Goal Setting Season
It’s Goal Setting Season! It’s the time to reflect on 2020 and to look ahead at 2021. No matter what kind of year 2020 brought us with COVID, the presidential elections, and climate change, a whole year did pass. It’s time now to decide what’s next.
There are three typical reactions to planning and goal setting.
One: “I have so many ideas and dreams and next steps - or I’m too busy - that I can’t sit down and plan them out.”
Two: “Life is fine, and I don’t really know what I want.”
Three: “I’ve tried to set goals before and it just doesn’t work for me.”
There is of course the person who says, “I bought my planner during the pre-release season!” That person is me. :)
While “goal setting” may not be for everyone (though I think it is!), there are some principles which CAN work to get you in the right frame of mind for charting your course for the upcoming year.
Goal Setting Principles
Spend some time reflecting on your Core Values and what’s important to you. Do you know “your compass” among values like security, curiosity, faith, balance, achievement?
Visualize where you could be in the future across all areas of life: career, health, family, relationships, friends, fun, finances, spirituality, personal development. Many of us really only look at a handful of areas of our lives, but the power comes from reviewing life across the spectrum.
Review the context of your season of life. What capacity do you have to take on changes? Goals don’t have to be about “new”, but can also be about upgrading quality of life in areas you’re already in process. The capacity of a mom of young children who is also taking care of aging parents may be different than the capacity of a single 20-something, which would impact both of their focus areas.
Decide your big-ticket items, or your “rocks” as I call them. What are the 2-3 big, non-negotiable actions you want to take next year?
Last year, I had “big rocks” such as moving into our new home, getting married (and post-marriage logistics), getting a new dog, and launching a major project at work. Those were some big rocks, and even in the midst of COVID they happened. Philip and I have time set aside to look at next year in a few weeks.
If you would like support in dreaming big or narrowing down for 2021, I’m offering complimentary goal setting sessions in 2020.
