Year End Goal Review – 2010
This blog passed its one year anniversary last August (!), so this is my first annual review with history!
In December 2009, I recommended brainstorming goals, ranking them, and then getting specific (or SMART). I was very prescriptive and detailed about how and when I would work towards these goals.
This year, I'm approaching Jan 1 with a very different mindset.
What's Changed?
I don't think I was wrong in 2009. Really thinking hard about what you want to do (and what you won't do instead), and how you're going to achieve your goals is an important skill. Only after a few years of practice did I learn how to spot conflicting and reinforcing goals, and how to really stick on a goal and track it until it was achieved. Only by thinking hard about the reasons I was failing to meet these goals and deadlines did I learn how to finally succeed. I think the process might still be valuable if you need to build discipline, or if you're new to this type of thinking.
But I'm starting to come around to Leo's way of thinking. It's time to try a year with no goals.
I accomplished a lot in 2009, but it's getting to the point where the process is getting in the way of progress. I have too many goals to track, too many times when not being there "yet" caused me stress and anxiety. A lot of the sub-goals really should have been tracked as projects and habits , and tackled one at a time in a more focused manner.
The Year End Goal Review Process, 2010 vintage
1. Review the previous year
It is still good to review your previous year's ambitions, and to make note of your successes and failures.
It's easy to keep marching towards a goal - adding "lose weight" to the list year after year after year, but unless you take the time to figure out what is going wrong, you're never going to make it stick. It's also important to celebrate successes, to add up what you've done in a small chunk of time and say "wow". 
You might not be at the top of the mountain yet, but you're a long way from where you've started!
2. Write "A Picture of Where I am TODAY"
From my goals, I can get a sense of what I had and had not accomplished by the end of last year, but it's really hard for me to remember how I was then. What was weighing most on my mind? What was I feeling good about? What was I excited to tackle? That's why I'm starting this year with a paragraph describing my life as I see it today. How do I feel about my current situation? What's going well? What needs to change?
3. THREE MISSIONS
This is how I am replacing goals. I chose one major thing that I really want to fix, and it's what I'm going to pour most of my energy into in the beginning of the year. It's made up of hundreds of tiny projects, but it's all in the name of one vision. Every day, I'm going to act towards this one objective. The deadline is "TODAY. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE." It will take as long as it takes, as long as I'm working on it and it gets done.
I chose two other missions as well, but I'm not going to act on them until the first main objective is achieved. The third one is something that I don't even expect to think about until it's fall or winter. It's a "stretch goal" if you want to think about it that way 
This year, instead of trying to act on a bunch of different goals at the same time, I'm going to pour all of my energy into ONE THING until it is DONE. I'll still have other things that will come up (I'll have to do the dishes, and taxes are due in April no matter what goals you've committed to), but all of my time management skills and focus are going to be on this ONE THING.
4. THREE HABITS
Start with the habit that is going to make the biggest difference in your life. The difference between a habit and a
mission is that the mission does have a point where you can say "mission accomplished". A new habit is something that you do regularly, and once it's built you should never stop. Focus on building just the first one, and when it becomes automatic, move to the next.
5. THREE REMINDERS
You can think of these as a cross between a resolution and a mantra. Missions and Habits define WHAT you're going to do next year, but reminders are how you're going to do it. Here are mine:
- What can I do to help someone?
- Stop overthinking everything.
- Enjoy Today.
There's no task, habit or project that I can tie to "enjoy today". It's just something I want to remind myself to do. Three might be too many, but I've written them on a card pinned it near my monitor. We'll see how it goes.
6. Write "A Picture of Where I will be in one year"
Just like the picture of where I am today, I wrote this short paragraph in first person present. When next December rolls around, what will have changed?
What will I have accomplished? How will I spend my days? How will I feel? Think of it like a short-term version of the "ideal day" exercise.
"It would be amazing if..." This is your stretch goal. What would you be amazed by, if your future self came back from one year in the future and told you they'd done it? Words are the first step to action.
Will I have a completely different opinion and process at the end of 2011? Maybe. As long as I'm working and learning, I'm okay with that.
By the way, since December 2009 I:
- Launched a new WastedTalent.ca in Februrary that fixed a lot of major problems
- Had the Winter Olympics come through my town
- Took some big steps to further my career
- Was featured in Reader's Digest and the Toronto Star for my comic work
- Kayaked the Broken Islands (3 days of kayaking from island to island in the Pacific)
- Finished a major apartment reno, and really improved my space
- Went to 5 comic conventions, one which was curated, and one I was an invited guest at
- Got Married
- Finished and printed my first book
- Went on a huge adventure in Thailand - my first time in Asia!
I don't expect as impressive a checklist at the end of next year, but the goal is to evolve. Every dawn brings new opportunity. Go kick some ass!