As January 1st, 2017 approaches, many will be making new year’s resolutions. This is a good thing. In the world of professional coaching we call resolutions “goals”, and we professional coaches deal with goal setting all the time. Based on my experience with goal setting from my Career Coaching practice here are the best suggestions to make you resolutions (your goal setting) of value, and hedge for success.
Start with an inventory: Sit down at your pc, or tablet, and take an inventory of those things that are making you unhappy. Arrears where you would like to see improvement in your life. The key thing here is to establish areas of your life that are important to you – where you would like to see improvement. An example might be “Improve family life”. Another example might be “improve health by working out more”. Try to list a couple areas, but no more than nine.
Rank Areas for Improvement: From your list of several areas where you would like to see improvement, rank them in terms of importance. If you have a lot of times – say seven to ten, this may be a two-step process: first rank by “High, Medium, Low” importance. Then rank the most important by number, with first being the most important area for improvement.
Highlight your Top Three Areas: The top three areas will be the ones you will focus on. Three may seem like a small number. But for most people to improve in three areas of their life is ambitious. We want to set you up for success – not frustration, so focus on the top three. Also, understand that there is nothing wrong with selecting just one or two areas for work.
Define Action: This is where you get specific on what behaviors you will do to achieve your goals. For example, if your goal area is “Improve Health by working out”, a defining action might be “walk for 20 minutes three days a week”. But an even better defined action is “walk for 20 minutes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday”. This is better action definition because you are being more specific. Another example might be “practice piano every day for 30 minutes”. A better action definition would be “practice piano for 30 minutes every day from 7pm to 7:30 pm”. Again, this is better action defection because it is more specific. Most importantly, MAKE YOUR PLAN REALISTIC. Your plan, and action steps need to be reasonable, and do—able.
Get help on your Defined Action: Is there anyone that can support you in these new action steps? This might be a friend, peer, or life partner. If so, get them engaged to help you build good habits around these new Action Steps. In the case of weight loss, seek out a support group. If you are addressing an addictive behavior, there any plenty of support groups to be found. Google, or another search engine is your friend here. If you are the only one to support yourself, set alarms to remind you that it is time to do the new Action Step. You can also use your calendar to block off time to complete these Action Steps; these new good habits.
Set a Start Date: For many January 1st, 2017 might be the start date – but it does not need to be. But do set a start date, and time. Again, use your calendar to block off time to do these new good habits.
Monitor your progress: Set a time to monitor your progress on these new actions. This My suggestion is to do this monthly; have 12 check points in the next year to assess how you are doing with your new goals, and new good habits.
Reward yourself: Reward yourself for your success. Do something special for yourself if you hit your goal(s) for the month. Make it fun, and tell yourself “this is for making my goals this month.”
Make Adjustments if Needed: If your goal was to work out every day, and you find you are only working out every other day – don’t beat yourself up. You are still making progress, and still better off. It might make sense to adjust that goal to “Work out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday”. The key here is to recognize you have made progress. You have had success. Avoid thinking that you have failed, or that you are a failure. Those thoughts will steal your energy, and feelings of self-worth.
You have the power to make next year a better year. This starts with identifying areas in your life you would like to improve. Make the goals you work ones that are most important in your life, and ones where you can take action. Create specific, repeating action steps to help deliver your goals. Find support to stay faithful to your new Action Steps. Remember too your calendar can be very useful in delivering these new good habits. Use your calendar to set alarms, and block off times for these new Action Steps. Set times to review how you are doing, and you will find you will be more successful achieving these goals. It is important to reward yourself – even if you fall short of your ideal delivery on goals. Remember by setting goals, and taking at least some action on these goals you are making progress, and being more successful. In addition to finding support through groups, peers, and your family, a professional, such as a certified Life, or Career Coach deals with goal setting on a daily basis, and can be a great resource for assessing goals, creating Action Steps, and keeping you on track with your goals.
Author: Brian Kail MBA, CPC is a Professional Career Coach, and Business Consultant. For more information see AscendProCoach.com
Start with an inventory: Sit down at your pc, or tablet, and take an inventory of those things that are making you unhappy. Arrears where you would like to see improvement in your life. The key thing here is to establish areas of your life that are important to you – where you would like to see improvement. An example might be “Improve family life”. Another example might be “improve health by working out more”. Try to list a couple areas, but no more than nine.
Rank Areas for Improvement: From your list of several areas where you would like to see improvement, rank them in terms of importance. If you have a lot of times – say seven to ten, this may be a two-step process: first rank by “High, Medium, Low” importance. Then rank the most important by number, with first being the most important area for improvement.
Highlight your Top Three Areas: The top three areas will be the ones you will focus on. Three may seem like a small number. But for most people to improve in three areas of their life is ambitious. We want to set you up for success – not frustration, so focus on the top three. Also, understand that there is nothing wrong with selecting just one or two areas for work.
Define Action: This is where you get specific on what behaviors you will do to achieve your goals. For example, if your goal area is “Improve Health by working out”, a defining action might be “walk for 20 minutes three days a week”. But an even better defined action is “walk for 20 minutes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday”. This is better action definition because you are being more specific. Another example might be “practice piano every day for 30 minutes”. A better action definition would be “practice piano for 30 minutes every day from 7pm to 7:30 pm”. Again, this is better action defection because it is more specific. Most importantly, MAKE YOUR PLAN REALISTIC. Your plan, and action steps need to be reasonable, and do—able.
Get help on your Defined Action: Is there anyone that can support you in these new action steps? This might be a friend, peer, or life partner. If so, get them engaged to help you build good habits around these new Action Steps. In the case of weight loss, seek out a support group. If you are addressing an addictive behavior, there any plenty of support groups to be found. Google, or another search engine is your friend here. If you are the only one to support yourself, set alarms to remind you that it is time to do the new Action Step. You can also use your calendar to block off time to complete these Action Steps; these new good habits.
Set a Start Date: For many January 1st, 2017 might be the start date – but it does not need to be. But do set a start date, and time. Again, use your calendar to block off time to do these new good habits.
Monitor your progress: Set a time to monitor your progress on these new actions. This My suggestion is to do this monthly; have 12 check points in the next year to assess how you are doing with your new goals, and new good habits.
Reward yourself: Reward yourself for your success. Do something special for yourself if you hit your goal(s) for the month. Make it fun, and tell yourself “this is for making my goals this month.”
Make Adjustments if Needed: If your goal was to work out every day, and you find you are only working out every other day – don’t beat yourself up. You are still making progress, and still better off. It might make sense to adjust that goal to “Work out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday”. The key here is to recognize you have made progress. You have had success. Avoid thinking that you have failed, or that you are a failure. Those thoughts will steal your energy, and feelings of self-worth.
You have the power to make next year a better year. This starts with identifying areas in your life you would like to improve. Make the goals you work ones that are most important in your life, and ones where you can take action. Create specific, repeating action steps to help deliver your goals. Find support to stay faithful to your new Action Steps. Remember too your calendar can be very useful in delivering these new good habits. Use your calendar to set alarms, and block off times for these new Action Steps. Set times to review how you are doing, and you will find you will be more successful achieving these goals. It is important to reward yourself – even if you fall short of your ideal delivery on goals. Remember by setting goals, and taking at least some action on these goals you are making progress, and being more successful. In addition to finding support through groups, peers, and your family, a professional, such as a certified Life, or Career Coach deals with goal setting on a daily basis, and can be a great resource for assessing goals, creating Action Steps, and keeping you on track with your goals.
Author: Brian Kail MBA, CPC is a Professional Career Coach, and Business Consultant. For more information see AscendProCoach.com
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