back-to-top

Work Smart, Not Hard in 2017

The Good News: January 1st is here, the day that marks new beginnings and offers us fresh impetus to become better versions of ourselves.

The Bad News: Only 8% of us actually achieve their New Year’s Resolutions.

Here’s how you can join the ranks with the achievers:

GOAL SETTING: Picture your ideal future. This may include aspects of your life such as career, financial status, family, personal well-being – the options are endless. Goal Setting is a potent process that gives you the power to take what you see in your mind’s eye and manifest it into a tangible reality. Goal Setting offers you the tools to decide what it is you want out of this life and to differentiate between what is important and what is not.

GETTING STARTED: Decide what it is that you want to accomplish and set SMART goals:

S – Specific  

M – Measurable

A – Attainable

R – Relevant

T – Time Bound

GOAL SETTING TIPS:

• Positive Goal Statement – When choosing how to express your goals, always express them positively. Positive self-talk is a cognitive strategy that has been proven to enhance individual performance. For example, “I will complete my work on time” is better than “I will not miss my deadline”. Simply wording our goals positively increases your chances for success.

• Get Specific – Be precise with what you want to achieve. Include units of measurement such as dates, times or amounts. This will foster accountability and contribute to a successful execution.

• Prioritize Your Goals – Perhaps you have many goals that you wish to accomplish, surely some are more immediate than others. By ranking your goals in priority sequence, you can avoid becoming overwhelmed and you can concentrate your attention on the ones that are most important to you.

• Write Them Down! – Writing down our goals makes them tangible; it gives them, and you, power.

TIME IS ON YOUR SIDE: Perhaps one of the most overwhelming aspects of working towards a goal is the sheer magnitude of the task that lies ahead. Often, this can be enough to discourage you from even trying. Break the journey down into multiple shorter paths and the trek will not seem as impossible as you may think it is.

• First, THINK BIG. What do you wish to achieve in 5 years? For example:

➢ 5-year goal: My goal is to increase my income by 25% and take 6 weeks vacation every year with my family.

• Next, break the big goals down into smaller pieces. Create more narrow targets – shorter paths – that you will travel along on your way to your destination.

➢ One-year goal: To hire an associate and have a self-managing work team.

➢ Six-month goal: Develop clearly defined and written systems and protocols for key result focused areas in the practice.

➢ One-month goal: Develop written roles and responsibilities for all team members.

➢ One-week goal: Brainstorm ideas – write every single day, organize and prioritize.

Goal setting is the first plank we must lay to build the bridge between where you stand today and where you wish to be tomorrow. Lay your first plank today!