We are nearing the end of the first quarter of 2021.
What have you accomplished thus far?
Are you happy with your commitment, progress and productivity?
What can you continue to work on?
It is important to set goals and record your progress along the way. What is measured is often managed and improved upon.
Here are five steps to help plan your goals in 2021.
- What is your single most important project that you have to accomplish in 2021?
- Write it down.
- Note your five most important personal values.
- If you are unsure, consult a list of values and decide what works best for you. Some examples include: integrity, family, health, love, community, truth, justice, communication and so on.
- Values are important. We act based on our value system. Bring self-awareness to your personal values and observe your actions on a daily basis. Are you being true to your value system? The more congruent we are with our value systems and what we do, the happier a person will be.
- Set your three most essential goals for each area of your life. Personal, family, career, health and fitness, social, financial, and spiritual/growth.
- Build each quarter for 2021 by setting deliverables for every three month period. Deliverables are outcomes you are working towards. Make sure they are attainable, not too easy, but also not so hard that it becomes difficult or impossible to get there. What you are doing is reverse-engineering your entire year.
- Schedule time blocks each month on your calendar. These blocks are filled with your deliverables and action steps.
Here is an example for the health and fitness area:
- Most important project of 2021 = run 10km race by end of year.
- Personal values: health, happiness, love, community, hard-work.
- Three essential goals for health and fitness area (not including single most important goal of 2021 which is run a 10km race): begin intermittent fasting, drink more water, and include a salad at lunch.
- Deliverables each quarter beginning April 2021.
- April to June: Get 5km run app and begin training three times a week. Do 10 minutes of stretching daily. Drink more water. Include a salad at lunch. Research intermittent fasting.
- July to September: Begin intermittent fasting. Get 10km run app and begin training three times a week. Do 10 minutes of stretching daily. Record daily water intake. Include a salad at lunch. Have a protein health shake three times a week. Look up 10km races.
- October to December: Run 10km race in November. Do 10 minutes of stretching daily. Continue intermittent fasting, recording water intake and having a salad at lunch. Continue having a healthy protein shake three times a week.
- Time blocks for each month.
- This example is one week. And deliverables are measured every Sunday. What to do would be written on each day accordingly.
- Monday, Wednesday, Friday morning runs.
- 10 minute stretching each morning.
- Glass of water first thing in the morning, at lunch and at coffee break at work. Bring water bottle to work to sip throughout the day.
- Make sure salad is ordered at office lunch.
- Every Thursday morning this month research intermittent fasting for at least 20 minutes.
- Sunday review measureable goals and tweak schedule as needed.
You can do these five steps for each area of your life. Measureable goals and deliverables are important to help you strategize and focus on your performance and productivity. Seeing what has to be accomplished brings clarity.
What is written down often gets done. And when we continue to do what we say we will do, it builds confidence and self-trust.
Be consistent in what you do, but do not be so rigid. Life does include flexibility.
As everyone is aware of, “the only constant in life is change.” – Heraclitus
