In my annual retreat the past December, I decided to change up the way I set my priorities for 2015. This year I wanted a more wholistic approach to goal fulfillment, fully recognizing that all areas of life intertwine and hence my Action steps would have to recognize and cater to all aspects. Of course I want to grow my business by X% and impact more clients by Y% but I want to do it while adhering to my motto of being present and slowing down.
A tool that was really helpful in this process is the Annual Focus tool from the book called 18 minutes by Peter Bregman. It’s a fantastic book.The concept of the tool is to focus the bulk of your time on the things that matter most to you and move your towards your goals. You identify 5 goals to accomplish in the year and list them out in the 5 boxes. 95% of your time should be spent on these 5 Focus items and the remaining 5% are more for administrative tasks or regular chores. The best part about this is you can use this tool in multiple ways. I took it a step (or more like a staircase further!).
I made a combined list of business and personal categories and listed my big goals for each. I then created seperate monthly goals for each of those big tasks.At the beginning of each month, I plan to distill these goals to weekly goals to keep focused and it has worked out great for the month of January. And no, I do not suffer from OCD or anything remotely close to that. Just getting crystal clear about what I want to acheive this year and writing down the steps to the most granular level is a huge relief and a major inspiration.
I urge all of you to spend time finding and choosing your focus and spending your time in the areas that give you meaning and joy in your life. The time and energy you spend on these things is a sure fire way to lead a more fulfilling life!
