Do the goals and promises we make to ourselves every beginning of the year work? Is our goal achievable?

At the end of each year we have the tendency to make promises to ourselves about some aspect of our lives we wish to change. We promise ourselves that we will change our behavior or our priorities. But these promises are rarely long lasting…

 

What are the ingredients that make us stick to the execution of a goal?

 

1. The goal must be connected to our values

This means that we must answer the question: “Why do I really want to achieve this goal?”

Let us suppose that the goal we want to set is to communicate more often with our staff. We may have attended a recent seminar or read an article about it and felt it was a good idea.

But it is important to find out WHY we specifically choose to pursue this behavior and how it will benefit us. When we think about why, we think of the ideal version of ourselves. We think about the vision and goal we have for ourselves either as individuals, or as members of society, or as professionals.

 

2. We must think about how we will execute the goal practically

Returning to the goal of our more frequent communication with the team, this could be achieved through monthly group meetings, informal discussions with each member of the team individually and with group discussions on educational issues.

We must think about practical ways to pursue the goal we have set.

 

3. We must incorporate restrictions “When… then…”

For example, “When it will be the first Wednesday of the month, then we will have a group meeting in the afternoon. “When we are not very busy, then I will have check-in meetings with individual members of the team, or mini educational sessions in groups”.

Every time we are discouraged from pursuing the goal it will help us to think of the WHY, and every time we have difficulty in its practicality then the “When… then…” procedure will help us.

 

Behavioral change is one of the most difficult processes for the brain to handle, so it is important to have an action plan and a strategy to follow until the new behavior becomes a habit!

For intense training and strategic planning for your 2021 professional goal, feel free to contact us!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!