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Goals (& Indulgences)

..or what used to be known as New Year's Resolutions.

Each year brings its highs and lows, and the eternally optimistic human race believes that we get a fresh start each January 1st.   Belief is a strong driver, and optimism is capable of delivering very good results.

So, with that in mind, in January 2014 I decided to try and give myself some good advice....
  1. Enjoy more special family and friend time, have got a bit too chilled and lazy over weekends – Did quite well on this one until March.
  2. Remain passionate about what matters, but not angry when things go wrong – my execs tell me about 50% success rate!
  3. Be upfront about issues, deal with them quickly, and avoid continual negative comments, frustration and feelings (mine) – Same as above
  4. Delegate 3 business tasks that I have been hanging on to - Done
  5. Set aside formal time to deal with personal issues every week eg doctor's appointments, checking bank statements, sorting out home maintenance, submitting medical claims – Minimal success on this one
  6. Focus more on strategy, and less on operational stuff, I have a great team that will ask for my input if they need it – Still need to work on this…
  7. Set aside one hour per day to reduce my eMail count, every day, except Saturday and some Sundays – Definite improvement, but not there yet.
  8. And most importantly, start each week by reading through my goals, and ensuring that I am on track – Mmmm, not achieved at all.
So every year we set these wonderful goals, expectations, resolutions in the spirit of a "new me", and every year most of us fall hopelessly behind before the end of January.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I decided I needed some quick wins, so I set myself a few achievable goals that I hoped would keep me positive, and then maybe the less easily achievable ones would fall into place.
  • I will try not to multi task (including cell phone chats in the car, but mostly this is about focusing on the person in front of me) – Needs much more focus
  • I will put petrol in my car, when its not less than a quarter full, and check the tyres at the same time – 60% success rate
  • I will watch at least 2 feel good TV shows per week (probably Modern Family and Last Man Standing) and allow myself to multi task ie playing Funtrivia, Quizup, Scrabble or Diamond Dash while watching – Totally achieved this one, and added to it too.
  • I will counter all the TV by going to Pilates and thinking about a Yoga class – Pilates happening, still thinking about Yoga.
  • I will remember that the inefficient person dealing with my problem has probably been badly trained, and not focus my anger on them, rather try to help them resolve my issue – I have given some rather impassioned lectures to a number of service providers, didn’t get angry, though
  • I will work on sounding calm and in control, even when I am jumping inside (mainly to conclusions) – Oh, dear, might have overlooked this one
  • I will not finish books I am not enjoying because I think I am letting down the author – Only managed to do this once, but still I am pleased that I managed it
  • I will read this list every week – Oops!
Both lists were far from complete, so I set myself one additional objective:

Review and renew all objectives once a month

I have to admit that 12 months later, I am still a work in progress, with lots of areas to improve and work on.   I do have some new goals, though, a mix of personal and business, that should keep me stretched in 2015.

What about you?

Links and References
Business Connexion:Accsys
email:      tschroenn@accsys.co.za
twitter:   @TerylSchroenn
Accsys News

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