Achieving Goals: Look Back, Look Forward, Repeat

A little more than a month into the new year and everyone is entering the daily grind once again, getting things done both professionally and personally. People put considerable time into developing substantive, measurable goals in advance of New Year’s Day, and find themselves starting January with positive momentum for a game changing year. But now is the time where it is easy to have days start to turn into weeks (watch Groundhog Day for a clever, feel-good movie example of this). While many items are getting checked off the to-do lists and progress is undoubtedly being made towards those goals, is it enough? Additionally, is this progress being consistently tracked?

Create a System for Consistency

Systems and consistency can be key factors in meeting and exceeding goals. Having a process to consistently track goals, projects, to do’s, communications (email, text, written), deadlines, etc. is the foundation. Daily, weekly, and monthly priorities should move the needle toward annual goal success.

Next level consistency is paramount for exceptional performance. Blocking time on the calendar for weekly and monthly assessments of progress, including looking back on the past week and forward to the next two weeks or month ahead, is truly a transformational habit.

Assess and Track for Improvement

Let’s look at what the weekly process could entail. If one’s normal weekly regime includes scheduling time to plan and reassess, that’s great. A suggestion to up the effectiveness of this reflection time would be to ask several standard questions and incorporate a simple rating into the weekly planning session.

Some questions to ask include:

• What was most significant thing completed, and did it advance a specific goal?
• What one thing sticks out as a time waster and/or energy drainer? How can that be avoided or minimized going forward?
• What is top priority for next week, and what goal will it accomplish?

As for the week’s satisfaction rating, use a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being an over-the-top satisfying week and 1 being a week lost and never to be repeated. Rating each week provides a real time assessment of performance and reinforces the need for urgency to win the next week.

This investment in time will keep one more focused on goal achievement and facilitating a continuous improvement in practice and mindset.

Final Thoughts

Making a habit of the weekly assessment process of looking back and then forward on the calendar can make daily priorities a consistently impactful practice, resulting in highly productive days and impressive results – game changing results.

A high-performance coach can hold you accountable to be consistently dialed in to get those satisfying and rewarding results you envisioned for this year and beyond.

Please contact McKonly & Asbury’s high-performance coach, Gary Dubas, if you have questions about the information outlined above. You can also learn more about our services by visiting our High-Performance Coaching page.

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