Reach Your Personal and Professional Goals
How many times do we make New Year’s resolutions and by the end of the year we completely run out of steam? Professional and personal goals are kicked to the wayside until another year rolls around. We anticipate and expect to do better the next year. We continue to spin our wheels by going in circles and exert all energy to eventually end on the same road to nowhere. Sound familiar?
There’s no science to the madness. Achieving a healthy work-life balance is attainable, if we take baby steps. We should never look at our goals on a large scale. It will become too discouraging, exhausting and overwhelming to complete specific tasks.
What’s on the Agenda? Prioritize Your To-do List
First, we should prioritize what is important. It’s best to write down everything you want to achieve. You can also achieve this task by creating a vision board. Creating a tangible visual will help you see the overall picture.
At this point, you don’t need to worry about the deadline, but break down your task into short, attainable steps. Add these simple to-do’s to your daily or weekly calendar. You may prefer to use a planner, computer software, cell app or online site.
Are you Making Progress? Focus on Shorter Deadlines
Second, you should review your progress on a quarterly basis. Breaking tasks down every three months is very helpful for staying on track. By focusing on shorter spans of time, deadlines don’t seem so daunting. Within a 3-month period, you can easily manage what should be done from start to finish before moving onto the next quarter.
At the end of quarter, it would be a great time to personally reward yourself. However, do not focus on final results until mid-way through the year. Give yourself time to make adjustments to whatever life brings your way, so you have time to re-evaluate your progress once you reach (6) months into the year.
Time management is a struggle for all of us. Here are a few online management sites to try:
Do You Need Help? Learn to Delegate Responsibilities
Do not beat yourself up if you do not achieve your expected goals that you set out to accomplish. It takes delegation, focus, drive and persistence. Life brings many distractions and detours so be patient with yourself.
If you feel you are slipping behind, learn to delegate certain errands to others: Family, friends, co-workers, associates, etc. Teamwork is beneficial to the whole. Collaboration sparks creativity. Bring others on board. Have fun in the process.
You can delegate responsibilities to your children. For fun, you can write down menial chores on small pieces of paper and put them into a jar or container. Each day, they can select a task to complete. It will also bring a spark of spontaneity into the process. They will feel a sense of satisfaction when the jar is empty and so will you!
Depending on the goal, you may need solitude to accomplish the project. Explain to family and friends how important it is to carve out a specific time out of the day to complete your duties. You can even find a mentor or life coach to assist you with meeting your objectives.
Hitting the Target
All of these steps are helpful in accomplishing your goals, but it’s not the end-all. You must say good-bye to procrastination, disorganization, clutter, stress, poor diet, negative thinking, lack of motivation and other challenges and obstacles that will hinder progress.
If you can acquire positive habits and eliminate unnecessary busyness, you will gain exactly what you desire. Aim straight and in the end, you will attain balance, incentive and fulfillment, reaching your ultimate target.
