January is when many of us set goals for the upcoming year. But before embarking on your 2020 goal setting, it’s very useful to reflect on what happened in 2019.
 
When I work with clients on setting their annual goals, I ask them to first reflect on the past year. I suggest they write down the answers to the following questions:

• What were your most significant professional accomplishments in the past year?
• What were your most significant personal accomplishments in the past year?
• What are you most excited about right now?
• What are you most grateful for in your work life?
• What are you most grateful for in your personal life?
• What do you want more of in your life?
• What do you want less of in your life?
• What are you most concerned about? (You can only list 3 things!)
• What is one major work project that you want to focus on this year?
• What is one major personal project that you want to focus on this year?

 
Once they’ve answered these questions, I encourage them to go about setting their goals in whatever way they usually do. Some people limit themselves to three big goals. Some people set goals for various parts of their lives – career, money, well-being, and relationships. Some work top-down, creating a vision for their lives 5-10 years in the future and then set goals for this year that will move them towards that vision.
 
But before they consider their goals final, I encourage them to go back to their reflections from the past year. What were the circumstances that contributed to their successes in the past year? How can they recreate them this year? Are their goals addressing their concerns? Will their goals get them what they want more of in their lives? Are they leveraging the successes they had in the past? Will their goals help them achieve the big project they want to focus on?
 
I don’t usually quote Shakespeare – but the phrase “the past is prologue” - is good advice for goal-setting.
 
Please share what you learned when reflecting back on the past year at holtz@tomyyounger.me  Wishing you all the best in the year ahead.