The start of a new year is an important time for reflection. It’s a time to think about past accomplishments and future goals. It’s an opportunity to take stock of the past year and consider ways we may need to pivot in the upcoming year.
Goal-setting looks different for everyone. One person might jot down brief notes in a planner. Another might dedicate an entire day to dreaming about the future. Either way, it’s crucial to take time to ponder your past and plan for your future. Today I’d like to share what goal-setting looks like for me.
Reflecting on the Past Year.
At the end of the year, I take time to think about the highlights and lowlights of each month in the past year. I write down the high points and low points in each area of my life: work life, personal life, and family life. I ask myself: “What were my biggest gifts? What were my wins? What were the hardest parts? Where did I fail to meet my goals? Why?”
This year, I decided to fill out the same yearly reflection sheet that I teach my clients to do. As I reflected on the past year, I noticed some big lessons I’ve learned in my personal life and business. Here are just a few of them.
The Pain of Pivoting. Last year was the year of the pivot. In previous years, I did a lot of preparation for these major shifts, but this was the year I actually executed those pivots. I absolutely up-leveled in my business as I shifted my focus from the Urgent to the Important.
In my classes and with clients, I talk a lot about the importance of prioritizing the Important over the Urgent. (Click here to watch my Signature Speech on Prioritizing the Important.) But that transition is not easy. While you’re working on that transition, life may become even more urgent than it was before. When you grow, you have to get new systems in place. And that can create short-term urgent situations while you’re transitioning toward a long-term focus on the important. In order to get a breakthrough and focus on the important, there is a short-term cost. The cost is even more urgent crises and even more pain! That was absolutely true for me this year.
I want to encourage you: if you choose to make a major change, there’s a cost to the change. It’s real. It’s not easy to make a change toward health. But in the end, it’s worth it.
Prioritize Personal Growth and Health. In past years, I’ve prioritized the health of my business, but this year I also prioritized the health of my personal life. The business was relatively stable this year, so I was able to focus on my own personal growth in a way I had not before. As I’ve continued to work on putting on my own oxygen mask and becoming healthy, I’ve gotten my own life in order. As a result, we’ve had the most successful year in business that we’ve ever had. I’m very proud of that.
Another reason I prioritized personal health was because my family had a lot of sickness in the past year. We were sick during eight out of twelve months of the year! We had to spend a lot of time focusing on getting our health back and building the immune systems of the kids. It’s important to remember that our society is still catching up from a few years of Covid. Prioritizing personal health is very important!
Resetting for the Future
After you reflect on the past year, spend some time thinking about your goals for the upcoming year. What did you learn from your reflection on the past year? What changes do you need to make next year?
What are your goals for the upcoming year? How could you move the needle on your long-term goals and dreams?
For me, my personal goal for the new year is to continue to invest in key people, as I did in the past year. Last year, I prioritized relationships well. I invested in building healthy community. I want to continue to do that.
I also want to continue to build my personal health. I want to increase my resources to continue to provide the support needed for key people in my life.
But what if your past year was filled with more struggles than you expected? What if you didn’t achieve what you thought you would? Remember this wise saying: “We overestimate what we can get done in a year, we underestimate what we can get done in ten.” On average, we have just 2,080 working hours in a year. But we have 20,800 work hours in ten years. Failing to complete your goals may not mean that you were lazy or did anything wrong. You probably just underestimated the amount of time investment that would be needed to get these things done. There weren’t enough hours in the year.
I often remind clients, “How do we eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” People misstep when they try to take too big of a bite. You need to work on finding the right size for those bites, and then you’ll be able to chew. If you take too big of a bite, you won’t even enjoy it. It will just make things more complicated. Not having the right size of bite is usually where things go wrong. That’s why we don’t always hit our goals.
Another possibility is that you don’t have the right team to help you reach your goals. You might not have had the right relational alignment. Consider how you can reevaluate your team, your goals, and your objectives in the upcoming year.
Practical Goal-setting
Are you a big-picture thinker? If so, start by focusing on your big, ten-year goal. What do you hope to accomplish in the next decade? What long-term dreams do you have to impact your community, grow your business, or create meaning in the world? Do want to hire more people in your company, or offer new services or products? Do you have a creative project or nonprofit you would like to invest in?
Then, focus on your three-year goal. For me, my three-year goal is to continue toward my long-term dream. What infrastructure needs to be in place in order to succeed at your long-term goal? What can you reasonably accomplish in three years?
Next comes the one-year goal. My one-year goal is to continue to invest in building my strategic life-planning curriculum. I’ve been planning and dreaming about this comprehensive curriculum for a long time, and this is the year of execution and making some real decisions. I’ve been preparing for key decisions, and 2023 is the year of those key decisions.
After that, break your yearly goals into quarterly goals. Which activities do you need to complete each quarter? What decisions do you need to make? What do you need to accomplish each month in order to meet your goal? After writing your monthly goal, you need to identify a clear next step. What is the best way to move forward in the new season?
In his book, Traction, Gino Wickman describes how to set quarterly goals. This book is the “magic pill” I was looking for for years. It has totally changed my business and my life. This book is like sheets of music, papers that one can write symphonies on. Wickman says to come up with a list of goals you need to complete in the first quarter. Have your team help you choose the highest-priority goals. After setting a deadline for accomplishing these tasks, decide who is responsible for each of them. Make sure the goals are clear and that they are written down and shared with everyone in the organization. Then, be open to changing the goals as needed.[1]
Don’t pursue your goals alone.
Your dreams, your purpose, and your goals are so important. John Maxwell says, “Nothing much happens without a dream. For something really great to happen, it takes a really great dream.”[2] Maxwell also knows that none of us can accomplish our dreams alone. We need other people to brainstorm with, other hands to help, and relationships to support us when we feel like giving up.
Don’t be a lone ranger. Too often, we try to work out our plans and goals on our own. It’s not until we reach a crisis or train wreck moment that we realize we need others on our side. John Maxwell says, “A great dream with a bad team is nothing more than a nightmare.”[3]
The students in my strategic life planning workshop have discovered the value of community in goal-setting. They are mapping out their goals for the next year, visualizing their dreams, and taking actionable steps towards achieving those dreams. And they are not doing it alone. These brave, forward-thinking women understand the power of goal-setting and are not afraid to pursue what they want. They know the importance of having a support group and mentors that can help them reach for their goals and set a clear path to success.
I don’t want you to feel alone as you set goals. To help you reflect on the past year and set goals for next year, I’ve created some resources that will give you the structure you need to succeed. Feel free to reach out to me on Instagram or via email at wendy@durhamexchange.org! I’d love to share about my resources and hear what goals you are setting for the upcoming year!
[1] “Traction by Gino Wickman – Here are my Five Lessons and Takeaways,” 15-Minute Business Books, Last modified on November 5, 2018, Accessed October 14, 2021, https://www.15minutebusinessbooks.com/blog/2018/11/05/traction-by-gino-wickman-here-are-my-five-lessons-and-takeaways/
[2] John Maxwell, The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork: Embrace Them and Empower Your Team (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2001)
[3] John Maxwell, The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork: Embrace Them and Empower Your Team
