It’s the beginning of November, and in honor of the recent World Series, let’s call this the home stretch. It’s a good time to review what you wanted to achieve this year, your actual accomplishments, and a realistic assessment of what you can do in the next 45 days.
I’ve talked to a few people recently who are ready to “write off” their results for this year for various reasons. I’m always surprised to hear such comments but have no doubt that their results will reflect this attitude.
As you’ve heard me say many times, setting goals puts you ahead of most of the population, but monitoring them, tracking your actual results, and making course corrections along the way is an entirely different matter.
I think the following exercise is worth doing, and a way to manage your goals and expectations:
+ Quantify your results and accomplishments through October.
+ Determine the high points and the disappointments.
+ Keep doing more of what you did to achieve the high points.
+ Revisit the “why” behind the disappointments so see if you need to make changes or stay the course.
+ Create a one-page 45-day plan to navigate your way through the rest of 2023.
This won’t take long to do, and it will help you (re)focus. And after you complete this exercise, I invite you to do two more things.
First, celebrate the accomplishments, so that you truly recognize what you’ve achieved. Second, be accountable for the disappointments. Don’t blame the economy, your brother-in-law or one of my personal favorites, “I didn’t have time”. If you really didn’t have time, you need to think about how you spent that time or whether your goals were too extensive.
Embrace what the rest of this year offers. Commit to doing your best work in the days ahead. And, let me know how you’re doing with this. I’ll be happy to give you some feedback.
Header image by Fauxels/Pexels.com.
