With only three weeks remaining in the year, it’s time to reflect on the last 12 months and create my 2020 goals to kick-start the new year.
At the end of each year, I complete my Personal Grateful Challenge. If you haven’t heard of it, I highly recommend starting the challenge as a way to reflect on the year and to reset.
The challenge is to set a timer to 10 minutes, then write down — as fast as possible — all of the things that you’re grateful for or the things you love. The goal is to get to 99 things by the end of the 10 minutes.
For two years, I have not been able to write down all 99 items in 10 minutes; nevertheless, I have a lengthy list of items that I’m grateful for, including THE rAVe Agency, the AV community, my local PRSA chapter and my APR mentors, just to name a few.
Many people create resolutions for the new year. I prefer to avoid the resolutions and stick with goals, both personal and professional, because they are attainable and practical.
Reflecting on my goals from 2019, I am proud to check off my Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) credential. Preparing for my APR was one of the most stressful, yet rewarding, processes. I’m also proud to check off a few personal goals, but, admittedly, I can say that I did not achieve all of my goals this year. It certainly wasn’t for lack of trying! Instead, I have learned more for my professional and personal self than any of those goals would have taught me.
In a few short weeks, we will have a fresh start in a new year. I challenge you to join me in outlining goals for 2020. Here are a few tips to help you get started:
- Create SMART goals. SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. We use SMART goals in public relations and marketing — it only seems fitting to use them for our personal goals, too.
- Push yourself out of your comfort zone. Instead of thinking about the possibility of failure, think about the excitement that comes with the success of checking off a goal.
- Enlist the help of an accountability partner. I find this most helpful for my fitness goals, but finding someone you can check in with on a regular basis no matter the objective will keep you accountable.
- Create goals for different areas of your life. By establishing professional, spiritual, health and fitness, finance and relationship goals, you’re likely to see a ripple effect in each area.
Keep your goals in a visible place — don’t write them out and bury them in your desk. And, as you move through the year, you might need to adjust them.
While we should aspire to achieve our goals, sometimes the outcomes in our own lives our out of our control. Remember to be kind to yourself if you’re not where you want to be with your goals on December 31st. Evaluate your progress and tweak your goals.
