Setting goals is a great way to make progress in life. Personal, professional, spiritual, wellness, you name it. The process lends clarity to our efforts, and provides deadlines and motivational boosts.
Today we are half way through 2020. Wow – July begins tomorrow! This should be a great day and time to set goals in your focus areas, move forward, do big things, etc…. But that feels heavy right now, doesn’t it?
Is it safe to say – the last few months weren’t what you expected? Personally, I know that to be the truth. If you set goals for 2020 back in January, perhaps you have made progress, or perhaps you barely recognize your reality today.
In business, we often look at the year by quarters. So, 2nd Quarter (Q2) of 2020 was April / May / June. And I can say with certainty that Q2 2020 was incomparable to any other quarter before. Ever. In business and in life. We saw it coming, back in Q1 2020. But let’s face it, we didn’t know really know what was coming.
I’ve had two coaching conversations in the last 2 days about 3rd Quarter Goal Setting, 2020. And what both conversations had in common was that all parties involved – me and my two coaching partners – agreed that setting Q3 goals feels WAY TOO BIG for right now.
There are still unknowns. A LOT of unknowns. We’re still feeling our way through Phase 4 reopening here in Illinois. We’re carefully placing our feet for the next step on the path.
Despite the unknowns, I still want to set goals for Q3 and Q4 2020 and I suggest you do the same. However, here are some things to think about as you set them!
What are your focus areas? I can’t answer this one for you, but as an example, mine are:
Wellness, Family, Home, Personal, Business, Educate Me and Service.
I set goals regularly in each of these focus areas. The “Focus” in focus areas works both ways – I only set goals that fit into one of these focus areas, AND I set goals in each of these areas. In theory, that means nothing gets neglected AND I make progress in the areas of my life I’ve decided are important.
For July, instead a few large goals, I am setting more incremental goals for smaller time frames. I am more likely to succeed on those smaller but more plentiful goals, and I will feel the motivation boost that comes from DONE! more often. (Today, a client and I deemed that boost ‘a happy dance’!)
Because I cannot control the world or others, I am setting goals that I actually can influence. For example, I’ll look at my own wellness, habits and internal growth. A goal for July may be schedule 10 Presentations for the second half of 2020, but perhaps those will be presentations I host myself. I won’t set a goal to “make new coaching clients call me”, but I can set a July goal to update my website and social media to include language about coaching.
Smaller goals allow for more flexibility, too, for mid-journey course corrections or adding new goals into the mix as life or circumstances dictate. Unfortunately, there is still uncertainty looking ahead at Quarter 3. But we can choose to make progress on our own goals in our own way at our own pace.
So, my friends, what will your next month look like? Your next quarter or half a year? Setting goals will help you determine your own future despite the “unknowns” we still face! So let’s get to it!