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Last week, we discussed the importance of prioritizing your own development. This week (and through the rest of December) we are going to continue discussing personal development through goal setting and tracking strategies.
The turn of the new year is typically when both individuals and organizations focus on setting goals. Unfortunately, many wait until January before they actually start the goal planning process. This is particularly true in organizations due to the fact that most teams are focused on year-end performance reviews while also waiting for company-wide goals to be handed down from the c-suite.
You don't need to wait for high-level strategic goals in order to plan what you are going to do for your own development. In most cases, the personal goals that you self-select will still be just as relevant to your role now as they will be 6 weeks later. I also recommend these strategies for your own, non-work-related goals.
Start in November/December
I recommend starting the goal planning process in December. You can probably start as early as November, but my experience is that I've never needed more than a month to establish my new goals.
Planning at the end of the year allows you to hit the ground running on January first.
While others start planning their goals, you'll have already begun the work to execute yours. Others will spend more time planning while you will spend more time doing.
Once everyone has established their goals, you'll be able to tell your boss that you're already 20% closer to achieving yours.
Shift your timeline
Some will push-back on this approach due to the fact that it will shorten the amount of time they have to complete their goals each year. The concern here is the belief that they need to have successfully executed against this year's goals before planning for next year.
While I think you could certainly plan for next year as you finish executing your goals for this year, let's follow the premise that you will be doing each separately.
All you need to do is shift your entire timeline up one month.
Don't get me wrong, the larger organization is going to stick to the traditional schedule where they start planning in January and have goals completed by December. You're simply going to start one month earlier in December and plan to have your goals completed by November.
Not only will you be seen as someone who is proactive with setting their goals, you'll also be observed as having completed your goals a month before everyone else. Also, if something unexpected happens during the year (which it will), you automatically have a one month buffer to still complete your goals by end-of-year.
All of this because you set your own internal timeline.
Consider different cadences
While we're re-thinking the goal cycle, consider getting away from the standard twelve month period. Setting our short-term goals for one year seems to be the standard for both business and personal goals/resolutions.
Often times, these goals can be accomplished in a shorter period of time. This is Parkinson's Law in action: "Work expands to fill the available time."
I personally set my short-term goals for six months instead of a year. This means I run the goal planning exercise twice a year; once in December and again in May. I've also heard of some people who do quarterly cycles for their short term goals.
Even if you have a goal that is dependent on a full calendar year, you can break it down into multiple phases. If you need to reduce your annual expenses by 10%, you can break that-up into two phases of 5% each (assuming you've adopted the 6 month goal model). Doing it this way allows you to make adjustments and course corrections during the year.
Play around with different cadences and choose the one that works best for you.
This Week's Action Items:
Start your goal planning in November or December.
Plan to have your goals completed before December of the following year.
Experiment with different goal timeframes. Try either six month or quarterly cycles.
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