We all know this feeling of being fired up when writing annual goals. Many also know that few month later we get derailed and forget about them. In June we may remind ourselves about these goals, but it’s summer time and we’re not in a mood to do hard work. Next time annual goals are back to our radar in autumn. By that time we can clearly see that it’s not enough time to complete these goals and abandon them just to start over next year.
I think that approach itself has several issues:
- It’s tight to a calendar year. Major decisions are done around Christmas and New Year time. Busy season is not the best time to think about long-term things. We don’t have clear and realistic view.
- Oftentimes these goals are random picks. We pick them influenced by videos we’ve watched or articles we’ve read recently.
- There are too many of them or goals are too ambitious. We spend a couple of hours to pick what we’d like to achieve in a year. A year sounds like a lot of time while we can have just a fraction on it to spend on the goals.
- All or nothing attitude. We think we have to accomplish annual goal during the year. So once we see that this is nearly impossible we drop the goal altogether.
Instead I believe you should pick goals based on your life vision and achieve them in short cycles. Yes, those goals will be relatively small. Yes, you will have goals only from some areas of your life during short cycle. And yes, it’s better to move small bit at a time.
How do you do this? Here is approach I find working great:
- Pick your cycle length. It needs to be long enough to accomplish something meaningful and at the same time short enough for you to see cycle’s ending. I’ve settled with eight week cycles. I see it as a perfect spot between a month and a quarter. In my opinion one month is too short and I cannot pick ambitious goals. In a quarter on the other hand I don’t have a sense of urgency because I don’t see its ending until it’s too late.
- Have 2-3 goals for the cycle. This will keep you focused. Each goal requires time. Usually it will require more time than you thought originally. And these goals are not the only things happening in your life.
- Schedule time in calendar. Make sure there is time to get goals done. Having a block in calendar shows you how much time you can spend, builds a habit of doing, and motivates you. I also set an alarm on my smartphone. I know myself. I can easily miss calendar reminder when I’m not in front of a computer.
- Don’t overplan your goals. Have 2-3 first actions for a goal. Do them. Then figure out next 2-3 actions. There is no need to have all actions figured out before you start your journey. Moreover those actions often change as you progress.
- Plan your weeks and days in the cycle. Each week define achievements you want to have for each goal and actions you need to do. Each day decide which of those actions you’re doing today. Review and adapt at least weekly.
This way the year becomes a set of cycles. Each cycle you’re getting closer to your life vision. Each cycle you celebrate your wins or review your losses. Each cycle you can adapt and change your bigger plan. You can accomplish more in the year and you can start your year anytime because you’re not in annual game anymore.