Some tips for setting and achieving goals

Happy New Year, professionals! Trust your year is off to a great start.

In the build-up to the new year and all through this month, we have been and will be inundated with sessions that point to making the best of the new year with a fresh start—goals, plans, etc.

While there’s nothing wrong with setting annual goals, I do know for certain that it does come with its pressures, particularly in the uncertain world in which we live. I’m a firm believer in setting goals and working towards them, but I also know you don’t have to be constrained to the Gregorian calendar timeline.

1. Always put God first (and last too).

Pray as if, by prayer alone, you can pass your exams. Then read as if, by reading alone, you can pass your exams.

That was the advice given to me by a senior colleague in my first year at the university. It's advice I have lived by all these years.

I’m a firm believer in the God factor in our plans. I have set some goals, and they easily fell into place. For some other goals, I put my all into making it happen, and they fell through. At those times, I believed it wasn’t God’s plan for me (as much as I wanted and worked towards it). But because I have coconut head, I will always try again to confirm if it’s a firm NO or a NOT YET. All in all, God’s plan always comes through.

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2. Your goals don’t have to be from January to December, but you must have a defined implementation timeline.

Whenever your day breaks, is your morning.

The above popular saying by my people (the Igbo's of Nigeria) speaks to the fact that your day can break at a different timeline from your neighbor's. Your new year can be your birthday (physical or spiritual), or it can be any other day you choose it to be. Many organizations have a financial year that’s not January to December, but they do make budgets and plans along those timelines. ?

If you are too hungover from detty December, it's ok to adopt a timeline that works for you.

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3. Be flexible; its okay to move some things around.

Things will most likely not work out on your defined timeline; it may come sooner or later than planned, provided you do not take your eyes off the ball.

I started my MBA in August 2022; the plan had been to start in the 3rd quarter of the year—October or so. But Nexford University offered me a scholarship I needed to commence by August at the latest to take advantage of. It did require moving some goals around, but I’m glad I did.

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4.?????? Know yourself!

If you are like me, who is my own ‘pressuriser’, accurate timekeeper, and motivator, it might be good to pace yourself and be kind with your goals.

However, if you require an extra nudge, you may do well with having an accountability partner. This is someone trustworthy and driven who will help you stay on the path to achieving your goals.

Know yourself; know what works for you and what will help you stay on the path of achieving your goals; then implement it.

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5.?????? Finally, Execute, Implement, Act!

Implementation lies in the gap between where you are and where you want or need to be. If you do not make a move, the likelihood of anything changing is minute. So, like the MTN advert byline says, what are we doing today?