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You can’t hit a target you can’t see. Publisher Renee Dee shares her thoughts on setting goals for the New Year.
I’m always surprised by how fast a year goes by. It’s just 12 short months, and another year comes to a crystal-ball dropping, champagne glass-clinking end. And in that moment, I’m filled with reflection and anticipation at the same time.
Photo by Brad Reed
I’ve had a meditation-meets-journaling-meets-goal-setting ritual for more than half of my life, which culminates on New Year’s Eve, just in time to get January off to a great start. You can’t hit a target you can’t see, and if you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll never get there.
So, I have embraced setting goals in business and personally, from wellness goals to travel goals (those have been a bit limited the last two years) to innovation and revenue goals. With a Sharpie marker in hand, I never met a Post-It that couldn’t hold my hopes, dreams, intentions and plans, and be stuck to a wall for my annual process.
That’s because I know that if I don’t take charge of my year, my year will have its way with me, and that doesn’t produce the results I want.
So, I take time on New Year’s Eve, often with a glass of bubbly in hand and sitting in a comfy chair, to do three things.
MEDITATE
I start with a MEDITATION on the year gone by. What worked and what didn’t? What did I love and what did I not enjoy? Who made an impact? For whom and what am I grateful? What outfit made me feel powerful? What insightful and comedic things did my son say? What new ideas have me inspired?
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JOURNAL
Then I JOURNAL free thoughts for an hour or two or more until I cannot write another word.
SIT & SET
I SIT back and begin to review all I’ve written, paying close attention to what I want “more of” and what I want “less of” in the New Year. It’s a time of meaningful reflection, and I make some hard decisions here. Then it’s time to SET goals in words that matter to me. I use the SMART formula to make my goals Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Reasonable and Timely. The word reasonable is all relative to me because I believe all goals need a little stretch in them!
Then I post my goals and share them with others. A Harvard study tells us that writing goals makes them 10 times more likely to achieve and telling others improves your outcome even more.
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Before you begin the last-day-of-the year revelry, take some time for you to CREATE your New Year. I’d love to hear from you on how this went for you, and if you want to share your goals, I’ll put some positive energy out there for you to achieve success.
Thank you to my team, clients, friends and family for a spectacular year.
Wishing You Health, Happiness & Success,
With Gratitude,
Renee M. Dee
Publisher
©2023 ICONIC - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
