Hello, and welcome to this 14th episode in the Happy UN Career Podcast - about 3 reasons why you want to set goals for the next year (and the 8 steps you need)!
So, today’s episode is about looking forward in the next year – even if that seems difficult in the midst of the pandemic. But most of us are geared in such a way that we function best with something to look forward to.
And if the outside world is not providing that – you should look to create it yourself.
I believe that if we want change in our lives, we really have to find a way to look for – and create – that change ourselves. We can’t change the pandemic. We can’t change the restrictions that may apply in the place we live. But we can start making plans for the things we can make happen. That we want to make happen.
So today I’ll share the 3 reasons why you should create goals for yourself for the next year – and the 8 steps to do that.
So, this episode is really about goalsetting – laying out a direction for the year. For your year.
Reason #1 for creating goals for the year: Good goals let you work on your plan
Because if you don’t have your own goals – and plans to reach your goals – you’ll end up spending your time working on other people’s goals. Other people’s plans.
Goalsetting is really about setting intentions. Figuring out where you want to go – so you can plan a way to get there. If you don’t know where you’re going how will you know how to get there? And how will you know when you have arrived?
If you just follow the flow, one day after the other, one email after the other, you’ll be fine for a while probably. But one day you might look up from your desk and realise that the world changed around you. People left the team. Your supervisor is new. And now the scope of your work is being changed.
It seems like everybody else had a plan and moved on. And maybe you were so busy responding to emails, meeting deadlines, and attending meetings that you didn’t get around to figuring out your own plan. Let alone taking action on it.
This was my life at one point. I was so busy doing the day-to-day stuff that I never really had the energy – or thought I had the time - to step back and deliberately make a plan for what I wanted to happen. How I wanted to develop. What I wanted to try.
Maybe I was also a bit afraid? Because I knew what I had. I was comfortable with feeling really good at my job. If I left for something else, then maybe I wouldn’t feel as confident. At least for a while. And what if I wouldn’t perform as well in the new place? In the new role?
And possibly there was also a level of procrastination involved. When you’re already very busy, it takes extra energy to pull yourself away from that. So, you just get on with your job and respond to the next email and tick off the next thing on the to-do list and thus leave the goal setting and the bold decisions for – tomorrow.
Reason #2 for creating goals for the year: Good goals put you in control
When you set goals (and make a plan), you have conscious thoughts about what you want. What you want your life and work to look like. And feel like. You’re taking responsibility. You’re being proactive instead of being reactive.
When we’re spending most of our time and resources reacting to all the things others want from us, demand from us – that can easily make us feel despondent. It can make us feel like we haven’t much control over our lives. And that is not good for us in the long run.
Read the full show notes at www.barbarakandersen.com/14.
Hello, and welcome to this 14th episode in the Happy UN Career Podcast - about 3 reasons why you want to set goals for the next year (and the 8 steps you need)!
So, today’s episode is about looking forward in the next year – even if that seems difficult in the midst of the pandemic. But most of us are geared in such a way that we function best with something to look forward to.
And if the outside world is not providing that – you should look to create it yourself.
I believe that if we want change in our lives, we really have to find a way to look for – and create – that change ourselves. We can’t change the pandemic. We can’t change the restrictions that may apply in the place we live. But we can start making plans for the things we can make happen. That we want to make happen.
So today I’ll share the 3 reasons why you should create goals for yourself for the next year – and the 8 steps to do that.
So, this episode is really about goalsetting – laying out a direction for the year. For your year.
Reason #1 for creating goals for the year: Good goals let you work on your plan
Because if you don’t have your own goals – and plans to reach your goals – you’ll end up spending your time working on other people’s goals. Other people’s plans.
Goalsetting is really about setting intentions. Figuring out where you want to go – so you can plan a way to get there. If you don’t know where you’re going how will you know how to get there? And how will you know when you have arrived?
If you just follow the flow, one day after the other, one email after the other, you’ll be fine for a while probably. But one day you might look up from your desk and realise that the world changed around you. People left the team. Your supervisor is new. And now the scope of your work is being changed.
It seems like everybody else had a plan and moved on. And maybe you were so busy responding to emails, meeting deadlines, and attending meetings that you didn’t get around to figuring out your own plan. Let alone taking action on it.
This was my life at one point. I was so busy doing the day-to-day stuff that I never really had the energy – or thought I had the time - to step back and deliberately make a plan for what I wanted to happen. How I wanted to develop. What I wanted to try.
Maybe I was also a bit afraid? Because I knew what I had. I was comfortable with feeling really good at my job. If I left for something else, then maybe I wouldn’t feel as confident. At least for a while. And what if I wouldn’t perform as well in the new place? In the new role?
And possibly there was also a level of procrastination involved. When you’re already very busy, it takes extra energy to pull yourself away from that. So, you just get on with your job and respond to the next email and tick off the next thing on the to-do list and thus leave the goal setting and the bold decisions for – tomorrow.
Reason #2 for creating goals for the year: Good goals put you in control
When you set goals (and make a plan), you have conscious thoughts about what you want. What you want your life and work to look like. And feel like. You’re taking responsibility. You’re being proactive instead of being reactive.
When we’re spending most of our time and resources reacting to all the things others want from us, demand from us – that can easily make us feel despondent. It can make us feel like we haven’t much control over our lives. And that is not good for us in the long run.
Read the full show notes at www.barbarakandersen.com/14.