My New Year resolution? Why I’d rather answer a different question

My youngest son asked me at Christmas if I had a New Year resolution. He knows I never have a straightforward answer to a question like that and instead I proposed a different question to talk about…

“In terms of your goals for next year, how will you know if what you’re doing to improve is working?” Asking the question in this way means you still talk about what to work on, but it also focuses discussion on what I feel is the most important aspect of goal setting – the positive impact on motivation of understanding how to REGULARLY and ACCURATELY measure progress.

• By REGULARLY I’m talking every WEEK. When you reflect on whether you did what you planned to do each week, make sure you include an assessment of the ways you found to see if the plan is working
• By ACCURATELY I’m talking about the need to constantly EVOLVE how you measure progress. As you improve, the measures you used initially might not be challenging enough and it can feel like progress has stalled or they might not be specific enough to assess more subtle improvements so it’s harder to see if what you’re doing is working

These measures will be very specific to the area you are working on and can take a bit of creative thinking to work out. But if you think motivation might be a challenge over the next 12 months then it’s well worth the effort!

Good luck and best wishes for a successful 2020.

If you’re interested in receiving our monthly Insights sign up here