It’s time to get ready for 2013

“To be prepared is half the victory.” – Miguel de Cervantes

As we draw to the end of the year, it’s time to start thinking about 2013. Click here to download a 2013 Goals Worksheet and 90-Day Action Plan to get you thinking or support you if you’ve already begun to plan for 2013. I encourage you to focus on no more than three professional goals for the year. These should be stretch goals. By that I mean they should be attainable, but should stretch you. They should also SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound.

Neuroscience and recent research has shown that focusing on no more than 2-3 important goals dramatically increases the likelihood of achieving them. Focusing on 2-3 important goals helps your brain focus its power.  But it’s not easy to choose just 2-3 goals, so give yourself time to think about this exercise. As pointed out in The 4 Disciplines of Execution: “There will always be more good ideas than there is capacity to execute.” Use the worksheet to identify your top three professional goals for 2013. I encourage you to create your top three personal goals, as well. You know the old saying: All work and no play makes . . . for a dull life! After identifying your goals for 2013, you can begin to create your strategies and action steps for achieving them.

As German writer and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) said, “Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” Planning is the way you can identify the “things which matter most.” Without identifying “the things which matter most,” you will constantly be reacting to things that are important to others. You’ll always be putting out fires. You won’t be focused on achieving goals that matter to YOU!

Remember: “To achieve a goal you have never achieved before, you must start doing things you have never done before.” – Jim Stuart

Now’s the time to recharge, refocus and get ready for 2013!