I’m an original subscriber and big fan of Michael Hyatt’s Platform University. This month’s master class featured an insightful interview with Michael during which he describes a simple preparation process for New Years resolutions (another term for goal setting.) As a long time goal setter, I realize that this has been a missing element for me that has rendered my annual goals far less effective than they could be.
It’s a simple concept: Before setting clear goals for the coming year, you must take time to review the past year. As Michael Hyatt advises, “Don’t let your past limit your future. Review your past — don’t just move on without looking back. Set aside some time to reflect on the past year to get closure on what you’ve accomplished — your biggest wins and losses and what you’ve learned from them — before you can really commit to your goals for the new year.”
Specifically, there are seven questions to ask yourself in reviewing the prior year:
1) If the last year of your life were a movie, what would be the genre?
Think of yourself as a movie director and you’re getting ready to shoot this last year of your life. Is it an adventure, a drama, a horror film, or maybe a comedy?
Why ask such an off-the-wall question? Because your life is connected to a larger story — it’s not just a series of isolated events disconnected from one another.
After thinking on this question, my film would resemble a long-running TV program: Somewhat predictable, ratings driven with quality content that is continuously improving, but not very adventurous.
2) What were the 2 or 3 major themes that kept recurring this past year?
These are things you want to set goals around. Let these themes inform your future. If you don’t identify them, you end up repeating the same themes, year after year — and you never really grow.
My Major themes:
-Christianity is an all-or nothing commitment: It must be all for me.
-I’m not fully functioning as a leader at work. I need to re-engage in order to feel fully alive and contributory.
3) What did you accomplish this past year that you are most proud of?
As Michael points out, a lot of high achieving people never acknowledge and enjoy their accomplishments. If this is you, losing sight of this can cause you to lose perspective and miss out on the reason why you work so hard.
This past year, I am most proud of:
-The launch of my speaking career.
-Helping my son launch his career in Los Angeles.
-Integrating Financial Peace University into our marriage and our lifestyle.
4) What do you feel that you should have been acknowledged for but weren’t?
In the corporate world, many people work hard but are never acknowledged by their bosses and coworkers. In this case, it’s important to self acknowledge — to give yourself credit. Often these are the truly important — but not urgent — accomplishments in life. (Think of stay-at-home moms, social workers, ministry volunteers, and others.)
For me, these include:
-Sticking with the discipline of updating my Life Plan.
-Developing myself as a speaker/presenter.
5) What disappointments or regrets did you experience this past year?
In Jim Collins landmark book, Good to Great, one of the distinguishing traits of great companies is what he identified as the Stockdale Paradox, after Vietnam veteran Admiral Stockdale. When he was interviewed after spending years in a brutal North Vietnamese POW camp, Stockdale said that the men who survived the harsh conditions of imprisonment were those who faced the brutal facts of their existence, but never lost hope. The key: Being alert to emerging patterns in your life and trying to change the negative ones.
For me, these are:
-Not spending enough time with my parents.
-Not taking the opportunity to recognize people for their accomplishments and contributions.
6) What was missing from the last year as you look back?
According to Michael, this is a better question than asking what was wrong, which invites blaming and fault-finding.
Mine are:
-Leading more proactively at work.
-Engaging more men with the message of the Gospel.
7) What major life lessons did you learn from this last year?
Take everything you’ve learned and state them as a theme or life lesson. This helps us grow in wisdom, so we can avoid repeating the same mistakes and live more intentionally.
Mine are:
-Life’s most important things — living my faith, investing in meaningful relationships, growing my marriage, etc. — must always be contended for.
-We don’t decide our futures; we decide our habits, and our habits decide our futures.
-To be happy and fulfilled, you must Learn to say “no” without feeling guilty.
Asking these seven questions will lay the groundwork for New Years resolutions and/or goals that will be inspire, motivate, and positively change you all year long. Before you start, here are four important reminders:
(1) Set aside some secluded, uninterrupted time to develop your thoughts. Don’t rush it!
(2) Commit your thoughts to writing. Remember, “Thoughts disentangle themselves passing over the lips and through pencil tips.”
(3) There are no right or wrong answers. You don’t need to have three responses for every question — it can be a narrative, bullet points, any way you want — as long as it reflects what you really think.
(4) Once you’re done, turn the page, put it in your past, and move forward with setting specific, meaningful goals for the coming year.
In tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve post, I’ll share six steps to setting meaningful goals that few people ever practice. They’re the key ingredient to harnessing the power of goals to making 2014 your best year ever. Stay tuned!