What is your word for 2014?
As the last page of the calendar hangs on the wall, it is nearly time for a new beginning in 2014.
The end of the year is one of my favorite times at work because there is a brief pause in the busy day-to-day, and we have the opportunity to refocus and map the course we want our business/project/organization/family to take in 2014.
This year conduct an annual review (or at least choose your word for 2014). You’ll be amazed how it helps you focus on what matters.
[If you want to skip the detailed explanation of how you can do it and just get to it yourself, feel free to download the annual review template file or view it on Google Drive now.]
What is an annual review?
An annual review is both a look back and a look forward.
Before worrying about what is to come, take a moment at the end of this year to reflect, or review, the year that was.
To start your annual review ask yourself two simple questions:
- What went well this year?
- What didn’t go well this year?
As per Chris Guillebeau’s recommendation, I like to think of about five things that went well and five that didn’t go so well, focusing on the things that are under my control.
After you have made a list of what went well and what didn’t go well, consider what you can learn from each. For example, maybe your family life and relationships with friends went well this year. Why is that? What can you repeat from it? Maybe your business didn’t grow as fast as you would have liked. Why is that? What can you learn from it so you can change it in the coming year?
Look forward and set goals
After thinking back on how the year went you can look ahead to how you want the upcoming year to go.
For me to focus and achieve something during the year, it works best to have a quantifiable goal and a plan to complete the goal. If I don’t write down the goal and tell someone, I am more likely to drift from project to project and in the end look back at dozens of half-completed efforts that haven’t contributed to my body of work.
Creating a goal is your compass. Of course you can stray and choose later on that the goal doesn’t matter, but the act of deciding to let go of a goal makes it a conscious effort, not a failure of initiative.
Goals do not have to be new things to do. Rather, there should be negative goals, meaning a goal to say NO. If we constantly do more, we burn out, don’t enjoy the moments as they pass and ultimately defeat the purpose of having a goal.
Creating a blueprint for the year, both what you want to do and what you don’t want to do, forces one to reflect. It is in this reflection that we can constantly remind ourselves what matters and how to do what matters.
Three types of goals
As you look ahead to the upcoming year, the types of goals you set (or don’t set) should be based on what works for you. From my years of conducting annual reviews I’ve narrowed it down to three types of goals going from least amount or work to most amount of work. These are based on models created by Leo Babuata, Chris Brogan and Chris Guillebeau (much of my template is built off of his).
1. Screw goals – For self-starters
According to Leo, goals are a flawed system. The very fact that you are spending time creating and trying to achieve goals means you are missing life (not to mention wasting time making goals instead of actually doing something!)
Instead of worrying about achieving arbitrary benchmarks, be open to opportunities. If you’re not worried about completing a certain task you will see new options, be more creative and ultimately experience life.
While I love this type of goal in theory, in practice it’s not for me. I’m too tempted to chase the latest and greatest thing. If I don’t have a compass, I flail in the breeze. However, if you are a self-starter who needs more help being mindful than achieving, this may be the model for you.
This type of goal is not an excuse not to think about the upcoming year. Making a conscious effort to not set goals is in itself a goal of mindfulness. This might be a good fit for you, but make sure you choose it.
2. Big picture goals – For conceptual thinkers
I love having a overarching theme to the year. If nothing else you remember the theme, and it still allows the flexibility to follow opportunities that come along.
Brogan recommends choosing three words for the year but I’m happy with one. Choose the one word that encompasses what you want your year to be about.
Last year for example, was the year of focus for me.
Whenever opportunities presented themselves, I had that little word in my head. Focus. It helped me say no to projects that would take me away from focusing on what matters and helped me say yes to opportunities that deepened my knowledge and time spent on my focus areas.
After you have your word, you can then add more specific goals that will support that word and even steps to achieve those goals. If your word is focus, one supporting goal might then be to eliminate two projects that are not helping your overall business or to study the foreign language you have always wanted to learn.
To achieve those goals, you would set dates and the steps needed for completion. Maybe to shutdown project 1 by March 2014 and to complete the first level of Rosetta Stone by February 2014.
The big picture method allows you to keep things at a high level that is easier to remember but also add specifics to get there.
