2020 Vision
Sara Ballinger-Bennett (MIH)
Building the skills and developing the behaviours that lead to fulfilling careers and successful businesses. Serving those who serve others ??
“A goal without a plan is just a wish” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – author of ‘The Little Prince and hero fighter pilot who perished in World War II famously said and as we draw closer to the year 2020 it has me thinking about clarity of vision.
If ever there was a year to have a ‘2020 vision’ 2020 is it!
Thinking about when we are in our element, and which personality traits* we tend to favour, we will approach this differently.
· Some of us love to visualise, create a vision board, dream and hope.
· Some prefer logical planning and strategic direction with review dates and measures.
· There are the ‘don’t waste time planning and talking about it, just do it!’ supporters
· And those who say ‘whatever we want to achieve will only be achieved if we collaborate and support one another’.
I honestly believe that if we were better able to combine the force of all four, we would get more done.
So, here’s a little something I plan to do over the next two months, to ensure that my vision for 2020 is crystal clear.
1. Establish 3 BIG GOALS with our team that we would like to achieve professionally and choose just 3 BIG GOALS for me to achieve personally.
a. If you do more than you planned, great! But I believe in focus and too many goals can begin to feel insurmountable and affect our motivation and ability to get started.
b. If you get half way through the year and you have achieved most or all that you set out to, just create new goals to replace those you have achieved...!
2. Create vision boards for each.
a. Vision boards are a great way to focus on what you want. You will have heard of the power of intention? If not, google it. I’m sure that it works because when we have absolute focus on the thing we want we are unconsciously making decisions and choices which drive us towards that goal.
b. I use magazine cut outs, draw things and write things which represent what the ‘achieved goal’ looks like. Personally I use A3 card and keep them in my office where I see them regularly. It works for my strongest personality type on a visual level, if you are not that person then the ‘act’ of creating the board will be the thing that helps you focus on what you want, even if you don’t look at it every day.
3. Establish steps and stages with SMART objectives for each goal.
a. SMART goals or objectives are helpful as a way of really thinking about the WHAT, HOW & WHEN of our objectives.
S. Specific. WHAT exactly do you want to DO or ACHIEVE?
M. Measurable. HOW will you know you have DONE or ACHIEVED it?
A. Achievable. Is it realistic, not too easy but not too hard either?
R. Relevant. Does this goal or objective fit with my life or work plan?
T. Time-bound. WHEN exactly will you have DONE or ACHIEVED it by?
b. Write down the bits in bold, keep them somewhere that you can see them. The A. and the R. are questions to ask of yourself or others but don’t need to be written.
4. Consider who I need to help me to achieve each of those objectives
a. If, like me, you are independent and potentially a little territorial, you might find it hard to ask for help or to contemplate a collaboration...! I can testify that partnering with others who are more expert in other areas and who have strengths I don’t have, but which compliment mine, is life changing!
b. Aside from being a great business and personal decision, it’s also a much more satisfying and enjoyable journey to take when you have people on that journey with you!
5. DO IT!
a. This might come easily to you and the previous points might feel like a lot of unnecessary time wasting, trust me.. it’s not! Lay the foundations for success and you build something stronger and more sustainable. Build on sand and you risk the collapse of your relationships, leave yourself at risk of issues later and may miss opportunities to inspire others with your own vision. A lone wolf is a lonely wolf.
b. If this is the bit you struggle with then we need to consider how to get ourselves going.
c. If you are a procrastinator, then schedule time in your diary to work on these goals and remember that they are AS important if not MORE IMPORTANT than all the other ‘busy jobs’ you are distracting yourself with.
d. If you are struggling with the motivation then remind yourself with your vision board of exactly what the payoff for this is.
e. If you lack confidence in your own abilities then seek feedback and support from those around you who DO believe in you.
This pulls on the strengths of each of the above preferences. The visualising and dreaming stuff comes naturally to me, with the right conditions and a tight deadline I am great at just getting on with stuff, but longer term planning and asking others to help me to achieve my goals, that is not a natural preference for my personality make up.
That means that I get distracted by new ‘dreams’ and neglect what I was going to work on, or approach it without proper thought and planning and neglect the relationships that could have made it easier and better along the way! I also get half way through the year without ever reviewing my progress.
For you there will be other areas that come easier and some that feel less comfortable, depending on how your preferences have developed over the years and through experience.
Let’s all make this the year that we achieve our very own 2020 vision!
- Sara Ballinger
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*if you would like to explore your own personality traits, get in touch to complete our simple assessment.