Coastal Dreaming

I always like to take the end of the year to relax, reflect and re-energize.  Its a time for looking back at the blessings, and learning’s from the previous year and thinking about the upcoming year ahead.  I am not a big believer in resolutions - the term itself seems to imply problems that need to be fixed, or it seems that is how most people use them.  Stop smoking, etc.

I do however like to think about goals for the year.  Goals to me are different than resolutions.  They are desired positions or journeys that give you room to take multiple paths to reaching them over typically very specific resolutions for change.  For example instead of saying I want to lose 10 lbs, I might say I want to increase my health in body and spirit.  The loss of 10lbs may or may not be part of reaching it, and what’s more - I probably don’t even know what the end target is yet!

I then try to create monthly goals during the year, that are more focused and most importantly - time boxed.  This forces you to think about what can reasonably be achieved in a 30 day window.  They don’t have to always relate to the year end goals, but reviewing these can help with setting the monthly objectives.  It will also help evolve your thinking throughout the year about exactly what success looks like for you at the end of the year.  Without time boxing or setting the time box too big (eg - a year) then the goal will expand to fill the time you give it.  That is why most simple resolutions take a year to be realized or often are not realized at all.   Monthly goals also allows you to adjust your path during the year but still keep an eye on the target.  Many people often focus so much on the end target that they miss out on the many interesting side paths that will still lead to the same end.

I set my yearly and monthly goals typically into 4 basic categories:

• Financial
• Personal Progress
• Family
• Business

I also set some ’stretch’ goals.  To me if you hit every target, you aren’t challenging yourself.  In a given month I try not to set more than 2 or 3 in a given category and at the end of the month I do a small reflection on the results.  Not dwell on what I missed, but more to learn about myself - strengths and weakness’s, likes and dislikes, etc.

Now more than ever is a time for reflection, given the current economic conditions.  It is causing many people to re-thing many aspects of their life and lifestyle.  However, it should not be about dwelling on the negatives.  Forget about the layoff, the loss in your 401k or whatever setbacks you had this year.  Think about how you will adjust and reset.  Its not about fixing things - its about learning and shifting course.  To help you here are my thoughts on realizing this:

• Surround yourself with people and ideas that put you in the right frame of mind to be successful.  Avoid people and information sources that exude negativity and pessimism.
• Limit your information intake and figure out how to focus.
• Initiate instead of react.
• Think about your life and business as art.  Great art is only created through passion, creativity and purpose.
• Take your ideas seriously, focus on achievements, and don’t beat yourself up on failures - Without failure there would be no learning.

In closing - here are a couple of other ‘New Years’ posts that I found particularly insightful over, from a couple of people that I draw inspiration from.

• Things I have learned and loved in 2008 - Tim Ferriss
• Happy New Year - Seth Godin

Here is to all of our success in 2009!

Save to del.icio.us : Digg it : Furl : ma.gnolia : Google : Diigo : StumbleUpon

Tags: New Year, reflection