Goal Challenge
Mid-Year Goal Review Challenge:
Day 1 - Stay Focused
This week begins our first ever Mid-Year Goal Review Challenge. On Day 1 of this Challenge, I want you to Stay Focused on what you set out to accomplish at the beginning of the year. You set goals, and I want to help you achieve them.
- Avoid distractions - what we let distract us, will own our time, our energy, and our effort. Keep your eye on the target...the goal. Remain vigilant on what you want to accomplish.
- Schedule your goal activities - the best way to ensure success is to put goal activities on your calendar, and also, block your calendar strategically so you control your time. Prevent others from overly controlling your calendar, because they will. Open space on your calendar invites others to schedule activities.
- Set boundaries - Who is supporting your goal achievement activities, and who is not? Please set boundaries for those who insist on speaking down about what you want to achieve. Surround yourself with other positive, goal hungry people who share similar dreams.
Day 2 - Your Long-Term Goal
What do you want accomplish in the next 10-15 years? This goal can be the cornerstone of your Individual Development Plan, where you can break down that goal into smaller, but more easily manageable pieces.
- Breakdown your long-term goal into smaller pieces - I expect your long-term goal to be a hard one to accomplish, which requires lots of other achievements and experience building activities to be complete also. Let's list out everything that must be done first in order to achieve that goal, and then break down those goals. The end-result is a list of more easily achievable items that keep building on each other that culminates in the achievement of your long-term goal in the future.
- Have you coordinated with your life partner - does your life partner know what you want to accomplish? Do you know their goal too? You must coordinate what you both want to accomplish so that you can develop a life plan that accommodates all goals: career, family, and financial.
- Build a long-term calendar - I recommend building out a 20-30 year calendar that shows life milestones like family planning, graduations, college years, milestone anniversaries, and many more. You may need to plan around these key events. Can you align your personal and family goals with your career goals? You definitely can, and you must update this calendar as life changes.
Day 3 - Big Goal for 2024
What is your most important goal for this year? Did you set one? If yes, have you hit any obstacles? If it's a tough goal, you probably hit a few obstacles along the way, but we need to keep going. We need to reset our mindset for growth.
- Did you identify one big goal for 2024 - what do you want to accomplish more than anything this year that will keep you on track to accomplish your long-term goal in the future? Did you write it down? Did you break it down into smaller, more easily achievable pieces?
- Are you on track to accomplish your goal - have you made progress? What is the next part that you need to finish? Have you scheduled it on your calendar? Do you have a plan?
- What may stop you - what is going to stop you from finishing this goal in 2024? Obstacles and distractions will pop up...so what is your plan or method to get around these obstacles?
Day 4 - Finish Your CPEs
Have you earned a Professional Certification? Do you have difficulty each year finishing your CPEs on time? The time certainly goes fast so you have to develop a plan that works. I always believe in building a plan to finish in month 9 so you are not frantically trying to find courses or other ways to complete your required number before the deadline.
- Do you possess a professional certification - I recommend everyone earn and maintain at least one professional certification. This shows your dedication as a professional in your field.
- Are you on track to earn all your required CPEs - how many more CPEs must you earn to maintain your certification? Stay on track by scheduling out the requirements and turn in your documentation early so you get credit.
- Look for some easy ones also - earning CPEs should be fun, but also it should help you become a better professional. Enroll in courses that keep you up-to-date in your field, but also find a few CPEs that can be earned more easily like watching a webinar or listening to a podcast.
Day 5 - Wrap Up
Thank you for joining me this week in reviewing our goal plans for this year. It has definitely helped me, and I hope it helped you. Our goals, plus a growth mindset and our leadership ability, are the tickets to achieving our dreams....and advancing along in our career.
Continue to stay focused and block out time on your calendar to achieve your goals, even if it is only a small piece each day. Keep going!
- Have a written plan - when you write it down, you have a greater chance of completing it. Write your goals in a document or a spreadsheet. Write your goals on sticky notes so you can place them all over your work station to remind you!
- It depends on your mindset - your mindset is your greatest asset. When you change your mindset, you change your outcome.
- Do your team members have a goal plan also - now that you have reviewed your goals and your goal achievement process, what about your team? Are they setting goals? Are they achieving their big goal? This is an essential part of leadership. Their development is in your hands.
