It’s January, which means the season to set goals. Some people set their personal goals for the year, and many many organizations set goals (or use the term objectives) for the year.
Have you made the time to set your goals for 2013?
If not, block the time on your calendar to do so NOW. You will never reach your goals if you do not set your goals.
I don’t pretend to be a self-help guru. But as a working mother of triplets, people ask me frequently how I manage to juggle everything. Here are some thoughts from experience over the years:
- When you look back at the end of 2013, what do you want to be able to say you have accomplished? What do you want others you work with (or for) to say about the work you have accomplished? I had a great mentor ask me this question a number of years ago and it has helped spark my thinking and planning at the beginning of every year since.
- What do you need to do differently at home and/or at work this year to make the juggling act work? As Dr. K. Shelette Stewart says, “You don’t have a home life and a work life. You have ONE life!” For me in 2013, this will mean overnight stays for some client work instead of super-long drives back and forth. A little more difficult on the home front, but I learned my boundaries last year and have to respect them this year.
- What do you need to say “No” to in 2013? Conversely, where do you need to stretch and say “Yes”? I live by the guidance from Steven R. Covey in First Things First that saying no to one thing means saying yes to something else. Thus, I make conscious decisions every day about what I say “no” to and what I say “yes” to. For example, I am not a Room Mom for any of my 3 children at school. I do not try to attend all 3 of their class parties for EVERY holiday. But they are old enough now that in 2013 I am starting, once again, to finally get involved in things for myself too, instead of my schedule solely revolving around their school, their activities and my job.
Whatever the deadline may be for you at the office around setting goals or objectives for this calendar year, I challenge you to think about the process in an integrated fashion. The goals and objectives you set at work naturally impact your whole life, not just the self you take to work every day.
Who else do you need to consult in the process? Your spouse or significant other? Are your children old enough involve? I’d love to hear your experiences in the comments below.
Betsy Winkler is Partner at People Results. She can be reached on Twitter @BetsyWinkler1 or on email at bwinkler@www.people-results.com. Sign up to receive her and her colleagues’ blog at Current.
