Breakthrough currently has an ad running on FaceBook that begins, “Ready to level up in 2020?” The end of the calendar year is a natural time to take stock of what transpired throughout the year and to think about how things could be better for the year ahead. A March baby myself, I typically assess my progress against my BOY-Gs (beginning of year goals, a k a New Year’s resolutions) around the time of my birthday, again around the time of my wedding anniversary mid-year and a final time when everyone is in back-to-school mode after Labor Day.
How can you stack the odds in favor of meeting your goals for the year ahead?
Step 1: Write them down.
Research shows that the mere act of writing down your goals each week makes you 42% more likely to reach them.
Step 2: Make them SMART
We all know the acronym (even if we stumble on one or two of the letters). To be actionable, your goals need to be SMART:
Specific: This is where the five Ws come into play.
Measurable: In business, if you can’t measure it, it doesn’t exist. So, make sure your goal answers how much/how many by when.
Achievable: Many of my clients struggle with this one because they want each of their goals to be a moonshot. Perhaps consider breaking your moonshot goal into interstellar components so you can gain some momentum by achieving small steps before the giant leap.
Relevant: If your goal requires executive support, you’re going to need buy-in, so the goal needs to be relevant to the overall business. Consider how your goal could ladder up to the objectives of your business unit or practice group and the enterprise-wide strategy.
Time-bound: For better or worse, most of us operate under the constraints of a short leash. By marking your goal with a deadline, you create an additional incentive to achieve it on or before the date you committed to complete it.
Step 3: Share them with an accountability partner.
A spouse, friend, colleague or an executive coach can help to keep you on task and accountable for achieving your goals. Plan to check in with your accountability partner weekly at the outset of your goal and move to bi-weekly check-ins after you’ve made sufficient progress putting the building blocks in place. The same study that showed the power of merely writing down your goals further showed that 76 percent of participants who wrote down their goals, the actions they took toward them and provided weekly progress to a friend successfully achieved their goals.
Efficiency tip: You might even consider putting a daily recurring event in your calendar at the beginning of your workday that prompts you to consider what you can do that day that will help you achieve your goal. This provides an opportunity for a daily reflection that should make your more formal quarterly appraisals of your progress a snap.
Breakthrough Consulting Group wishes you a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year filled with breakthroughs, large and small, of your own.