Reflect | Rethink | Realign

Setting your goals for 2023

It was November, a month after my 40th Birthday Caryn and I were flying to our annual convention taking place in Atlanta Georgia. We were particularly excited as this was the first time we were attending as business owners, and it was Caryn’s first-time away from our daughters. That trip was Epic. Caryn fell in love with the experience. We had saved for this, set goals to achieve key milestones which made going a reality. When we returned home to South Africa, we took the time to reflect on the year that had past acknowledging successes, rethink what it was we wanted to achieve going forward and realign our goals accordingly.

Revising our vision by using Reflect, Rethink, Realign is important because we have always been intentional with setting our goals and planning for what we want to achieve. This method made it simpler for us to refocus the longer term goals we had in place, those that were still 3-5 years out. Below are a few examples I will be working on over the holiday period, perhaps these will provide some ideas for you.

  • How can we increase top lines sales:
    • We must reflect on what’s working and what we can do better
    • Rethink our activities and approach to the market
    • Realign my job function and role to support this goal
    • Set measurable, realistic goals with the team
  •  How Can I improve as a facilitator for my team. 
    • I will reflect on what I have done well and what needs to improve
    • Rethink my delivery, the examples and be even more aware of the message being delivered and the context I am delivering in
    • Realign how I prepare and the methods of facilitation to use
    • Set personal SMART goals in order to track improvement
  • What can I do to get back on track with my exercise routine
    • Reflect on what I have done in the past
    • Rethink exercise choices and options I can implement
    • Realign my mindset around the injury I have
    • Set Measurable goals with an accountability partner perhaps

Once we have the ideas of what it is we want to achieve in 2023 we can apply the steps below:

REFLECT

Do a review on what you accomplished and acknowledge that there has been some success. Take stock of what didn’t go to well and where you came up a little short. Ask yourself: What action did I take that made me successful over the last year? What did I not do that caused the shortfalls? Are there activities I need to consider in order to achieve more?

Reflecting this way is proactive and helps us be more self-directed because we are taking ownership of our own growth. It builds resilience and we are practicing how to be creative problem solvers.

RETHINK

Look at the goals you achieved – can we build on that?  Look at the goals you fell short on – What action can we take to achieve them.  Are these still a priority for my GROWTH as I look forward? 

As we rethink, there may be a tendency to become critical of self.  Avoid going down the rabbit hole of insecurity.  We have reflected on what has worked and what has not earlier – Imposter Syndrome can make us turn negative and be unfairly harsh on ourselves.  We are adjusting our vision and goals and making the decision to tweak things.  It takes a strong person to recognize that their growth journey needs subtle tweaks and make changes as they go along.  What you are displaying here is a can do attitude and that you have a growth mindset.  

REALIGN

We realign to who it is we want to be.  In the 3 examples I shared above, the goals I am working on for 2023 is putting me on the journey to be a:

  1. Successful business leader
  2. Powerful & influential facilitator
  3. Fit dad

In each of the three areas I ask myself what the desired result is I am looking for, what do I want to achieve as a successful business leader. What results does a powerful & influential facilitator get. What does a Fit dad look like for me? Define the result and write it down. 

Next step is to ask what I must do to get it.  What is the change in behavior needed to achieve this.  For the Fit Dad goal, I need to change how I exercise – my injury is the reason not to run and cycle – It seems I have made it the reason not to exercise. Rethinking and realigning has gotten me to create a schedule of different exercise routines.  As a facilitator I need to interact differently and generate new examples in order to be fully connected and present in the room – it is how I prepare, what additional reading I should do etcetera. Again, I list these, and in some instances, I schedule the time (like when to exercise). 

As a synopsis here we can easily state that I am what I do and what I do is what gets me the results I desire.  In Dale Carnegie it is the transformation formula that makes the learning impactful.  I apply this to the goals I set:

As you celebrate the holidays and ring in the New Year.  Ask yourself who do you want to be when the sun rises on Jan 1st 2024?  Adapt the behavior in a consistent way and you will get the result.  Make 2023 the most intentional year yet!

To work with Neville or to just have a conversation reach out and connect with him here.

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