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It’s That Time Of Year Again
By Will Turner
With another year coming to an end, it’s time to take a look back. How did you do? Did you reach all the goals that you wanted to? Are you where you want to be? To make next year even better, it’s time for an honest assessment of what went well, what didn’t, and why. Here are some questions, you should answer. Take some time. Be thoughtful and write out your answers. Your future depends on it.
* What did I hope to accomplish in the past year and did I meet all of my expectations?
* Did I clearly articulate (and write out) my goals for the past year? Will doing so be important to me in the coming year?
* What went well this past year? What can I learn from this experience?
* What didn’t go so well? Why? What got in the way?
* What can I do differently in the future?
* Am I properly focused so that I can spend my time and resources most appropriately? If not, what can I do to sharpen my focus?
* What three things can I change that will have the greatest impact on my success in the coming year?
* What do I have to do to make sure it happens?
* Of the three things listed from the previous answer, which one is the biggest priority and why?
* What am I going to do to ensure that my biggest priority item is addressed?
* What changes am I committed to making in the coming year?
* Who can I share my new goals with that will support me and help hold me accountable?
Remember, to celebrate your successes. You earned them. On the other hand, what are you going to do to about the areas where you struggled? Here’s a simple three-step process to address those areas where you have fallen short in the past.
1. List all the obstacles that got in your way of you reaching your goal. These include both internal and external obstacles. Internal obstacles include things like procrastination and poor time management while external obstacles include things like interruptions from your boss or coworkers.
2. Once you’ve listed all your obstacles, brainstorm possible solutions. Think of all the different strategies you can implement to work around, over or through your obstacles. Pick the solution(s) that will work best for you and break them down to specific action items.
3. Implement the action items or tasks. Make sure these action items get transferred to your “to do list” in your daily planner, PDA, or any other time management system you use.
© Dancing Elephants Achievement Group 2003