Start the New Year With a Bang!

 

I don’t know about you, but in the last few years, I haven’t felt the same surge of energy that I used to have when January approached with everything that it potentially holds for us. I saw a post on social media that said: “We have 365 sunrises, 365 sunsets and 365 opportunities for magic to happen.” This really stirred within me and gave me some motivation to think about the year ahead, what I wanted to achieve and what was important for me.

3 Goals for 2023

What do I want to achieve? What is important to me? My career? Where did I want to go? You can easily have ambitious objectives, but how are you going to get there? What are the stepping stones?

I want to share my plans and how I aim to get there. Have you thought about this? Answer honestly. Have you really questioned what you wanted to achieve, rather than just coasting? Don’t get me wrong—you can make an active decision to coast, to remain doing what you’re doing (no decision is still a decision).

My key goals for the new year are grace, focus and growth. Just three things. For each of these larger goals, I break them down into:

• What I want to achieve
• What success looks like (i.e. when will I know that I’m done?)
• What I need to get there (learning, development opportunities, practice, etc.)

For grace, it’s about showing grace to others, being graceful with myself and what I'm able to achieve within the time that I'm given, and prioritizing what is important. 

During 2021/22, I went through some changing personal circumstances. While I tried to "spin" every plate that I needed to, I simply couldn't do everything. Instead of realizing my limitations, I tried to push myself to do everything, be everything to everyone, and manage a very difficult, complex and wonderful job. I am a constant overachiever, but in this instance, it didn't make me a better project manager or friend—it turned me into someone that I didn’t recognize or want to be.

So, how can I achieve grace? It’s all about boundaries and having them clearly defined for my professional and personal life. What boundaries do you have? Well, those come from what you want to achieve. Is it to get ahead? To build your network? This will guide where your boundaries need to come in.

For each of these details, I go into quarterly goals where I can look at where I am, what I wanted to achieve, and if I need to adjust my targets (remember, be kind to yourself). I’m also aware of my professional and working responsibilities, and when the busiest times of my year are. I won’t book a lot for the last quarter if I know that it’s going to just be focusing on keeping my head above water and “getting stuff done.”

When I’ve done these goals in the past, I just stored them in my notepad (I’m a stationary nerd…who doesn’t have a new notepad to start the year?). But this year, based upon how I read and learn, I’ve put everything on a mood board/sticky notes in my office so that I can see each of my goals. That way, they are present in everything that I do. Since I’ve done this, I have been more focused on reading the items that I need to—and fleshing out more ideas for my goals in the next year.

I block out some time on my calendar every three months to spend some time analyzing where I’m at, what I’ve achieved/done, and what I need to do in the next few months. This check-in can be really useful to gauge your progress and see if you need any adjustments.

I’m really interested to hear how many of you have created your goals for 2023. What do they look like? What are you trying to do: more certifications, personal development, professional growth? Share in the comments below!