We are only three months into 2020 and it has been a hell of a ride thus far. The unexpected death of Kobe Bryant, the COVID-19 outbreak, Deontay Wilder losing to Tyson Fury – whew! These unexpected and unprecedented events have encouraged and motivated me to re-align with my personal and professional goals. As we prepare for the 2nd quarter of the year, I find it to be the perfect time to set clear intentions for the next 3 months and realign with my goals.
In complete transparency, I haven’t been overly impressed with how I’ve attacked my goals this year. January seems like it lasted for a year and then February and March flew by like a thief in the night. School, work, and other life obligations have kept me too busy. So much so that I haven’t been as intentional as I could be in achieving my goals.
I find comfort in reaching milestones such as the end of the first quarter. The first and most important reason is that each day is a gift and we cannot take life for granted. The second reason is that this is my time to take a deep breath and realign with my goals.
In fairness, we’ve been busting our tails over the past three months. We really hit the ground running this year and it’s resulted in a whole lot of us walking towards our purpose. It’s admirable, to say the least, but now it’s time to shift the frequency that we’ve been vibrating on and move with clear intention.
Here’s how I am realigning myself for the second quarter. I swear by this 3-step process and have used it for nearly 3 years now.
Small Wins Matter: Celebrate What’s Been Done
#SmallWinsMatter! I always start my realignment process with positive energy, a confidence boost, and self-reassurance. It’s important to not overlook the small tasks and goals that we accomplish weekly or even daily. Reflecting over the past three months is a key part of that. I put a lot of pressure on myself, as I am sure we all do, which can sometimes be paralyzing or crippling in the grand scheme of things. Celebrating small wins allows me to create a space where I can recognize my worth, what I have to offer, and how much I’ve accomplished in such a short amount of time.
My advice for you: There are likely goals on your list that you didn’t even know you were crossing off. Go ahead and cross them off. On the flip side, there are likely goals that you’ve already crossed off. Pat yourself on the back! Reflect on what it took for you to make it happen. Be proud and do a happy dance. Even if there are no written goals to cross off, certainly you’ve taken key steps towards your goal(s). Every goal that you set has systems/objectives/tasks that you need to complete in order to reach your goal. Celebrate the tasks that you’ve completed to get you closer! Progress is better than perfect. Celebrate that shit! Small Wins Matter!
The Process: Realign with my goals
The first step I take to realign with my goals is by looking them over to make sure they are still relevant. Things are constantly evolving – including our career, our personal lives, and other aspects of our life that we set goals around. Make sure that they make sense. Do they align with my desired identity? Are they consistent with where I want to be in 6 months? A year? I take time to think about why they are important to me and what my expectations are when I meet them.
This next step is critical to achieving any goal that I set – regardless of when or why it is set. I believe not only in setting goals, but I rely on the plan that I create to meet my goals. It is a sum of consistently completing tasks and meeting objectives that guide me to the goal. My system generally consists of 3 large and 3 small goals followed by a system (step-by-step process) to help me reach them. Every 3 months I focus on 6 goals that are realistically able to be achieved.
For example, imagine that I set a goal to post 1 blog post each week in the month of April. My system then becomes to publish a blog post every Tuesday of the month. In order to do that I will write/work on my blog for 60 minutes every day except Tuesdays. The system can be as detailed as you’d like for it to be. I could add, “on Monday’s I will finalize each post for Tuesday and begin working on new posts each Wednesday.”
My advice for you: Take a look at your unaccomplished goals and determine the top 3 (you can increase as needed, but I believe in starting small) that are achievable over the next three months. Pull them to the side and formulate a detailed plan to reach them. If we fail to plan, we plan to fail. How you plan to reach each goal is up to you. You can focus on one goal per month or all three each month. When creating a “plan” to reach your goal, think about what steps it will take for you to accomplish it. Regardless of how you plan to reach the goal, you have to PLAN in order to reach the goal.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Remind Yourself Daily
Don’t tuck your goals away in your notebook, journal, or some random place that you will convince yourself you’ll remember. Place them somewhere that will remind you what you are working towards every single day. Write them on your dry-erase board. Place sticky notes on your bathroom mirror. Keep a note on your desktop. Place your goal(s) somewhere in the path of your daily routine so that you can be reminded of what you are working towards daily.
The only way we reach our goals is by consistently working towards reaching them. Being able to realign with my goals gives me the flexibility to assess and adjust the system as needed. The system may change, but the big picture remains the same.
