Once again, the year came to an end and we all were looking for the strength to wrap things up gracefully. Having a nice ending and a strategic start is one of the first goals on every team’s list. Creating clear intentions for the new chapters ahead, evaluating what went right and wrong in the previous episode, and achieving the new goals we set seem to rise up in the list of priorities. It is as if having a new blank page to write on kind of air, brought to the table different spices. New sensations, a new set of priorities. For sure, a new year brings the promise of a new book. Millions of new opportunities and countless ways to get to our purpose, but would we get there?
If you want to move forward, you have to get in the new year spirit. Which, for most means a deep cleaning of what was left, learning a new organization method, and a clearing path to achieve the new goals. Whether you are a manager, a CEO, or an employee work is a big area to look after. No matter when you are reading this article, there is no need for a year to be starting to try to create spaces where we can achieve our goals. So, don’t be afraid to start the gym on a Friday, a new routine on a Thursday, or new goals in the middle of March. Having the intention and disposition to go further can happen all year round.
But what should we do to move forward? And what could we do to help our teams to do so? Well… Let´s follow a little bit of the new year spirit since it doesn’t differ that much from what needs to be done. We could say that we have three main steps to follow, and we need to make some adjustments on how to achieve them depending on our situation. But why don’t we dig into it?
Deep cleaning
When I was a kid, my father used to tell me that if I wanted to eventually get new toys, new clothes, and so on, I had to make space for it. He said that in a closet full of clothes I didn’t wear anymore there is no room for new things to come; so before having new things that won’t fit anywhere, you have to take out what is not useful anymore, clean out and make the space for it.
This parental advice brought much more than new toys or clothes. It taught me a fundamental step for most things in life. You can’t fill a full bottle, you can’t write on a full page, and you can’t carry old weights into new projects. In this case means that no matter how big or small your goal is, you need to start by making sure you have the fertile ground to plant the seed.
How can you do this at work? Or how can you as a company or manager help your team to do it? There are many possibilities, but let me simplify it for you, and don’t worry, all of these steps can be applied to group work or even personal goals, just try to put them into perspective. You can start off by being attentive. Before starting a new project, you try to be observant of your surroundings. Look carefully and identify what you can. Attention to detail is key to this step, it is just like when you are looking at a painting for the first time, even though you’ve already seen pictures of it, you look deeply into it, watch the pencil strokes, the colors, the texture, you acknowledge everything. So should you if you want to bring some new goal into the equation. You need to acknowledge where you are standing because that will be your start-up point.
Once you have a clear picture, you can pass to evaluate where you are. Here is where you start adding value to what you previously identified. You know what you have, so you can classify and determine what assets or threats you have on your side. And you don’t have to be the only judge of that, you can ask questions, look for feedback, find evidence, whatever helps you make sound choices. Being able to distinguish what contributes from what doesn’t and also what needs some fixes to make a difference is very important. Sometimes we have a very useful asset that we are just not taking good advantage of, or that we are not using properly. One time, I had a tiny alarm clock that rang as loud as a school bell, but I kept it in my drawer because I found it annoying. I continued to use the alarms on my phone until I realized I took way too long to actually wake up from those and started using that clock. It was a very useful asset I had on my corner and that helped me create a habit. After it stopped being useful for me, it was time to give it to my brother so it could help him.
When you are done with that, it is time to let go. Just like when you cleaned your closet with some version of the Konmari method, you need to start saying goodbye to all that is not in your service or best interest anymore. There is no better way to start a new important chapter than to leave behind previous baggage. Let’s say that you want to have a healthier lifestyle this year because you want to start taking care of yourself and have more energy and so. And you have made the habit of ordering some fast food when you have little time and no will to cook. Well… that habit will be opposed to your goal, so you need to regulate it or let it go, but either way, things need to change. Sometimes we like things the way they are, although they are not efficient or useful anymore, but how can I achieve my new goals, or work towards a new dream if I’m still set up to do something different?
New methods
After you created the place for new planes to land, now you can think of ways to get your airport going. Here is where teamwork becomes extremely useful. You need to find ways to maintain your clean space and avoid filling it up with things that are not getting you closer to your goal. For example, let’s imagine that you want to cultivate your friendships, so you make the space in your schedule to hang out with your friends and maybe give them that call you always mean to give but never stop to do. Now that you cleared your weekend, you need to figure out ways to keep it open, even if you can’t hang out yet. Don’t sign up for more work, or fill that space with something that will impede your main goal. If you want to sign up for a painting class, try asking your friends to join you if that is a shared interest, or maybe you can clean the apartment on Saturday, so you can have friends over on Sunday. But the key factor is that you designate a space for something and you need to be true to your word, mostly when is to yourself.
Learn to listen… Listen to yourself, to your body that asks for rest, and to your feelings when you think about your goals. Does it feel like someone you want to be? Is that a life you want to live? Find out where to go, what you want to become, and what you want to accomplish. Don’t expect different results while using the same methods. Part of listening is understanding what needs to be improved in order to move forward. Create new plans, and new methods, it can be a bit of trial and error at first, but the lessons are long-lasting, and the more you get to know yourself, the easier it will be to tailor-make your goals to be realities in no time. The same goes if you want to create some new methods for a team. Listen to them, get to know them, and you will know which kind of technique works best.
Clear path
If you know where you are going, you only need to plan how to get there. I can’t stress enough how useful it is to make your goals smart. It helps you get a broken down and functional view of your goal, you get to make it into achievable steps and the whole journey becomes like a walk around the park. So be Specific, no one achieves a goal that is too abstract to understand. Make it measurable, you need to be able to know whether you are getting closer or not. They should be achievable, nothing like learning to be an Olympic gymnast in two days. Ask yourself, if they are relevant, do they follow your values? And last but not least, they have to be time-bound, you need to be able to check in a couple of months to see your progress and be sure there is some or not.
The design of your pathway to success is a consequence of your swat analysis. So gather up your people and ask for help in this one. When the goal is personal, we could be too close to home to be able to identify correctly a threat, so don’t be afraid to ask for some help. It is very wise to do so, and much more if you have someone with a bit more experience than you around. You create the path and clear it out on a daily basis, when there is no road to follow, you can have unexpected ups and downs that you didn’t foresee coming. So, be a nice and smart person and learn from your surroundings.
We all struggle sometimes to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Some days the road gets rockier, other days it gets dark… We get sad, frustrated, unmotivated, and numb… but most of the time, we just need to keep pushing forward until the day is over; we need to keep pushing through for a little longer. Dreams don’t just happen in the blink of an eye, we make them happen with hard work and every single effort we put into them, no matter how big or small.
Somedays, it is just about putting one foot in front of the other to move. A new year will come with new challenges, new hopes, and new goals; nobody said it was going to be easy, but as long as you keep a small light on, meaning that you remember why you started or the purpose of it, you can do it. Just one day at a time. You can push forward one day at a time, so what are you waiting for to start doing it? We believe in you, and so should you.
