We have just completed another financial year and halfway through the calendar year already.
I remember when I was a child, my mum saying how fast time flies and it seemed to me back then to move at the speed of a snail. Now I understand what she meant, this year has really flown!
In my last blog and newsletter I mentioned the importance of looking in your rear view mirror before you make your next turn. I shared how to reflect on your last 6 months in preparation to reassess for the second half of the year. https://www.debjohnstone.com.au/rear-view-mirror-essential-deciding-next-turn/
At this point in the year its now important to get clear on which goals you will continue to pursue and which goals need to be adjusted.
Because, your goals are not meant to be set in stone, they are meant to be written in sand and its important to be flexible enough to adjust or re-write them where needed.
When you set a goal and chunk it down effectively at the beginning of the year, you create a pathway. As you move through the year, you achieve those smaller chunk goals, which involve taking actions that you wouldn’t normally take. As you do this, your awareness expands.
With this new level of awareness, you now see things that you possibly didn’t see before and because of this you may decide to change the direction you are heading, and that’s okay.
At the beginning of this year, I set a goal for my business that I was fully committed to. As I moved through the first half of the year achieving the smaller chunks, I had a conversation with a dear friend and colleague that I had never had before. Because of this, I became aware of an amazing opportunity that blew my previous goal out of the water. It involves a bigger vehicle that will help me fulfill my business vision even more.
This means that my original goal for this year has changed and that’s okay. It’s a bigger step out of my comfort zone and a much bigger goal, I am really excited about it. You will hear more about this soon, watch this space.
So its important to write your goals in sand. Be prepared to be flexible in your thinking and actions, because this can help you achieve even greater things when you have the most resourceful mindset.
Your mindset is the vital key when you are adjusting or re writing goals.
Let go of the need to be perfect – Its not about perfection and nothing ever is. We are not meant to be perfect because we are human and part of the human experience is to learn and grow. The human experience involves sometimes making mistakes or not getting it right and that’s okay. So let go of the need to be perfect, because it doesn’t serve you well and just creates a whole heap of unnecessary pressure. Be open to learning why you haven’t achieved the goal yet and how this can help you achieve it now.
Be honest with yourself – If you haven’t achieved a goal yet, it’s because something needs to be adjusted or changed. That could be a whole range of things from changing the deadline, to taking more responsibility for how you manage yourself around time, being more committed or motivated, working more productively, changing your focus or challenging yourself to step outside of your comfort zone more. So be honest with yourself on what needs to be changed and make a commitment to do it.
Don’t let yourself off – If you are changing the goal completely, then be honest with yourself about why you are doing it. Re writing a goal isn’t the option to choose if you are doing it because you find it too challenging, this is letting yourself off. You set the original goal for a reason and the challenge is there because it’s about growing into the person you need to be to achieve it. So maybe you just need to change the deadline and the way you are looking at it.
Challenge yourself even more – If you know you are not letting yourself off and you are still determined to re write that goal, then make sure its something that challenges you even more. The more challenging you find it, the more growth you will experience on the road to achieving it and this will help you become who you need to be to achieve your goal and your big picture. So be very clear on your big picture and make sure that this new goal challenges you and helps you achieve that big picture even more than the goal you are replacing.
What’s important here is that you do have goals and that your goals challenge and motivate you. This will keep you moving forward, stepping outside of your comfort zone and expanding as a human being, so you can live a quality life that is balanced and truly fulfills you.