Review the Past, Plan for the Future

For many of us, especially those with children, the fall can be the true start of the year. With cooler weather and less pressure than at the beginning of the year, it can be easier to feel energized and invigorated than in January. That’s why I often review and revise my calendar year goals, as well as set a few new ones in the fall. I’ve found it really helps when you have some momentum going into the coming New Year. That way you aren’t starting out the New Year in the same spot and with the same ambitions as last year.

The fall also tends to be a little calmer than when things start to go crazy for the holidays. Here are some ideas to help you get a firm base set and get things in order for the rest of the year so you don’t feel overwhelmed when the craziness of the end of the year hits.

Figure out what drives you. If you want the biggest leg up in your career and life, the best thing you can do is figure out what drives you. Are you a people person but stuck in a job that requires lots of alone time? Maybe that’s why your work goals seem so daunting and like such a big undertaking. Figuring out what drives you means knowing what really matters to you, what motivates you, and what makes you exceptional. Set goals that allow you to use this internal motivation and you’ll be amazed at how much you can get done.

Uncover your strengths & skills. These are your talents, skills, and abilities – the things that people praise you and seek your guidance for. Knowing what you are best at allows you to take advantage of opportunities; most of the time these strengths and skills are the things we love to do or just what we are naturally good at. If your goals aren’t aligned with your strengths and skills, think about slowly shifting them towards what you really thrive at. This will make it much easier to achieve them.

Define your values & principles. Your strengths address the question of “what?” Your values and principles answer the questions “how?” These underlying beliefs steer everything you do and help define who you are or want to be. Living your life in harmony with your values and principles makes reaching goals much easier. If you don’t value money, then reaching a sales goal probably won’t be easy. But if helping people is an underlying belief, then a goal of having 100% customer satisfaction could really get you moving.

Review the year so far. You can’t know where you want to go without looking at where you’ve been. As you think back on the year so far and the goals you set in January, what were your big victories? What slowed you down? What would you have done differently if you had to do it over again? Is there anything you left unresolved or unfinished? Taking the time to review these simple questions can make a huge difference in setting the tone for the rest of your year.

Set 3 top work-related goals. What are my top three work-related goals for the remainder of the year? Why are those goals important to me? What habits and processes do I need to adopt to support those goals? Being happy with your work life can lead to happiness outside it, too.

Set 3 top personal goals. What are my top three personal goals for the remainder of the year? Why are those goals important to me? Who can I share those goals with to help hold me accountable? No matter how great your work life is, you can never be truly happy if you’re not satisfied with your personal life. Make sure that the goals of both of these parts of your life complement one another; conflicting goals often lead to little or no progress at all.

The fall is a great time for reflection on how the year has gone so far. It’s also a great time to make preliminary goals for the coming year and address your course for the rest of the year to help put you in a good place to reach those goals. Are you making forward progress on all the great things you set out to accomplish? How will you make the most of the rest of this year? I’ll be sitting down with my 2015 goals this month, reflecting and revising based on how the year has gone, and making plans for 2016. Set yourself up to have a great start in the coming year and you’ll be much more likely to keep moving forward toward all your goals. Just sayin’. 

Published: New Mexico Apartment News Magazine – Sept/Oct issue 2015