It's that time of the year again where everybody is talking about reviewing the year, setting strong goals for the upcoming year, and smart techniques to really make those resolutions come true.
And yes, I don't escape this hype myself.
But let's be real, it's all bullshit
(excuse me for the word).
I even have to disappoint those of you who are now laughing because you think you were smart and started budgeting somewhere in October. Also that has something to do with a bull...
Read on, and find out how you can avoid those New Year resolutions.
As such, there's nothing wrong with a process of reviewing your performance, and setting strong goals. The thing that is wrong, is that we try to set those goals for an entire year.
Why a year?
It's nothing more than a random period of time. So why not go through that process of reviewing and goal setting at another randomly chosen period of time?
There are good reasons to do so!
First and for most, we're living in a world that evolves so quickly that it's unthinkable what will happen throughout an entire year! So it's quite realistic that the goals you set will not even be relevant anymore in 6 months, let alone in 12 months.
And even when you are very good at it, and your setted goals stay relevant, then 'by the end of the year' can seem so far away that days, weeks and months can pass before you actually do the stuff that needs to be done. Because you can always start tomorrow...
Even when you have the discipline to start right away, working on the same set of goals every single day for 365 days requires a huge amount of willpower to not skip a day (or two, or three,...).
Or like Benjamin Hardy says it:
"If you're relying on willpower alone to help you lose weight, improve your relationships, or achieve more at work, you're doomed to fail. The environment around us is far too powerful, stimulating, addicting, and stressful.".
So what to do instead?
Well, make it bigger and smaller at the same time!
- Bigger: set goals for a period of 25 years!
Thinking this far into the future gives you a clear view on what you're really striving for, and it allows you to let go of the daily concerns about setbacks and challenges, because you know they won't matter in 25 years.
- Smaller: set goals for a period of 90 days!
Set smaller goals that are in line with your 25 year goals. And suddenly those goals become tangible and realistic. If things get rough, you always have the end in sight. If things don't work out, you can easily reset in another 90 days.
The coolest thing of all about this goal setting combination of 25 years and 90 days, is that every 90 days is exactly 1% of your 25 year goals!
So every time you accomplished your 90 day goals, you know you have made a 1% progress in the bigger whole!
So get started right away!
Throw out those New Year resolutions, and create goals for over 25 years!
Then chunk that down into the things you want to accomplish within the first 90 days.
After 90 days, so on the 31st of March, you can celebrate again because by then you have reached your first goals! That's also the time to do a review of that first 90 days: what worked, what didn't work, where were you too ambitious, where were you not ambitious enough, what energised you, and where and why were you pulled out of focus?
Incorporate those insights into your next period of 90 days!
Good luck with these smaller and bigger goals, and
Happy New Year! (and a happy 31st of March, a happy 29th of June, and a happy 27th of September!)
If you need some help with this process, or want to be challenged on your bigger and smaller goals, then please book a free conversation with me so we can discover what you're looking for (choose for a (re-)connect session).
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