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NEW BEGINNINGS
One question I like to ask during year-end periods such as now is :”So, has it been a good year for you?” Most people would say the politically right thing :”Yep, good year, good year”, or words to that effect. My two questions that follow typically stump most people- “What was it about the year that was good for you?”. “On what basis do you say it is good?”
The fact of the matter is many of us do not plan for ourselves. We may do a very good job planning the budget for our business, putting together strategic plans to further grow the business in the region, and so on. But, we somehow neglect to plan for ourselves. Or, we do not know how. To me, that’s an irony – your job responsibilities are transient. Your life is long term.
Why plan?
Planning is a tool that allows you to begin with the end in mind. All of us have the same 12 months in 2014. How we each choose to live out those 365 days will, of course, be uniquely different. Come midnight, Dec 31, 2014, I would assume most of us would want to say that we have not wasted too much of the year, and have achieved most of what we have set out to achieve. Realistically, this can only happen if you plan for it.
How to start?
If we want to have a ‘good’ year, we have to set the markers now. For most of us, our job/career is a big piece of our lives. What else? Identify your focus areas, what’s important for you. Here are some typical areas.
Financial planning – attaining financial independence is of prime importance. Ideally, we have to work to grow our wealth, and not to pay the bank. The two primary pay-offs for financial independence is peace of mind, and the option to do what we want to do in life.
Health – physical, spiritual, emotional
Personal development and growth – knowledge and skills enhancement, learning a new sports, etc
Family – spending more quality time with every member in the family, especially ageing parents and grandparents
Friends – nurturing existing friendships, and making new ones
Professional development /networking– signing up as a member to a professional group, and acquiring a wide ranging pool of global contacts
Etc
How to plan?
One simplistic approach is to use what we coaches call Scaling. For each of the areas you have identified, determine where you are on a scale of 1 to 10, the latter being positive. As an example, if you rate yourself at “6” for physical health, ask yourself this question: “Where do I want to be on that same scale at the end of 2014?”. Maybe you want to be an “8” – the follow-up question to ask would then be “What do I need to continue to do, and to do more of – in the area of physical health- to bring myself to the “8” that I desire?”.
Discipline
The real, hard work begins after you have set your goals. The key ingredient to success is discipline, When the new year begins, you will undoubtedly have multiple priorities and if you are not focussed enough, your carefully thought out plan will remain as a plan.
How can you attain discipline? Here’s one way – draw lines to divide a piece of flip chart paper into three columns –
“Goals” – itemise your goals
“Strategies” – write action statements on how you are going to achieve each goal e.g I will plan my week such that I will allocate (collectively) three hours to go to hit the gym.
“Time-line/Status” – this is the important piece. You will check off when you have achieved your goal.
Pin the flip chart paper where it is virtually impossible to miss it. For good measure, get someone, a family member, or colleague to check on you so you will not have any chance at all of ‘forgetting’ what you have set out to do.
Article by Paul Heng
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