Goal Setting: It’s a good year to have a good year!

I’m a big goal setter. It appeals to my sense of organisation, my sense of order and most definitely my love of good stationary. There’s nothing quite like a crisp sheet of Rifle Paper Co. goodness to set some positive intentions for the year. Like all things planning though, you’ve got to get off on the right foot – that means, setting aside some time to do it right, to be realistic (but certainly not shy) with your goals and to set up the mindset that means you’ll gently keep yourself on track. 

Here’s my three step Miyagi Method for goal setting. It sounds a little like a 3am infomercial, but stock fanfare aside, it’s something I made up when all the business podcasts and articles on goal setting methods gave me hives. It has worked for me as an unceremonious mash up of methods but definitely cut it up further and take from it what you will – you do you.

Step One: You’re basically an orange. A segmented orange. 

The internet is awash with brightly coloured pie charts dividing your life into rainbow coloured slices of potential improvement.  For goodness sake spare yourself. It’s a kaleidoscope of confusion. The colour scheme and the labels are ick, the concept, however, is a good one. It’s helpful to consider yourself as a whole made up of core segments so (because I felt I must) borrowing from the natural world in joyful orange, I choose preschool math lessons and a good old navel orange as my guide.

My segments are: Professional, Financial, Familial, Personal (including both physical and mental wellbeing) and the ambiguously freeform Always Learning. I indulge myself in the final category by picking up a new skill for a new year.

Step Two: Where have I been? Where do I want to go?

I’ve always thought that personal projection is a little useless unless you can define where it is you have been and where you currently stand. Those two points of reference give you perspective. They inform things that have worked for you in the past (or been a total disaster and are best avoided again) as well as set a launch pad for where you may go next. 

Start by reflecting on the past and defining exactly where you are now. Picture what you would like to be different. Where you’d like to be this time next year?

Step Three: Down with being SMART (if it’s not your bag)

Make the goal work for you. I mentioned my run in with hives when researching goal setting methods earlier. One of the classic instigators of those hives is the SMART approach to goal setting. I appreciate that may be controversial. It’s very widely used and for the most part I agree that it’s a helpful way to set goals (make them specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound) but it takes the process to a level of sterility I didn’t want to abide by.

So here’s a couple of things that I do instead…

-       I write the goal as a positive statement – just exactly how it forms in my mind, and

-       I set two goals for each category. A maximum of 10 goals total. 

Here’s a final tip: If it all seems too hard to put into words, just start with this question:

What would a great week look like for me this year?

Imagining your perfect week is something we do a lot when on holiday. We think about taking more time off (is there a financial goal in there somewhere?) about growing our career to allow time for that side project (is that a professional goal?) and for sparing time in the midst of life’s rush to be with family (do you have familial and personal goals that will anchor time away from work?).

There’s no time like the present so if you’re lucky enough to have made good company with a sun lounger, be child free or distraction-less for an hour today – give it a go. Your future self will thank you!

*this article is a condensed version of the same, but slightly funnier, content found at www.pocketlegalcpd.com.