Don’t Waste Your Year (Part 1)

by on in Leadership.
Don't Waste Your Year (Part 1)

Alright folks, we’re about to go granular and tackle some leadership and organizational issues.

Last week I talked about getting your socks to match – how to “automate” the tasks that annoy you, so you can get more done.

This week I’ve got a series of posts coming your way about GOAL-SETTING in the new year.

Because I can’t stand the thought of us getting too far into 2014 without thinking through our yearly goals.

For most leaders I’ve met, having dreams or a drive to succeed comes somewhat naturally. But you know what doesn’t always come naturally?

FOCUS. We need to learn to focus if we ever want to achieve our goals in 2014.

When we set yearly goals (which we should), we force ourselves to focus. Instead of burning ourselves out from trying to do everything, yearly goals enable us to be excellent in the few things on which we choose to focus. Out of the infinite opportunities and possibilities that will be presented over the next twelve months, we need to clearly define just a handful of goals that we’d like to achieve. Five or six goals will do.

The point, if you didn’t hear me, is to focus.

I’ve been working on our yearly goals for the main campus as well as for our multi-campus Middle School team.

  • These are the goals that will be on the bottom of my weekly report for the next 52 weeks.
  • These are the goals that I will use to set my 90-day goals (also at the bottom of my weekly report).
  • These are the goals that will guide every staff member, volunteer, and budget dollar over the next 365 days.

So here’s the plan: over the next three days, I’m going to walk you through the steps I take to identify my yearly goals.

Regardless of whether you’ve already set your annual goals or not, I’d like to challenge you to walk though this with me.

You ready? You with me? Here’s what you can do TODAY to set some killer goals for 2014:

STEP #1: Survey the staff, your boss, and some key volunteers on what they feel needs to be on our list. I simply ask them for their opinions on what we need to focus on for the year. Stop reading…send the email NOW!

STEP #2: Look at your calendar (series topics and large events have already been placed…right?) and see if there is anything that strikes you as out-of-the ordinary. If there’s something there that’s going to take a bunch of time, more than normal, then you need to put it on your list of goals. One year, for example, we changed the location of all of our camps. If you have ever used a new location for something like this, you understand that it will take a ton of extra time. It needs to be on your list.

STEP #3: Give yourself 24 hours. Use that time to think of the stuff you have forgotten and collect the info from the email you sent in Step #1.

Step#4: Check back on Thursday for the next set of steps.

You with me? What’s your favorite goal for the year so far?