Setting Goals from a Mindset of Success, not Deficiency

February 4th, 2014 by Kelly Kienzle

Today is February 4 and if you’re already a bit disillusioned and uninspired by your resolutions, here’s a new perspective: Look at all that you do have. Consider your strengths. What are your successes? What do you want to do more of? (Caveat: This does not include cupcake-eating.)  Now, how can you recycle those past successes into new goals?  Here’s how:

1. Consider what you enjoyed doing in 2013. What earned your colleagues’ praise? What 3 projects did you enjoy most? Jot them down.

2. Ask yourself what would be the “second horizon” or next phase of those projects. What still remains incomplete? What does your team want more of? (Not sure? Go ask them: “What do you see as my strengths? What are this year’s challenges?” Then look for how your strengths could be applied to those challenges.)

3. But what about the uninspiring challenges that still must be addressed? Look at the best elements of your inspiring work and see which are transferrable to the uninspiring work.

For example, you may have loved shaping the marketing strategy in 2013, specifically how you used a certain framework for engaging potential clients. How can that framework be applied to the training curriculum you have to design for new hires? Re-purposing past successes can breathe new life into dreaded projects.

Setting goals in terms of what is missing or lacking is inherently uninspiring. Such goals leave us with a feeling of “Ugh, I still haven’t done that.” But building off of what we enjoy, plays to our natural strengths. We want to do it and we feel more confident that we can do it. Furthermore, you’re likely to be even better this time around as you fine-tune your skills. (Suffering from an over-abundance of goals? Here’s how Thinking Tiny can help.)

What were your favorite moments from 2013? How do you want to re-create those in 2014 in a new way?

“If not now, when?  There is no tomorrow, only a string of todays.”

– Mark Nepo