How many of your goals did you accomplish in 2016?
By Pamela Antil – Santa Barbara, CA
We all had great intentions in 2016. Eat better. Lose weight. Tweet less. Read more. Finish that degree. But, life has a way of getting in the way of, well, life! As a result, we don’t always achieve the resolutions or goals we traditionally set for ourselves at the beginning of the year. And, sometimes, frankly the goals we set are not realistic. So, let’s take stock of our lists as 2016 is coming to a close and, hopefully, get off to a great start in 2017.
If you met every one of the goals you set last January, CONGRATULATIONS! You are among the small group – just 8 percent of EVERYONE – that actually kept on target with your resolutions or goals. For the remaining 92 percent of us, we had differing (lower) levels of success. How might we do better in 2017? Here are some tips to consider as you set your 2017 goals.
Evaluate what you really want to achieve.
Think about what you really want for your future. Give some deep thought to where you are and where you want to be. And why. For example, by setting a goal to simply, “get new job” you miss why you want a new job. Is any job acceptable? Or are you trying to get to a certain level within an organization. Or a certain part of the country? If a certain level, does it make sense with your career progression to date? It is difficult to achieve the next goal in life if you can’t articulate the why behind the goal.
Write your goals down.
Once you reflect upon and settle on what your goal(s) should be, write that stuff down! Studies show that people who write goals down and track them in some way are more likely to achieve them. As corny as it sounds, by writing goals down they become real. Keeping them tucked away in the file cabinet in your head makes it more likely that you will change your mind about them or simply forget about them. Like anything important, goals take work and writing them down keep you accountable.
Be specific.
When writing down your goals, make sure they make sense, are specific and timely. Otherwise, how will you know when you have achieved the goal? Weight loss is a good example. Instead of simply announcing a goal to “lose weight,” it would be better to state, “be in good enough shape to run a mile each week with my daughter.” In this way, the intent of the goal is clear. Simply losing a few pounds doesn’t really get you to your goal. Working hard each week to keep fit and run that mile is more meaningful.
Set reasonable milestones.
Setting a goal to write a book or a series of relevant professional articles within your field sounds like a great goal, especially if you are working towards becoming a subject expert in your field. However, without milestones, it is a goal that could easily be lost as the year goes by. If you haven’t completed half of the book by June, will you think there is not enough time and give up? This is a common scenario. However, if you set some milestones such as writing a certain number of pages or articles per month, you will be more likely to keep up with the steps needed to fully achieve the goal.
Start with just one goal.
Focus on just one thing at a time. By trying to focus on numerous goals at the same time, you risk accomplishing none of them. Why? Because making change or taking on new things takes willpower to achieve. By trying to accomplish too many things you run the risk of feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. This leads to giving up for many. Take on one goal at the beginning of 2017. Then move on to another when the first one is under control or completed. Then another and so on. You will be more successful in the long run.
Finally, set goals that you want to achieve. Think about your life and where you are headed. Is it a one year plan? Five years? More? What can you do now to get there? More importantly, is it your plan? Or simply what you think you should be doing? All great questions that only you can answer and must be answered before you can set those 2017 goals.
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Pam Antil is the Assistant City Administrator for the City of Santa Barbara, CA. She has been recognized for her published articles and papers on a variety of topics including advancing women in local government; the future of policing in the United States; use of social media by local government; business networking; and post-merger/operational due diligence in the private sector. An avid networker herself and early adopter of social media in government, Ms. Antil founded the Municipal Managers group on LinkedIn in 2007, which has over 11,000 members today.
Pam is an active member of the International City/County Management Association, Cal-ICMA, Alliance for Innovation, Municipal Management Assistants of Northern & Southern California as well as serves as a Board Member for Women Leading Government CA and the founder and President of the League of Women in Government. She has a Bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University and a Master of Public Administration degree from California State University. You can connect with Pam via LinkedIn, Twitter – @Pantil1204 or via email at Pantil@SantaBarbaraCA.gov.
