Why Set Goals When Life is So Uncertain?
5 Simple Steps
“How do we sit and create goals when I don’t know if I am working for the next few months?” “I feel like I am just trying to survive how do I think about getting ahead?” These are a few things a friend shared with me when we were discussing what our business goals would be for the next year.
Looking back to my goals of 2020, it was the end of January, pre pandemic and the year was starting off well. January is usually a slow month for me and I already surpassed what I normally get in a good month. My health was better, I was looking forward to planning my daughter’s wedding. It was easy for me to sit and write down everything I wanted to accomplish that year when life was positive, productive and I had some great things to look forward to. Then two months later, the world started to shut down due to the pandemic and everyone’s life started to look different. Some were blessed with opportunities and others found it hard to keep their footing. For me, though the year went in another direction of what I envisioned it to be, I realized that 3 of my 4 main goals were achieved. So why make goals when there is so much uncertainty and you have no idea which direction your life is going?
We need to know how to get started by heading in the right direction. Think of it like going on a vacation. You plan the date when you will be leaving, how long it will take you, where you will end up and how long you will stay there. As most of us know, we could start late, get lost or delayed along the way, may have to shorten our stay or choose to stay longer but you ultimately get to where you are going.
You can find a lot of great information, in books or on the internet on how to set goals, why to set goals and what is a goal? Here are 5 of my favourite simple steps that I follow when setting goals for my year.
Brainstorming: I sit and write down all the things I would like to get done this year and I decide whether it goes on my business or personal list.
Achievable: I then circle the ones that I feel would be achievable. Eg: you want to write a book. Would that be achievable this year when your kids are doing a lot of on-line learning, they are home most of the time and you are trying to work from home? Achievable may look more like, I am going to write the outline of a book and do some blogging.
Top 3 to 5: From the circled items on my list I decide on 3 to 5 main goals I want to work on. That usually includes both business and personal.
90 day plan: I then break it down into achievable tasks, monthly, weekly, and then daily. What tasks can I do in the next 90 days to get me close to the goal? 90 days breaks the goal up to achievable tasks.
Be flexible: As we all know, life happens. Revisit your list and adjust accordingly to where you are. You will introduce new goals and take some off your original list as it may no longer be relevant. That is ok.
To me goals help me to set boundaries and to determine, do I say yes or no. I ask myself, “is this going to help me towards my goal this week or is it a distraction?” Distractions becomes excuses for procrastination. If you have some organizing goals on your list I would be glad to help you prioritize them.
At Chaos to Clarity we help our clients with individual organizing needs; Downsizing, decluttering, office organizing, estate clear-outs and move management in the Burlington, Mississauga, Hamilton, Peel, West GTA and surrounding areas. Would be glad to answer any questions.
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