The essential first step to goal-setting

“I hate New Year’s Resolutions”, I confessed to a client a few days before Christmas. He was struggling with goal setting and asked for my help to identify the right resolutions for the year ahead. Another client came later the same day and was struggling much the same and was encouraged by those around her to find a theme word for the year ahead, but after picking a theme she was baffled how to turn that into something tangible.

What if you didn’t start with goals at all? What if you start with the end in mind? What do you want to be different at the end of the year? What will tell you that you have achieved what you want most? What will tell you that you are fulfilled with your achievements?

Considering what you want to be different can feel too big and overwhelming. Where to start? What do you think about? Here are ten areas to consider (pick 1-5):

1. Physical Environment

2. Professional and Personal Development

3. Finance

4. Personal Well-Being

5. Personal Relationships (Family, Friends, Partner)

6. Fun & Recreation

7. Innovation & Creativity

8. Team Development

9. Self-Awareness & Authenticity

10. Purpose & Impact

Write a few sentences to describe your future. Use “I am” statements instead of “I will be”. Describe your future like it’s happening RIGHT NOW. Do it in pencil or even better on a white board to keep yourself from perfecting it before writing it down. This will allow you the ability to play with your thinking, change it and refine your thoughts as a process on the page versus ideas in your head. I also recommend that you don’t use a computer as some magic happens to your thinking when you write instead of type.

Once your written end of year vision is complete, go back and read it over. Are these drastic changes? Are they realistic changes? How much change is truly needed for you to be fulfilled at the end of the year? Sometimes we need drastic changes and sometimes only small shifts with lots of consistency. I’ve had years where I’ve quit my job and went back to school full time to change careers and other years where I wanted to create a sense of personal well-being. Don’t compare your desires with what you “should do” or with what someone else is doing. Let what you want be enough.

Now, you are ready to write your goals, knowing the future you want to have. Everyone says use SMART goals and I agree, to a point. Avoid over-engineering your goals to fit the model to the point they lose the spirit of what you want. SMART is more of a gut check that a measure of a properly written goal.

New Year’s Resolutions, yearly theme words and SMART goals can be good tools, they’re just not the starting point. Take the time to get clear on the future you aspire to first.