Last week we passed the half way point of 2018. It’s the middle of the year already, and I keep seeing ads for Christmas in July! I’ve also noted more than one site revving people up about their New Year Resolutions. I thought a mid-year ‘how’re you going?’ goal check a worthy option too.
Do you set goals – and how are they going?
Many people give New Years Resolutions a bad rap. Perhaps it’s all those statistics saying very few of said resolutions ever get the tick. That could be why at least one lot of research found a third of us don’t even bother with them.
I’ve no strong opinions about New Year Resolutions themselves, but I am a believer in setting goals. The longer I live, the more truth I find in the saying
Aim at nothing and you’ll hit it every time.”
People who wander through life without determining what they want and how to get it are likely to be disappointed with the way life turns out and/or be run over by others with more determined focus! Neither of which make for happiness.
Of course, you can’t plan for many things that happen to you in life. And all goal setting needs to be balanced off with good relationships as well.
Which is why I set a rather large number of goals under a range of categories every year, to help me keep good living in focus. If you’re interested, mine all fit into either a circle of being, a circle of doing or a circle of relating. Then I further subdivide those into specific areas that matter to me – my health, my money, my kids, for example.
What’s the point of a mid-year goal check?
I use the end of a year to look back and review the year that’s just been, then set my direction for the year ahead. But by December it’s a little late to do much for anything I’d hoped to achieve in that 12 months. That’s why I liked the idea of a mid-year goal check. Of course, you may review your goals weekly or monthly already. I tested a 90-day work plan this last quarter and found it helpful. The whole point of these smaller reviews is to give you chance to pause, consider how things are going and make any adjustments you decide necessary or useful to help you reach your already determined goals.
What to do if your goal check looks bad
Looking at my own list, I see that I’ve made a good start on about three quarters of my list. Given we’re only half way through the year, I’m happy with that. Especially since some will require monthly behaviours, so I won’t be able to tick them off til December! However, that leaves quite a few things I haven’t made a start on yet. My goal check can now either discourage me or spur me towards some changes.
If you’ve read this post and are feeling wriggly about your own goals, you have choices too. You can admit your disappointment to date and re-set your eyes on the target. You can be thankful for the opportunity to reconsider where things are at whilst you still have time to win by getting things done now! Or you can give up and make excuses.
About goal setting and winning
Many people find the idea of setting goals overwhelming. If you’ve tried and failed at setting goals in the past, it’s demotivating. One of the biggest problems we have is making our goal way too big. It’s much smarter to be realistic. Say you want to exercise three times a week but you’re currently not doing anything. Making your target a gym workout every second day from now to the end of the year’s noble, but relatively unlikely. Isn’t it?
Why not do a goal check and face that truth? Then, around this one idea create a three tiered goal. Your basic level goal’s to get in a workout once a week for the next four weeks. That’s relatively easy – and if it isn’t, change the plan! The whole point of this first tier goal is to be so simple to achieve it’s nearly laughable. Which makes it easy to get started on!
Your second tier goal should be more of a stretch but still within likely – perhaps to be getting to the gym twice weekly by the end of this month. If you achieve this goal, you’ll be well on your way both to health and feeling good with yourself. Then, make your third goal (I call it the big stretch element) the one that sees you building up a sweat every second day between now and December. Anytime this happens, you have a right to feel mighty proud!
I use this approach quite regularly, especially when I’m setting a goal round a fairly big change of behaviour. I find it helps me to both make a start and keep my ideal in mind. In other words, it sets me up to win!
Offers of help
There are other things we know about setting and reaching goals, too. Knowing the emotional motivation for your goal helps you get started. So too does making it public. If you’d like to work on a goal between now and December and want to put it out there publicly, head over to our Facebook page and tell us about it in a comment! We’ll check in with you a little later to see how you’re going.
Another way we can help you is with a free PDF available on our training website Head Set Go! It’s linked with our 30 day program encouraging people to reach one of their destination goals called Round Tuit, which you might also be interested in. The PDF’s called ‘Roadmap to Success’ and helps you with three other practical tips to work through so your goals can be achieved. Check them out if you’re interested.
Your everyday choices are step by step taking you to a result, regardless of whether you’ve chosen deliberately or not. I encourage you to take some time for your own goal check, if you set goals, or a direction check if you don’t.
Have a good week.