As the new year begins, it provides an opportunity for reflection and planning ahead. What is the greatest area of impact you had in 2019 in your family and for your company and career? What did you most improve? What was your greatest personal and professional achievements and disappointments? And how do the answers to these questions align to your family’s needs and goals personally, and how do they align professionally to your company’s goals and gaps and your career?
As the saying from Henry Ford implies, setting goals and putting your mind to achieving them can make all the difference in 2020 being a great year of meaningful impact in your life and work.
There are many ways to structure your goal-setting effort. I’ve used many over the years, from a simple SWOT analysis where results illuminate focus areas for the coming year in personal or professional aspects of your life to a more comprehensive Entrepreneurial Operating System that includes space for long-term thinking with a system to execute at a weekly, monthly and quarterly cadence. I recently learned of Warren Buffet’s 3-step 5/25 goal-setting process in which you write down 25 potential goals, circle the top 5, and focus on ONLY those five and ignore the rest.
As a leadership coach, I like to use a simple approach of asking 10 of my client’s colleagues four simple questions to facilitate reflection and goal-setting. By asking your manager and company leaders, peers and even customers these questions, you’d be amazed what learning and growing can be achieved:
What were <YOUR NAME HERE> 3 greatest areas of impact in 2019?
What are <YOUR NAME HERE> top 3-5 strengths?
What are the top 3-5 areas you'd recommend <YOUR NAME HERE> focus on for improvement?
What are the 3 greatest ways <YOUR NAME HERE> can impact <YOUR COMPANY> growth and success in 2020?
Based on the responses, as well as their own personal assessment of these same questions, within half a day’s time of reviewing and discussing the results, we’re able to kick off the year with a solid plan for where to focus our work each week and month.
Will you be the person who just dives into the year a victim to the email, meetings, and deadlines that await? Or will you take time to reflect and set goals for greater impact, and happiness? Only you know the answer. It’s not rocket science - it’s discipline.
Contact RIVE today at info@rivevisor.com to learn more about career planning and coaching services.
