Have You Met Your Goals?
A bulk of why I’ve achieved promotions throughout my career is my ability to “go the distance”. I’m, correction I WAS, the one who would work 15-18 hour days to complete a task that logistically required 4 people and not 1. That 1 being, myself. However, the conflict began to rise when I started periodically checking in on my goals for 2019. It was my mid-year check-in and I hadn’t completed much of my goals other than career. And you might wonder, well what’s wrong with that? Everything. I don’t measure myself solely on my career. However, my actions don’t reflect this. I spend most of my days working on my 9-5 gig and forgetting all the other things I wanted in life. Here’s how I stopped.
Acknowledge that you spend most of your time on a task that is not in alignment with your goals and/or values. Take inventory on your day’s events. How much time are you spending on a task? It is so easy to accumulate hours on tasks or feelings that don’t serve you. What is the task or feeling that isn’t serving you? Be very careful, then, how you live, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil (Eph. 5:15-16). I identified that my need to complete without considering help, causes my anxiety and desire to overextend until its done. It’s poor planning and mismanagement of my skillsets, making my days long and hard.
Design a plan of action to overcome the task or feeling that doesn’t serve you. As a 9-5’er and a business owner, it’s hard to ensure I am giving optimal effort to my business. One thing I implemented this month was printing my business’ strategy plan to measure how much work was I giving to my business. Well, by October 10th I was 7 days behind the plan. And I knew this because I intentionally printed a copy of the plan and left it in my office so that I can see the document daily. On that day, feelings of disappointment and stress started to arise. Immediately, I forgave myself and shifted my thinking to “Shout out to you for putting this system in place, so you can be better.” The next day, during my 9-5, I set my intentions on completing the necessary tasks, delegated the others and left work on time. I fulfilled this intention and headed home to continue working on my business.
Hold yourself accountable during the battle. I was very irritable last week. I believe the cause of this was because I overpromised and couldn’t take on another task. The thought of deciding anything, including dinner was overwhelming. Since I had already committed to the additional tasks, I held myself accountable to the fact that I placed myself in this position and I can control the result of this situation. I completed the additional tasks but at the expense of time spent on the business and with a loved one. Luckily, I have a very supportive circle so explaining not having time because of my poor decision was accepted rather than punished. The last thing you want to do is make excuses. It only keeps you in a pattern of bad behavior that doesn’t serve you.
Celebrate your victory. So, let’s recap... I acknowledged my flaw, designed a plan of action, pushed through the trial, communicated to my significant person, and immediately changed my behavior there after. That calls for a celebration! Treat yourself to a pampering evening as you’ve overcome a weakness.
Before 2019 wraps up, what’s stopping you from meeting your goals?