A New Approach to Achieving Your 2022 Goals

I woke up this morning to three unpredicted inches of snow. My friend’s father died last week while on a ski trip. He was in decent shape. A business I work with sold last month for several times its estimated worth two years ago. I can go on and on about events that happen for which we have no plan.

This dynamic is frustrating to me because I am a disciplined planner. I’ve coached businesses on short/medium/long-term plans. Unfortunately, there are a lot of wasted calories on business plans today because so many unexpected things happen that change the plans dramatically.

There are a lot of wasted calories on business plans today because so many unexpected things happen that plans change dramatically.

In 2021, I wrote about the 12-week year, a paradigm shift that was helpful to many. I suggested breaking the traditional 12-month year into distinct mini-years and planning for each. I’m encouraging the following adjustments for 2022.

One-Year Vision

Spend time trying to articulate a 2022 vision (not a plan). Your vision might include more balance, financial freedom, and/or deeper relationships. A vision is more of a direction than specific goals. Do not worry about being too detailed because it’s guided more about how you will feel than where you will be.

LISTEN: A 30-Day Plan for Success

Three-Month Priorities and Goals

With the vision in mind, you want to articulate priorities and goals on a three-month cycle. A priority is what you will be spending more time on and has a sense of hierarchy compared to other things. For many, it is not about abandoning what you have done in the past, but it’s about spending more time and energy on that priority. For example, if better health is a priority, you will want to begin to track health-related metrics or make sure you are blocking out time for workouts. If growth in the business is a priority, you will want to have more conversations and open doors for growth. I like to limit these to no more than three.

30-Day Plan

Because of the uncertainty today, a strong 30-day plan is important. Try to have a specific 30-day plan and action steps based on where you are heading (your vision) and your priorities. This plan needs to be mapped out and monitored on a day-to-day basis. Try to be very disciplined but not obsessed. Call the appropriate audibles to make sure you are still on target with the vision and the priorities.

In closing, I know that looking at things through a new lens (30 days versus 12 months) might be uncomfortable for many. But if you leverage this thought process, it will achieve a more accurate and predictable outcome.

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