Yes, it’s that time of year to dust off those goals that you set for 2013 and see how you’re doing before it’s too late to do anything about it
Sound familiar? As the leader, it’s your job to hold others accountable to their goals. It’s even more important to hold yourself accountable to your goals. Pull them out of the drawer and look. How are you doing? Is this the first time you’ve looked at your personal goals for the year? Would you let your managers and employees off the hook if they had not achieved the company goals? My guess is if they hadn’t, you might be looking for replacements right about now.
Since it is unlikely you will let yourself go, what are you going to do differently to keep yourself on track with your personal goals?
The first step is to make sure they were important goals from the start. If you wrote them down and declared you were going to do them, why is it okay that they have gone unaccomplished? Maybe it is ok? Make that determination first and my guess is you will eliminate half of your list. Next, take a look at what’s left. Why have you been procrastinating? Were your goals realistic? See if they were SMART -Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Based.
If they weren’t SMART, see if you can redo them within that format. They will be easier to achieve. If they were SMART and you didn’t achieve them, something is in your way. It’s usually a mental block, or a lack of commitment of time, (the resource that we never get enough of). Are your unfinished goals important enough to recommit? If yes, figure out how to achieve them in a different way than you planned to before. Need an accountability partner? Find one. Need to track them weekly? Do it. Need to find the time? Block it out on your calendar.
The reason to do this BEFORE the end of the year is so you can do things differently moving forward. There is nothing more depressing then looking at all you had hoped to achieve and realizing you will not make it. Give yourself a bit of a pass this year, as long as you retool and recommit. If you don’t do anything differently, expect the same results.
For those of you who are on track, kudos! How did you do it? What things worked well for you? Could you have added more or were your goals too easy? Just like goldilocks, figure out if they were too soft, too hard or just right. The point is to learn each year what worked well and what didn’t. It’s the only way to do it better going forward.
The other important thing to remember is that as the leader, your whole team is watching. How you hold yourself accountable says volumes about how they should hold themselves accountable. They are always watching. Make sure it’s something you want them to see.