It’s that time of year. We’ve made New Year’s goals and now we’re three weeks in…and feeling the pull of our old, established routines.
I am betting I am not the only one.
I am all for setting goals. It’s the cornerstone for how I live and work with clients. However, it is a great idea that can be so poorly executed, even with the best intentions. It will soon be that time of year to queue the infinite articles and jokes on #ResolutionFail.
All too often, setting goals is more like a buffet on vacation (back when we had buffets. And vacations). You’re excited, everything looks good, you overload your plate and soon, sugar highs, heartburn, recrimination, guilt… Again – stop me if I am the only one.
The key is consciously setting goals – being deliberately choosy and – brace yourself – say ‘no’ to something(s). To make room for what we want to do, we need to commit to stop doing – to take things off the plate. To put down the burdening myth that we can Do It All. Saying no, not doing, seems to be such a sin, even more than talking about feelings at work. For our own sake, our team’s, our families, we need to examine what no longer serves.
“Stops” can be our mindsets, like being wedded to an identity as a Type A leader who defaults to always – ALWAYS – go for the next promotion, next rung, even though it means work that is uninteresting or over-consuming. ”Stops” may be things we do – being a Board member; running for the 1,001 extracurriculars for the kids; pursuing all good ideas, even if we don’t have the bandwidth; or doing work that you should have delegated long ago. Things we do on autopilot; while they have purpose, they may not be the best way to spend our time.
What are you doing today that may have been useful before, but no longer serves? What has the pandemic exposed that may not have ever served you? What possibilities open if you let those things go? Start here – then set goals.