🧭 The recentering exercise I complete every June

I don’t know about you, but I (and most people I have ever met) set goals with good intentions in December or January but find that achievement of those goals is waning by June.

• Sometimes, it is because at some point I realised the goal was wrong. So I killed it.

  
  

• Other times, it is because life happens and that goal is no longer realistic for some reason. So I adapt it.

  
  

• Occasionally it is because of “goal drift”, so I re-anchor my efforts.

  
  

• But more often than not, it is simply because the excitement of setting the goal was replaced with the reality of accomplishing it. So I complete this exercise.

  
  

In order to achieve a goal, I need to know what the goal is, WHY it is, and what I need to do. This is my quick exercise to recentre my focus on achieving my goal:

1. Write down my 'one big goal' for the next 12 months.

   1. Yes, one big goal. It is okay to have some other small goals, but it is important to know what your priorities are. As I mentioned before, not all tasks are equally important.

      
      

2. Write down WHY I have opted to make that goal my priority.

   1. Why should I care if that thing is accomplished? What does it lead to?

      
      

3. Review the process

   1. Process based goals are better than regular goals. Based on what I now know, is my process likely to lead me to achieve my goal? Does the process need tweaking?

      
      

4. List 3 major projects that I need to work on to achieve my goal.

   1. I like to list 3, but narrow it down to just one. If I could only do one of them, which one would I pick? It helps me to keep focused on the Most Important Thing.

      
      

5. List 3 major tasks I need to do in the next 90 days to advance those projects

   1. Again, I list 3 but narrow it down to one. I complete one thing at a time.

      
      

6. List 3 most important tasks I need to do in the next 30 days to support the advancement of the major task.

   1. Previously, this was 3 most urgent tasks. Now it is the most important tasks. Thanks to my updated understanding of the Eisenhower Matrix.

      
      

7. List constituent parts of those important tasks and schedule time in my calendar for those tasks.

   1. I like to break tasks down into 1 hour chunks. I write out the steps that need to be completed in order to complete a task, and I predict how long it will take to complete each step (I later review performance against my prediction to improve future prediction accuracy). I group things into 1 hour chunks then schedule them into my calendar. I get started on the first chunk within 24 hours.

      
      

The first step is the hardest

I shared this in my Work Smart Wednesday newsletter. Want the full set of related insights? You can read them here: https://worksmartwednesday.substack.com/p/work-smart-wednesday-june-5-2024

👋 Want to work together?

When you’re ready, here are 2 ways I can help you:

🔍 Clarity Call - We will discuss your situation and create a step-by-step action plan together so you know exactly what you need to do next for maximum impact

🧩 Are we a good fit together? - See whether you and I are a good fit together by answering this short quiz. You will immediately see whether or not we are a good fit, and receive a personalised answer for what the next best step will be for you based on your answers.

💡 Want more from me? Find more on my LinkedIn profile.

🎯If you found this useful, don’t stop here. Sign up for Work Smart Wednesday and get smarter work tips every week.