Every year around New Year we make many, many, many resolutions of various goals we wish to accomplish over the coming year. I too have a tradition of making resolutions. However, when I examined my progress, I realized that in only one year, I had made two full years of resolutions. That is, it took me two years to complete my one year list.
In the last few years, I have tried a different approach: instead of making a page of resolutions or working to prune down my list to just several critical matters, I now picked only one! Yes, just one New Year’s Resolution. Now, you say with a smirk, “You picked an easy one that you can complete quickly and then you are done!” Ha! Well that is a great idea, but, alas, No!
The one resolution that I pick is chosen because it is central to all of my other goals. It is a foundational item. A single goal has the power to improve my work, my family, and my community life. It is at the intersection between where I am and where I am headed.
Choosing such a goal can be challenging. It requires us to candidly look at ourselves, our situation and where we want to be. Because we are the constant in our own world a goal of this sort has to do with self improvement. What aspects of YOU are getting in the way of where you are headed? When you are ready to embrace this type of self improvement goal, select one that you will be able to impact and start picking away at it.
Last year, my goal was to get things done faster and sooner. I choose that goal because my procrastinating had caused my work life to impact my family life, I had missed business opportunities because of late responses and it was causing me stress.
So, for an entire year, I focused on getting things done quicker, and in a timely manner. It took me that long to get the kind of improvement that has made a difference in my life. I am still work at it. Basically, I knew what I needed to do; I just needed to get down to the job of doing it.
It did however help to have some new strategies, by asking organized and highly productive people what worked for them - boxes for in and on hold, and a prioritized to-do list in which I must be working on one of the top five. Now, I force myself to look ahead and start thing in advance, if even just a littleā”to get over the starting hurdle. I try to get to stuff faster and get it done sooner as well as to actually clear my desk so that my workspace is not cluttered. These have all helped.
Progress came slowly. But with the year of effort, I have made improvements and gotten some of the relief that only sustained focus could have yielded. It was less a matter of what I did and more a matter of keeping my attention focused on the goal so that I would keep improving myself in this area - developing and maintaining new habits.
Self reflection and goal setting is not only a good idea for an individual - it is a key component of high performance teams and organizations. Teams that take the time to look at what is working and where their biggest improvements will come from will have greater efficiency and lower stress. When is the last time you and your group took the time to do an honest, no finger pointing, assessment of what is working? When is the last time that your group focused on a goal of self improvement and not just greater production? These are the kind of activities and goals that make high performance teams. Need some help with this? Thinking Skills can analyze your current situation and work with you to chart a course for excellence.
Forget the “S” in resolutions and just make one. What is your s-less goal for 2008?
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