As you set your goals for 2021, ask yourself what seems to be an obvious question: Do you really know what you want?
I see this every year. People set goals based on their perceptions of what they think should be the right initiatives, when in fact, these ideas may be inappropriate. They aren’t considering what would work best for them and has a greater chance of success.
This is counterproductive unless your “should” list lines up with your “want” list. If you have a bunch of “shoulds” but they are someone else’s goals and not your own, then it will take a lot of additional energy to be successful.
Leaders control the goals they set. Yes, they may need to sync with organizational goals, but this still leaves room for your strengths to shine.
We’ve all heard of SMART goals, that is, those that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. These different factors create a lot of flexibility in how you achieve the goals.
Let’s take a business development goal, for example, generating $500,000 in new business by December 31, 2021. How do you get to that number? What is your approach? Who are the target clients? Are you dividing the goal over 12 months or are you getting all $500,000 in the month of February?
You get the idea. There are many ways to do this and you can figure out your best way to accomplish it. The same applies to management, productivity, project management and other categories. And it also applies when you are helping your staff set their goals as well.
The key message here is that when you own your goals in a way that speaks to your strengths, you have a much better chance of succeeding with the least amount of tension. If you are living with what you think you “should” do, they will be so much harder to accomplish.
