10 Dec Time to reflect
And so, we roll into another ‘silly season’. This is the time of year that for many of us, we work frantically trying to get everything sorted before the Christmas deadline. This self-imposed deadline is perhaps a little crazy; everyone knows it’s coming – after all, it happens at the same time each year! If you’re not sure what I mean, just visit a shopping mall on Christmas Eve…
Despite the pre-Christmas madness, most of us will manage to wrangle a few days away from work through December and January. Studies show that taking time away from work to unwind is important maintain your performance. So, take a holiday, turn the phone off and put your ‘out of office’ email on. You’ve earned it!
Too few of us purposefully make time to reflect on our personal performance. While you’re relaxing, unwinding and de-stressing is the perfect time to reflect on how the year has gone, as well as set goals for the coming year. So, sit back under a shady tree with pen and paper, (and perhaps your favourite beverage…) and take some time to work on yourself.
To reflect, ask yourself some of these questions:
- What were my goals for 2017?
- Did I achieve them?
- If no, why not? If so, what was important to my success?
- How do you feel about what you have achieved this year? Does it align with who you want to be?
- If you wanted to achieve something more, what got in your way? What could you do about that in the future?
Thinking about setting goals, new year’s resolutions spring to mind. One study followed the fortunes of people who set new years resolutions. Of those who set a resolution, only 8% successfully stuck to it. The study found that most resolutions weren’t explicit enough. Put another way, they weren’t SMART.
SMART is an acronym that is very useful when thinking about setting goals. It stands for:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable (or achievable)
Relevant
Time-bound
Once you know what your SMART goals are for the coming year, write them down. Studies show that the simple act of writing down your goals makes you more likely to achieve them. Simple as that!
What do you value?
Speaking of goals, the most important thing you can do is align your goals with your values. What is it that you value most? What are the small handful of things that are really important to you? What are the traits of who you are that are critical to you? In the simplest terms, your values are a guiding set of principals of ideals that allow you to determine right from wrong and subconsciously drive your behaviour.
Perhaps what’s important to you is to challenge yourself, or perhaps it is keeping family front and centre, or maybe it’s the pursuit of knowledge… Whatever your value most, make sure that is front and centre with your goals for 2018.
If you want to make 2018 your best year ever, and would like some help with your goals or your values, please contact us.
Have a great December, fantastic Christmas and relaxing start to 2018
