With 2015 fast approaching, it is the perfect time to review, reflect, and set goals for the future. Think long-term and ask yourself: what life goals do I want to achieve? What kind of lifestyle do I want? In what time frame? What do I need to do to get there?
This is something you can do at any time, but we often get caught up in the busy flow of everyday life, especially around the holidays. The approaching new year is a perfect time to pause and take a moment to get centered and focus on your goals.
- Step 1: Set the right goals.
One of the most important aspects of this goal-setting process is setting goals that are high enough. You need to set goals that are going to force you to reach, stretch, and grow. The right goals can feel uncomfortable, even scary, because they will get you out of your comfort zone and push you to try new things, embrace bigger successes, and move on to do even more.
To truly move forward, set goals that others call “impossible.” It’s the only way to possibly achieve them. If you’re not stretching, you’re not growing.
- Step 2: Look back, then leap ahead.
What about your goals from last year? Have you met these milestones? If so, how can you use them as stepping stones for the year ahead?
Setting the right goals is an essential step for success. But the most successful, accomplished people don’t just set and meet goals. They set high goals, they exceed them, and then set even higher goals. They follow a continuous process of challenge, growth, reflection, and diving again into new challenges. While I love to check goals off my to-do list, I never think about being done at that point. Achieving a milestone is always cause for celebration, but after reaching one, I immediately ask myself: “What’s next? How can I build this into something even better, faster, more successful?”
- Step 3: Make a map.
For any kind of goal – personal, professional, financial – draw yourself a road map. The right kind of goals, those that are huge, big-picture, visionary goals, can be daunting (as they should be). The key is to create a process that strategically propels you to the end goal, step by step. Work backwards to map out a series of smaller, mini-goals you must achieve in order to reach your ultimate destination.
