Last Thursday and Friday in my Leadership Coaching Program I taught annual reflection and goal setting!
If you want to dial up 2025 and make it your best year yet, why not jump in the program and get not only these two great lessons, but also an entire leadership library filled with lessons on ALL the career skills you need to max out your progress and enjoyment?
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Enjoy the recap of the two sessions below:
REFLECTION RECAP
When it comes to reflection, it requires time, effort, and discipline, which usually means most people won’t do it. But the great news is a little bit of reflection goes a long way.
The most important aspect to understand about reflection is, no matter who you are or how successful you are, you will never FEEL successful unless you reflect.
That’s why I do it daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually. And, NO, it does not require hours, so I’m sure you can squeeze a bit of it in here and there.
I want you to master these principles so you feel motivated to take action and achieve your goals!
In the reflection session, I covered:
- 9 key areas to review.
- Questions to ask yourself.
- Recording this information.
- Using it to look forward (yes, forward).
- Keeping perspective.
Highlights include:
- Recognizing the key moments. Our lives are made of moments. The problem is most people spend their entire life avoiding the present moment. If you want to understand and appreciate the value of any moment you’ve lived, you need to reflect on it.
- Accomplishments and challenges. Our lives are really nothing more than overcoming one challenge after another on our way to our achievements. Most people wade through life never bothering to interpret their major challenges, let alone the minor, daily ones that continually present opportunities for growth and greatness.
- Lessons. Just because we lived a moment doesn’t mean we learned from the moment. I often say, “Our experience is not what happens to us, but the meaning we attach to what happens to us!”
- Mirror, mirror. Self-discovery is amazing. There are rare few things in life that are as satisfying as understanding yourself and knowing this is who I am.
- More please. We become great in our lives by doubling down on our strengths. Sure, improving those “weaknesses” helps. But, if you want to go far, rely on your bread-and-butter skills and loves.
- Less please. When you strip away the excess, you’re essentially left with the stellar stuff. Oftentimes, the beautiful and strong is dragged down by the meaningless and unnecessary. Get rid of it if possible. If not, minimize it.
- What? Me? Worry? One of my favorite Mark Twain quotes is, “I’ve lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.” I’m pretty sure that’s all that needs to be said about this one.
- Thanks. We learn mostly through gratitude. That sheer thankfulness for life, every joy in it, every experience in it (good or “bad”), every person we’ve encountered and loved, and even the ones we didn’t love who might have taught us tons.
- Sum it up. You can usually strip everything down in life. Sum up your year in a few words.
GOAL SETTING RECAP
A well-known approach to goal setting often revolves around SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals, but I think this completely misses the point of goal setting.
Goals should be about transformation not checking off achievements!
I spoke about this extensively in Out of Reach but in Sight: Using Goals to Achieve Your Impossible.
In the goal setting lesson, we took a deep dive and covered:
- Why you fail.
- The types of goals.
- Choosing goals.
- How to set them.
- How to plan for and execute them.
- The ultimate formula for success.
- Examples of each type of goal.
Highlights include:
- Why so many fail. There are many reasons people don’t achieve their goals. The list is endless ranging from bad choices, not caring enough, taking on goals for someone other than yourself, poor planning, bad execution, and a host of other reasons. I genuinely believe, however, the main culprit for most people is lack of sacrifice.
- Perspective. We live in the day-in-and-day-out moments. So, why would we ever set goals that prevent us from enjoying those moments? A goal should facilitate enjoyment and positive transformation, which are never-ending and immeasurable.
- A winning mindset. Cultivating a winning mindset involves identifying your aspirations, embracing the early stages of your journey, enjoying the learning process, practicing patience, and making informed decisions.
- Two types of goals. There are many ways to describe goals, but I like to keep things simple. I generally break them down into two types: outcome and process.
- How to choose goals. Think “who” not “what.” If you set a goal, whether process or outcome based, around who you want to be versus what you want to accomplish, you will achieve those goals at a startlingly high rate.
- Popular areas to choose goals. Avocational, emotional, financial, intellectual, marital, parental, health, social, spiritual, vocational.
- Considerations when choosing goals. Trajectory, direction, and intention matter more than where you are at any time. Remember, life is about living every day. Enjoy it.
- How to set goals (I mean, BHAGS). Pick a goal that’s huge—you can do it. Bigger is better because you’ll care more and there will be a transformational pull. Remember, goals are about enjoyment and transformation. They should not be “judges” that make you feel poorly about yourself.
- The set up really determines your victory. Think intention, fit, sacrifices, obstacles, responses, people, locations, equipment, plan, reward.
- Nothing happens without a plan. Develop your high-level plan by including all the major components (previous section) and identifying the major steps.
- Then, it’s really about where you focus. Most people feel reluctant, or even paralyzed before they start, because they are imagining all the work it’s going to take to achieve the outcome. Focus on the habit, systems, and steps you’ll be performing each day to (eventually) achieve your goal.
- The goal-winning formula. Whether I’m working toward a goal or building a habit, I use the same formula because, essentially the process is the same: 1) Set environment, 2) do it, 3) reflect, 4) reward.
- Typical goal structures. 1) Personal achievement goal with imposed date, 2) ongoing habit, system, lifestyle goal, 3) professional achievement goal with or without a date, 4) professional performance goal ongoing.
- More perspective. The actual attainment of the goal is far less important than the positive impact working toward that goal has on your life. Focus on your transformation. Improve your beliefs about yourself. Enjoy the journey!
As you can see from these highlights related to reflection and goal setting, there is a lot to get right to transform yourself into the person you want to be!
If you’re interested in taking that deeper plunge with me, catching the replays, and also enjoying attendance at our monthly Zoom get-togethers, check out the entire Leadership Coaching Program.
It really will help set you up for a great 2025!
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Andrew LaCivita, a globally-renowned career and leadership coach, is the founder of the milewalk Academy®. During the course of his distinguished career, he has impacted over 350 companies, more than 100,000 individuals, and spanned nearly 200 countries, helping them unlock their full potential. He is an award-winning author who gained international recognition with his groundbreaking books, Interview Intervention: Communication That Gets You Hired, The Hiring Prophecies: Psychology behind Recruiting Successful Employees, and The Zebra Code: A Step-By-Step Guide to Mastering Career Skills That Make You a Standout Professional. These seminal works, along with his celebrated vlog, Tips for Work and Life®, consistently earn top spots on reputable, worldwide lists which rank the best career advice books and blogs. Andrew remains actively engaged across various social media platforms and shares his expertise through his weekly Live Office Hours on YouTube every Thursday.
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