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Staying on Track

Staying on Track

Many businesses are getting ready to start planning for 2018, which makes it the perfect time to check in on your progress achieving your 2017 personal goals. Are you on track? Or are you going to come up short unless you make some significant changes?

If you’re in the latter camp, try these strategies to help yourself “focus and finish.”

Calendarize your big goals. This advice really does help, but most people still don’t use this technique. Keep the busyness of your workday from getting in the way of your key deliverables by putting a reminder on your calendar. It will keep you aware of your goal and ultimately force you to take action or decide that the goal is not the right goal.

Plan your next steps in shorter time increments. There are about 18 weeks left in this year including all holidays. Put hard deadlines against the milestones you’ve identified. Consider what you will be able to get done against your goal in two weeks. You’ll make a lot more progress than if you say to yourself, “In a month I’ll have x, y, and z done.” The shorter time frame makes it more tangible, which helps you consider your specific action steps.

If you know what is getting in your way, such as procrastination, too many competing deliverables, etc., imagine how you’d behave if you weren’t facing that obstacle. It’s a mind game that helps you see your situation more objectively, and often stimulates new ways of problem solving. Ask yourself, “How would I approach this if I wasn’t a procrastinator?”

We’ll be at year end in no time. If you’re not going to meet your goals, make sure you start communicating with your manager now so there aren’t any surprises.

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