You’ve set all these goals for yourself at the beginning of the year. Before you know it, we’re way past mid-year, and in between, all those career resolutions are right there with your unused gym membership.
I know the feeling. I love making plans and setting goals for the future. The challenge, like with everyone, comes when it’s time to turn those plans into action. The more time goes by, the harder it is to get back to those goals and actually accomplish them. Or recognize when those goals have changed, re-focus and re-calibrate.
Every year somewhere towards the halfway mark, I schedule a mid-year check meeting with Me, Myself and I. It’s my own reality check as to where I’m standing in general. I have to say, it’s not always the most fun meeting to have, especially when I’ve let this goal slide, that objective get forgotten and those dreams get delayed one, two or several more years.
After a while, I got tired to starting over every New Year and rehashing the same goals without much success. Stopping at mid-year to truly evaluate where I stand allows me to have the honest conversation I need to hold with myself in order to make progress. Even if progress sometimes means stepping back in order to better move ahead…
If you’re at this point too or considering having a truthful conversation with yourself about where your career stands, here are 3 steps you can take:
- (HONESTLY) REVIEW YOUR YEAR SO FAR
Now is the time to do an assessment of the first half of the year. Take a sheet of paper and write down all the goals you had at the beginning of year, or just dig out your Goal Book from the beginning of the year (if you have one).
What accomplishments are you most proud of so far in the year? What hasn’t worked so well for you? What feedback have you gotten so far? Where can you improve? Grab a cup of tea, sit in your favorite spot and honestly look at how far you’ve come.
- RE-INVIGORATE YOUR GOALS FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR
After conducting an honest assessment of where you stand, you can now actually put some life back into those goals. From this point on, you can dust yourself off and look forward to the last few months of the year.
What do you really intend to accomplish by the end of the year? Why does it matter so much to you to accomplish these objectives? What do you have to do to get there? It’s time to set those objectives and plans in motion!
Don’t forget to use the SMART approach to refreshing or re-creating your goals. In order to be effective and achievable, they must be:
- S- Specific: Paint as clear a picture of the outcome you’re looking for. Use clear deliverables and deadlines. For instance, commit to getting two clients a week, or delivering one report a month.
- M- Measurable: Unless you can measure your progress, you can’t really know how close you are to meeting your goals. Put some figures behind them, such as numbers of deliverables, website traffic or other measurable metrics.
- A- Attainable: Can you realistically reach your goals, or are you being unreasonable considering your resources, time and energy? Be honest about how attainable your goals really are.
- R- Results-Oriented: You need to see some results. Whether it’s revenue, promotions, raises, or website reach, your goals must show progress towards tangible results.
- T- Time-bound: Someday won’t cut it. You need a deadline to get your objectives achieved by. Whether it’s next month, or next year, every goal must have a specific deadline associated to it.
- SET UP AN ACTION PLAN
After putting life back into your goals and taking a definite look forward, it’s time to start decomposing these refreshed goals into action steps. It’s one thing to have brilliant objectives; it’s another to actually follow the steps to bring them into fruition.
For each goal, determine which step(s) you can take NOW (as in TODAY), and which steps you can take by the end of the year to reach your objectives.
IN CONCLUSION:
- REVIEW YOUR YEAR SO FAR AND PERFORM AN HONEST ASSESSMENT OF HOW FAR YOU’VE COME
- REFRESH OR RECREATE YOUR GOALS FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR
- SET UP AN ACTION PLAN
Have you done your mid-year career check yet? What have you learnt so far?
To Your Success,
The Corporate Sis.
