One of my biggest struggles in pursuing multiple goals is balancing my time, energy, and focus to make significant progress in more than one area at a time. I love variety, but when I have too many things to do, it's too easy to come to a standstill and just tread water. After trying different things with some success here and there (but not the kind of success I was looking for), I decided to go with a yearly focus to really get things done (which is working out quite well so far). Let me explain...
A couple of years ago was my Year of Recovery, as I had needed a break from goal setting and had just decided to focus on "keep moving forward". (I took that as my motto for the year from the movie "Rocky Balboa" when Rocky is in his retirement years -- a great motivational movie you gotta watch if you haven't.) Anyway, I decided to just work on moving forward on things that year, without setting any specific goals. I also severely injured my knees in a skiing accident early that year that took months of recovery and rehabilitation while barely being able to walk. By the end of the year, I was mostly recovered physically, and raring to go headstrong on my goals once again.
As I was excited to work intensely on my goals again, I had three big ones I really wanted to make serious progress on right now. But I knew (based on prior experience) trying to focus on all three at once wouldn't get me there, so one at a time it would be. I decided my fitness goal would be the best place to start, as it would help me with my other goals, too. So last year was my Year of Fitness. It was exciting to give it my best for a year and find success in finishing getting fit and reaching one of my dream goals (that I had previously came to the conclusion was no longer realistic). The excitement of really nailing a goal spurred me on for the next one!
My next big goal is to finish getting completely organized once again: in my physical surroundings, with my digital world, and with my routines and schedule. Getting fit helps me have more energy to tackle this one. And getting organized will help me be more efficient to reach for my other goals in the coming years. So this year is my Year of Organization.
The progress you make can really be amazing when you really focus on one thing at a time. But I don't neglect everything else during that time. I just keep working on those other things that are important to me to a lesser degree. They are in the back seat, while my main goal for the year is in the front seat. Then each year something else gets a turn in the front seat to make major progress on.
This way of approaching goals may or may not work for you. But if you haven't yet found something that works great for you, and especially if you are frustrated with whatever you have been doing, then why not give this a try? I love it, and I think it's a good chance you might, too. :)
What's your Year of ______ going to be for the rest of this year?
Hi Nikki,
ReplyDeleteAwesome advice! So often you hear that the best approach to achieving goals is to take "baby steps," which I think is a good idea, too, but you're so right about the importance of developing an over-arching "theme" for the year. You've given me lots to think about! Thanks for the great post!
Yes, baby steps help us reach our goals when our focus isn't too divided. So many things work together, and it's the little things we do day-by-day that makes forward progress when we have a main goal to concentrate on. Thanks so much for your reply. :)
Delete