The new year is the ideal time to reflect on your progress over the past year and to set your goals for the year ahead. When thinking about creating your goals, you need to ensure you are setting realistic targets, develop an achievable timeline, work out how you will hold yourself accountable and build in a work-life balance to maintain a healthy body and mind.
2020 is your year. It is the start of a new decade with endless opportunities for you to work towards. When you think about what you want to achieve this year, consider adding these “Key to Success” goals. I’ll be adding these to my list of goals this year:
1. Delegate More
Whether you are a business owner or an executive, delegating is one of the most powerful ways to free up time for the important stuff. It’s easy to convince yourself that you need to do everything and it can be hard to let go of control. If you have found yourself feeling tired and run-down in the past year, it would be wise to set aside some time to determine what you can delegate to others so you can focus on your core competencies in the coming year.
2. Take Time For Yourself
When you’re ambitious with your goals, it can be hard to get the balance and you’re more vulnerable to burn-out. A healthy work-life balance is paramount to your long-term success so make sure you remember to add time for yourself into your busy schedule.
3. Weed Out Whatever Isn’t Working
Declutter your schedule and business. Decipher what processes, techniques, and activities are driving your success and which may be holding you back. Stop investing time, money and energy into trying to make the unworkable work. This will make room for new ideas and opportunities in the coming year.
4. Keep Things in Perspective
Ensure that your goals are realistic and keep things in perspective. Disappointment is frequently a product of not meeting the expectations of ourselves and others. Understand that things will not always be perfect and that it takes sustained effort and time to achieve your goals and bring them to life.
5. Learn Something New
Learning is a great way to gain perspective and grow, regardless of whether or not it relates to your work. Enroll in a course or develop a new skill to add a new dimension of interest to your life. Not only will this stimulate your mind, but it may also introduce you to new and interesting people who may become your customers, friends or mentors.
6. Expand your Network
Don’t underestimate the power of networking groups, meetups, and business organisations. Talking to other business people is a great way to generate new ideas. If you are lacking inspiration and conversation or are looking for new business relationships, do some research and try attending a few events. When you do so, have a goal for each event to make sure you stay focused. Networking events can be short and it is easy to get sidetracked and engage in too much small talk amidst a crowd.
7. Write an Action Plan
Most things are easier said than done so having an action plan is critical to achieving your goals. Determine all the tasks necessary for achieving a goal and then break it down into steps and milestones. Anticipate challenges and prepare for them in advance to minimise their impact and have possible solutions ready when they’re needed.
8. Check-in Weekly
To keep track of your goals, why not check in weekly? While it’s impractical to perform an in-depth analysis on a weekly or even monthly basis, doing a weekly check-in can keep you aligned with your overall vision and long-term goals and allow you to make adjustments as needed.
A healthy work-life balance is essential to achieving and maintaining success. Embedding commitment and change takes time. Be positive in the face of setbacks and stay strong and persistent throughout 2020!
