4 Things To Do Right Now To Ensure You Achieve Your Goals This Year

At the end of June, it is always a good point to understand where you may find yourself in your goals and personal development for this year so far. You may have your development goals linked to your other goals, so even the steps we can take for achieving each of these things can be very similar. However, I do find it useful to have different perspectives on the approaches that can be taken to accomplish your goals as well as your personal development plans.

It is one thing to take time and assess where you are; it is another to then take action from the reflection you have completed. Here are four things you can do to ensure that you still accomplish what you want to achieve this year.

One Thing

Take the assessment you have completed for your year so far and write one thing you can do in the next three days to move each goal forward. These do not need to be big items, just the next step that will continue to push your goal forward. It may be a simple phone call, or perhaps you need to schedule the meeting with the others you need to move a project forward. Completing that one thing can boost your energy towards a project and allows you to celebrate a win in moving closer to the finish line. Ideally, you would then follow that one thing up with the next thing until real momentum has built, and the activities are moving along.

Phone a Friend

Set up a time to talk to a peer, friend, or family member to talk through your current achievements and what you still need to accomplish this year. Share the purpose of what you are seeking to accomplish. This can create clarity in your mind on what you are doing and as importantly, why you are doing it. Talk through the ideas for what is next. Think through the obstacles you are facing and what you are doing about them. The person doesn’t have to speak – just listen, but encourage them to ask questions from a curiosity standpoint if they have them. It is amazing how much clarity and energy can come from talking out loud about what you want to achieve in the remaining months of this year.

Adjust if Necessary

Update your goals to reframe the current situations, and circumstances; these don’t have to be (and shouldn’t be) wholesale changes, but make sure they still reflect what you are seeking to achieve. We have all faced swings in reality during a year. Sometimes what we expected to happen when we set our goals six months ago doesn’t play out as anticipated. There is no need to keep trying to accomplish something that is no longer possible or viable. This is a perfect time to update your goals to reflect the current environment. Do not allow yourself to use the changing circumstances to become an excuse for not accomplishing something, adapt your goals so you can still move forward on the most important things you want to achieve.

Bite-Sized Chunks

Build a plan and framework for what actions will need to happen for the next 90 days. Six months is still a long time and can both a blessing and a curse. Having more time feels like a positive thing, that we have plenty of time to achieve what we are working towards. However, that sense of time can cause us to lose urgency at the moment because we do have six months to make things happen. Instead, break your goals into smaller tasks with short-term deadlines to quickly move ahead. What do you need to do this week? You can use the SPRINT method to help ensure that you do not let time slip away without real action occurring.

It is funny how we use different points of the year as artificial milestones for checking on our progress. We tend to do it for goals, corporate strategy, or performance management. The reality is, we can do these activities at any point. The very best leaders and those that are the most productive do many of these activities and assessments on a weekly or monthly basis. I, personally, believe there is not a specific ‘right’ time frame for these activities, except the one that works for you. Assessing, updating, and taking action are required activities for all of us if we want to achieve more and reach new levels of success, but we must define them for ourselves and our specific needs. Sharing these ideas on what to do when assessing and updating is what I hope to accomplish with these articles so that you can then apply the ones that will work for you.

What updates or changes are you making to your goals based on your reflection time?

Join other retail leaders in continuing their development journey with Effective Retail Leader.com. SUBSCRIBE today to receive leadership tips directly to your inbox and monthly newsletters that provide many tools to help further develop your leadership skills. JOIN NOW!