Tomorrow I am presenting to Big Brothers Big Sister and their Princeton University mentors on goal setting. I absolutely love goal setting although I am amazed at how few people actually do it.
Goal setting is, of course, forward-looking but I always ask people to look back as well. In addition to “Where do you want to be 1, 3, and 5 years, I always ask “Where were you a year ago?” We need to know that before we look forward because that’s where our propellant is to thrust these goals forward.
So, where were you a year ago? We don’t look back to feel bad about ourselves, we look back to see what we did and didn’t accomplish. Celebrate the wins! Circle the misses. Jot down what was forgotten completely. After looking back, it is a whole lot easier to look forward. There are some huge messages for us if we will take the time to look back first. Don’t move forward without them.
With Gratitude,
Beth
I am the poster child for this post. A year ago I was foundering – I knew I was not where I wanted to be, where I needed to be. I couldn’t articulate where that new place was, it what it looked like. I got help. With some wonderful coaching, some serious introspection, an injection of thoughtful prayer and a generous dollop of luck I have been able to move forward. In just a short year I have transformed from wallowing to wonderful. You can too!
Bill, you did the hard work required to be where you are right now. We will often look at wallowing as being in a tough spot but wallowing is exactly what we needed; we would never find wonderful without wallowing first! Beth