Another year has gone and on New Year’s Eve my cousin asked me, ‘what was your biggest learning experience of 2014?’ I immediately thought of the time when I was well outside my comfort zone, the time when I had to research and prepare for some radio interviews as a follow up to my book launch in January. I had grown from the experience and learned the benefits of preparing for tough conversations or meetings. My cousins’ question also challenged me to ask myself, am I the same this year as I was last year? What changes have I made and how have I grown? I did not achieve all my goals for 2014 however, I did reach most of them – many more than if I had not written them down, kept them close and reviewed them every month. In 2014 I had many goals that touched many areas of my life however I did not see growth in all the areas I would have liked, so I decided to re-invent my wheel. This made my goal setting more interesting, appealing to my visual learning style and ensuring I covered all the key areas of my life.
Step 1 – Draw Your Wheel of Life – Use the example below and identify the 8 key areas of your life. Grade each area from 1-10, if you are completely happy with an area of your life then assign a 10, if you are very unhappy then assign a 1. Draw your wheel, shade it and it will be obvious which areas of your life are off balance – great start.
Step 2 – Identify a goal for each of your key areas. Start with the areas that have very low scores. This wheel not only visualizes the parts of your life off-balance but also shows you where to focus your attention. Write 3-5 manageable and attainable goals; e.g.
• Finance – I will save 10% of my salary each month.
• Health – I will attend a gym once per week.
• Relationships – I will have a date night with my partner once per month.
Step 3 – Last step, ask the question, Why? For each of your goals. I learned this from my manager, he always asks me Why I should complete a task, initiative or project. This small but potent question will make you think about your goals. This will challenge each of your goals and when you have a strong Why, you will be more likely to achieve your objectives in 2015.
• Finance – Why should I save 10% of my salary each month? I want to build long-term savings for a vacation, deposit for a house of retirement.
• Health – Why should I attend a gym once per week? I want to have a good level of fitness for long-term health.
• Relationships – Why should I have a date night with my partner? I do not wish to take them for granted for all they do for home and family.
This is the simplest and fun way to set goals for 2015 and I trust you will be a different person in 12 months’ time.
Stuart
Making Steps and Leaving Footprints…
(The thoughts and ideas expressed in this blog are my own and do not represent the views of my employer. ‘Wheel of Life’ template borrowed from http://www.jillsaville.com/ )