3. Action plan goals – For the planners and micro-managers
At the end of every year, my brother and business partner John and I sit down and go over personal and professional goals. We set our goals based on what I refer to as action plan goals.
[We've modified Chris' template, so if you want to try this method, click here to download the template file or view it on Google Drive.]
Action plan goals take the big picture idea of having a word, but flips it around and builds up to it. It requires in-depth thinking on what makes for a well-rounded life and how you will include those elements into your life.
Here’s how you do it:
Start with categories important for your life
Categorize the areas of your life that you want to focus on in the next year. I borrowed from Chris here and include: writing, business, family and friends, service, travel, spiritual, health, learning, financial earning, financial giving and financial saving.
Create specific goals in each category
Write down two to four goals in each category that you want to achieve during 2014. It’s best when these are measurable, like “learn 1000 words in Norwegian” rather than “get better at Norwegian.”
Map a plan for implementation
Set dates for completion and specific metrics you will use to measure your progress. It’s great to have dreams of what the year will look like at the end of next December, but if you can’t map out how you will get there, it may not be a realistic goal. (A few of my metrics are on the spreadsheet.)
What I’ve found in this step is that I often overestimate what I can get done in a day and underestimate what can be done in a year (or any long period of time). If I want to learn 1000 Norwegian words, that’s only three a day. Not too hard. Mapping out your plan will help you break down what might seem like an unobtainable goal (travel around the world) into easy steps (earn 50,000 miles and save $5 a day).
Summarize the year based on the sum of these specific goals
This is the fun part. You take a look at all those specific goals in all of the categories of your life that matter, and you summarize a purpose, outcome and theme for your year.
The purpose is the qualitative driving force for the year. I always start by saying, “In 2014 I will…(do something)…” Last year for example, my purpose was:
In 2013 I will empower change in others. I will focus on growing thought leadership through writing and building a sustainable business.
The outcome is the quantitative metrics you are shooting for. I always start by saying, “In 2014 I will…(have something)…” Last year for example, my outcome was:
At the end of 2013, I will have a million dollar company and 6000 subscribers leading to 200 academy members, 8 mastermind members and 4 new 9 clouds clients.
Finally, and most importantly you create your theme for the year. This is similar to the big picture goal, but now we are choosing the theme based on the sum of all of our specific goals. I always start this section by saying “2014 is the year of…(theme). By this time next year I will be ready to (next step once you achieve your theme).” Last year for example, my theme was:
2013 is the year of focus. This time next year, I will be ready to move towards a think/do tank.
With the action plan method you end up with an easy-to-remember theme, purpose and outcome for the year, but it is based on more detailed thinking about what you actually want to achieve. I find it keeps me more balanced whereas the big picture goals always end up being focused solely or mostly on business for me.
Revisit your goals
Once you choose your goals to set (or not set) for the year, it is important to revisit them throughout the year.
Some goals will stop mattering, others will seem incredibly easy or impossibly difficult as you go along. That’s fine. By creating time once a quarter to look at your goals you can update your plan to achieve them and grade yourself on your progress.
On our spreadsheet we add a place to give a grade and brief summary in each quarter. It’s also helpful to designate a person who will keep you accountable for each goal. By telling someone else that you are hoping to achieve something, it is more likely to happen.
Even if you choose to not set goals, I would still encourage review. Once a quarter you can ask yourself, am I taking time to see new opportunities and enjoy the moment?
Email reminders
This year I’m trying something new to ensure that I look at my goals throughout the year. I set up an automatic email reminder system that will send a simple email telling me its time to look at my goals.
I’d invite any of you to add yourself to the list if you want a simple email once a quarter. I’ll also send you the annual review template. Click here to join the goal reminder list.
Make 2014 the best year yet
There are many ways to reflect on the previous year and plan for the upcoming year. Choose the method that works best for you, but most importantly, do something.
Take advantage of a few quiet days and weeks this holiday to make next year the best year yet.
Do you have other suggestions or want to share your goals? It will make you more likely to achieve them!
Just leave a comment and tell me how you set goals and/or what they are for next year. I’ll share them in an upcoming blog post or newsletter so we can all learn from you and help keep you accountable!
