliminated the better ideas become evident. The completion of this step should involve a completed written plan. The plan does not have to answer all questions but should provide enough information for those charged with implementing understand the intent. Remember the old saying, “An imperfect plan delivered on time trumps the perfect plan delivered a day late.”
Action is the next step in the planning process. A complete plan is not required to begin action. The great thing about mission and vision statements are they provide everyone an idea about which direction they should be traveling even if they lose the directions to the final destination. Once the decision has been made to move towards a certain goal, action can begin. Starting movement is the hardest part of any change. Starting movement is they only way the plan will succeed.
Once things begin to move it is important to monitor progress. The plan should include specific check points where staff gather to report progress. Like any journey, if you don’t take the time to check your compass and read the road signs you may find you took a left when you should have turned right in Albuquerque. These controls may include checks on spending, use of resources, percent of quality improvement, number of units sold or any other metric that measures progress.
A final and critical step in the planning process is obtaining commitment from stakeholders. Too many projects fail for lack of this important support. Ensure the key leaders understand the resources requiring commitment for success. Obtain contracts from customers if necessary. Lock in resources from suppliers early.
A finished plan may not be fancy. It may not be complete. What matters is the process used to arrive at the plan. Follow these steps and you increase your plan’s success. Start by determining the objective. Identify alternatives to reach the objective. Evaluate the alternatives selecting the one most in line with organizational values and vision. Begin action as soon as there is commitment. Obtain commitment from key stakeholders. Check your progress regularly and plan those check-ups. As your project rolls along, you may find success lies off the road you selected to reach your destination, but through your planning process you identified detours and side trips. In the end you will find your planning helped you make small adjustments along the way and reach your destination.

 

Photo by author

Time to Reflect, Plan & Act

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It is common at this time of the year to reflect on the past and look ahead to the future. People will establish a list of resolutions and many will moan about the resolutions they failed to complete from last year. Others look back, pat themselves on the back for what they have accomplished. So why the difference? The answer is simple, those who succeed approach the resolution process and establish personal, documented steps and goals. What follows may seem like a long lost secret to some, but much of the content I first read about over 30 years ago (when I was v e r y young) and has been reinforced with more recent reading.

The first step is to reflect on what went well, what you need to improve and what is not as important as once you thought it was. Of those things that went well, identify what actions to carry over into the new year. Also identify skills that were used to achieve those successes and how you can use those skills for future success. On the improvement side, focus only on the things that cause failure. None of us can do everything perfectly. Life is too short to fix everything, so instead work on your strengths and only those weaknesses that directly contribute to failure. Everything in the middle somehow works.

Photo by Reg

Photo by Reg

Identify goals and achievements you accomplished. Too often we dwell on failures. People rarely fail at everything every time. You probably achieved some successes. Concentrating on what you have achieve builds confidence to move forward. Enumerating skills you have overlooked in the first step helps you focus on your strengths.

After you have reflected on your successes and failures, your achievements and accomplishments it is time to decide where you want to go. The first two steps helped you identify where you came from, and where you are. This step sets your course for the coming year. In this process determine not only what goals and accomplishments you seek to achieve, but also task steps for each activity. In that process think about who you need to reach out to for help and what resources you need to assemble to be successful. There is no point developing a network if you fail to call upon them for help. The most important activity in this step is to write down your goals and action steps. At this point the most important thing to do is document each task step for every goal. As you work on this portion, it is important to write down action steps for every goal (see my blog about the Three Pitch Rule).

The final step is to schedule time periodically to check your progress. Grab your check lists in what ever format works for you and compare your progress against your checklists. Identify tasks on your list you can complete before your next check up and put them on your calendar. By scheduling task steps you give them a level of importance that increases the likelihood they will be completed.

Now is the time to act. At the end of year, when you sit down to make your 2015 resolutions you will find you kept your 2014 resolutions if you follow these simple steps. Seize the day, New Year’s Day to accomplish this simple task. There is no requirement to have dozens of resolutions. Focus on the one or two or three goals that will really impact your life and document them. Do it now. Perfection is not required for your plan. Do it now and adjust along the way. In the end you may find you accomplished more than you imagined, but only if you take the time to follow these steps. Really, do it now! Happy New Year.

I just posted a short slide deck on SlideShare.  Check it out:  http://www.slideshare.net/ChrisStCyr1/achieve-29982036