For most of us, this is a time for reflection, both personally and professionally. What did we hope to accomplish this year vs. what we actually accomplished? Sometimes there is cause for celebration, but more often than not, it’s a time to rethink, revise, and somehow find the resolve to achieve what we want.
So we become resolute about what we want to accomplish, just as we were last year, and guess what? Some of the items fall off the list again. So rather than resolve to try once more to accomplish the personal or professional goal that didn’t make the hit list this year, why not attack it differently?
Maybe instead of making resolutions, it’s time for a revolution – an all-out refusal to get to the end of 2016 without having crossed these goals off the list. What this means is that you will have to do something different. Because we all know what doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is…
Here’s my recipe for starting your own revolution:
Step 1 – Declare. Really and truly commit to each and every goal you are including in your revolution.
Step 2 – Be SMART. Make sure each of the goals in Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results focused and Time Bound.
Step 3 – Accountability. Decide who or how you will be held accountable. A partner? A colleague? A group? It must be a higher level of accountability than you employed this year in order to expect a different result.
Step 4 – Review/Revise: Determine how often you will review and revise based on progress or lack thereof. Monthly? Quarterly? Biannually? (This does not mean look at your goals in December and say “oops.”)
Step 5 – Celebrate: We often lament our failures, and skip spending time celebrating our wins, which leads our focus to go where? To our failures. Focus on what you want, not what you don’t want. It’s much more powerful. Remembering an accomplishment, the celebration, and the endorphins that were released will keep you focused on more of the success and less of the failure.
Step 6 – Pay it Forward: Share, offer to coach, lend a hand to someone else trying to have a revolutionary year. We can’t do this alone. What goes around does really come around so go first and offer a helping hand.
These steps can apply to your company’s strategic plan or your personal goals for the year. We often forget how much power we have to achieve great things if we only put our minds to it. Look at any of the truly great leaders from history, they all accomplished amazing things against the odds. And it was not for lack of a plan, it was because of one. They all declared a revolution – and then made it happen.
Make 2016 a Revolution Year for you and your company!
Happy New Year to one and all!