This post is about the importance of reviewing the past year and setting goals for the new year.
The fourth quarter is always the time that I meet with my accountant, and it’s always interesting to see what I’ve achieved, both professionally and personally. Now is a good time to take stock of what you’ve accomplished based on the goals you set for this year.
You might begin with questions like these:
1) What goals did I set for myself in the first quarter of this past year?
2) What curve balls were thrown at me that required me to take a different direction and have I been able to fit those changes of direction into my original goals?
3) What have I learned this year and how has it helped me?
4) What people have I met and worked with who have had a significant impact on me?
5) How many of the goals that I set for myself professionally and personally have I met?
By asking these questions, you can see where you are and who you’ve become. It also give you clues to the new goals we’d like to set for the coming year.
Spend some time reviewing where you stand in regard to the goals you set at the end of last year. If you have a year-end performance review coming up, it’s particularly important to read what suggestions were made for your improvement and to see what actions you’ve actually taken. Maybe someone suggested you take a type of training that you had completely forgotten about: Is there still time to do so? There are six weeks left until the end of the year, and you might be able to fit in that last action that helps you meet your annual goals.
We can all be more successful if we take the time to consider what we want to achieve and set some definite goals for what we want to accomplish. Often just the energy that we summon to aim for a particular goal gives us a leg up in achieving it.
Kathleen