My boss recently asked everyone in the firm here at Bordas & Bordas to make a list of goals for the year. Other than the yearly New Year’s resolution, I have never been asked to set goals, nor have I ever done it on my own. It’s been roughly a month since I made my New Year’s resolution, and not only have I not stuck to it, I cannot, for the life of me, even remember it. Probably something along the lines of “I need to start exercising.”
Being asked to set goals for the year, on the other hand, really made me think. And I think being asked to do this is a great start and something I’d like to continue doing. It forced me to really look within and think about my strengths and weaknesses and how to recognize those in order to better improve myself in both my personal and professional life. It also forced me to write them down. I also printed them out and taped them on the wall next to my computer monitor so I’d have to look at my goals every day.
Not only did I simply make a list of goals, but I wrote a brief explanation stating the purpose of the goal, how to achieve that goal, and tried to make it a calculable goal so I could periodically review whether I’m reaching that particular goal. I also made two of my goals to (1) set more goals, and (2) periodically review my goals to help keep myself accountable. This way, I will continue to think of other ways I can improve myself. Then, I will periodically review my goals to assess whether I am reaching them and, if not, I will ask myself why I am not and make it a priority to do so.
I really found this to be an interesting lesson in self-reflection, which I otherwise likely never would have done. So, I encourage anyone reading this to sit down for a few minutes and do the same. We all can fairly say we have room for improvement. Challenge yourself to be honest about what you can do to better yourself and, unlike New Year’s resolutions, hold yourself accountable! You’ll thank yourself.
;)
