Shorter Goals for the New Year
Like many others, you may use the start of a new year to set goals for what you want to accomplish over the next year. These goals may be business goals, personal goals, or more informal resolutions. If you are like me, you enter the year with a lot of energy and excitement towards reaching those goals, and yet throughout the year many seem to fade out of focus and do not get achieved.
Part of the problem is that although a year is a brief measure of time in the course of our lives, it is often too long to stay focused on achieving our goals. There can be too many unexpected events that can occur in the course of a year that through us off track and derail us from achieving our goals.
Some people solve this somewhat by breaking down annual goals into monthly goals. This can certainly be a good step, but it is too easy to let the start of a new month go by without reviewing your goals and set goals for the next month.
To solve these problems, set your goals for a three or four month period. If you ever follow the stock market, you’ll notice that corporations release quarterly reports. This allows them to focus on distinct three month periods. The government also releases many economic statistics on a quarterly basis. You too can take advantage of this premise by breaking your goals down into shorter periods. By breaking the year into quarters or thirds you gain many advantages:
- you have a clear timeline that is of significant enough length to achieve recognizable and meaningful results
- you will have a better understanding of your schedule
- you should have a good idea about important life events in the upcoming time period that require your attention
- if you get off track on a particular goal you don’t wait until the end of the year to reengage
- you can use the understanding gained in one time period to set better goals for the next time period
- you get three or four points in the year for a recharge session where you are able to review your accomplishments and set new goals (perhaps have a quarterly celebration and/or retreat)
I leave the actual length of these periods up to you, as they should be based around your particular life schedule. For example, I am setting goals for four month periods this year. For me, the four month time frame connects well with my schedule as a professor. The first four months represent the first semester, this year with a heavy teaching load. The second four month period represents the summer time period with a reduced teaching load and more time for research, writing and travel. The final four moth period represents another semester with a different teaching load and different set of life circumstances. By breaking the year down into four month periods I am able to focus on goals that are relevant to my life at each particular period of time.
As you go to set your goals here are some reminders to help you set good goals:
- set goals for each important area of your life
- make your goals measurable
- goals should be challenging and yet attainable
- short-term goals should be in alignment with your long-term goals and life purpose or mission
In upcoming posts I will share with you some of my accomplishments from the past year, as well as my goals for the upcoming four month period. Start working on your goals and be prepared to share a goal or two.
Happy New Year!
The Success Professor – Danny Gamache
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Tags: Goal Setting, Goals, New Year, Personal Development, quarterly, success
Danny,
Thanks for the article. It has some good takes on resolutions and goal setting.
Going beyond setting effective goals with shorter time frames (which are crucial first steps)… what thoughts do you have on how to effectively attain one’s goals?
The trend for most people is that they set goals, but as the going gets tough, as regular routine overtakes their new efforts, and as life throws obstacles or distractions at them… motivation fades, efforts recede, and goals get downsized. They lose focus.
Not looking for a formula for success, but would love your perspective, thanks. And happy new year!
@ Bolaji
Thanks for the comment. You are right, maintaining focus on goals is often a challenge. Of course there are many things which will help people to move through the distractions and obstacles. That is one of the benefits of a shorter length of time for goals.
Another thing that I have found helpful is to institute a weekly goal setting time where I set new goals for the upcoming week based on the overarching long-term goals. You can read my process here: http://successprofessor.ca/2008/07/29/six-steps-to-plan-your-week-for-success/
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