Life has a habit of dealing out distractions. Just when you think you’ve everything tied down, you’ve the goals set, you know how you’re going to get there and everything is going swimmingly and then the slightest little thing an take you off on a tangent.
When you realize this has happened then it’s time to take stock and have a thorough review. This isn’t about, “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!” as the White Rabbit in Alice In Wonderland was wont to say. This is about saying, “This is where I am now, what’s the next step I need to take”.
Here’s my recommendations for a goals review;
- Make a list of your top level goals, hopefully you have these in one place somewhere already. If not then write them down now.
- For each goal in turn take a separate piece of paper (I prefer index cards myself) or use some software like MindManager; and write a single goal on that paper.
- Now ask yourself:
- Is this goal still relevant to you? Has your life changed in any way so that the goal simply isn’t worth pursuing? If the goal doesn’t pass this test then bin it now.
- What are the challenges you’re currently facing in the completion of this goal and what resources do you need now? Note down anything that comes up, it’s possible there are some hidden blockers here that will have to be addressed. The sooner their out in the open the better.
- List any and all sub-goals. Revisiting the goals in this way can often bring additional goals out into the open that you didn’t know existed. Or possibly take you down a different path to your goal.
- Lastly decide what the very next action is to be for this goal and any sub-goals. Write them down, it helps to make them stand out from the rest of the list or map so you can quickly identify the tasks next time you look at the paper.
Do this for each goal in turn. When you’re done collate all the ‘next actions’ for your goals and start work on the first one. Now you’re both physically back in touch with your goals and have readjusted your mind set into goal oriented mode.