“Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.” Jim Collins
In our last blog, we discussed the first of three steps to reaching your 2015 goals, Reflect. By spending time looking back at your accomplishments and challenges from 2014, you are now ready to move to step two – Review. That is, what will be important for you going forward into the new year.
During this second step, you will spend time recalibrating your compass to make sure you are headed in the right direction. You will analyze and decide what you want to start, stop and/or continue doing. Then in step three, using the results from your review, you’ll create specific goals for what you’d like to accomplish by January of 2016.
For this second step, we are recommending a simple way to conduct a review by creating three lists:
- What do I want to START doing
- What do I want to STOP doing
- What do I want to CONTINUE doing
1. What do you want to START doing – List your top 20. Return to your reflections and review the answers to your questions. Now, as it relates to your aspirations to reach a leadership position, list the top 20 things you want to do in the next year. Just jot down anything that comes to mind as being important that you aren’t currently doing.
- Pick your Top 5. Next, review each item and circle the top five that are most important for you to reach a leadership position. You can only pick five, so make sure these are the absolute highest priority for you.
You are probably wondering what to do with the last 15 items on the list. According to Warren Buffet, one the wealthiest and successful business people on the planet, “Everything you didn’t circle becomes your ‘avoid at all cost list’. No matter what, these things get no attention from you until you’ve succeeded with your top 5”. Why? Because with too many items that are “all” priorities, our natural inclination is to become overwhelmed and give up. You cannot be a superstar at everything.
2 . What do you want to STOP doing?
Without focus and without staying true to our priorities, not only will we not get done the extra things we try to fit in, but you won’t get done what’s most important. Now is the time to review 2014 to determine what you want to absolutely stop doing. Take this seriously. Know what you care most about and avoid everything else like the plague. You may have to jettison people and things that don’t matter, and focus on what’s meaningful for you. What important things are you going to decide not to do right now? Do this to make room for the real game changers – the top five list.
3. What will you CONTINUE doing?
Creating Clear Priorities Only Gets More Important with Time
As you look at your step one reflections from 2014, carefully evaluate what you will continue doing. This “Continue Doing” list is created from your current strengths and your continued desire for self improvement. Examples: Do you possess a great skill for negotiating? How will you continue to fine tune that skill? Do you have top notch team building skills? How will you improve working with those who are unmotivated? What new technology, social networking or other advancement will you continue to build knowledge on and stay current? Continue to do the things that help you to achieve your goals and stop doing things that are not priorities for you.
Set some time to create these three lists. Review them a couple times within the first two weeks of January. Have someone else review this list and get their feedback. In the next blog, we’ll explain the third and last step, Refocus – the goal setting process. We’ll choose quality over quantity and make sure the goals chosen are not a vague mixture of broad ambitions but are targeted, meaningful, and achievable list of goals.
Have a great Holiday week!
