Setting goals for 2020

Happy new year!!!

Do you like new year resolutions? Do you like setting personal goals every year?

It’s the new year and the whole world is talking about taking new year’s resolutions. This year, the added layer of a new decade has made it even more exciting for some people. However, there are some people who don’t like to do it just for the sake of it, and then there is always this other group of people who just ask - “So how many days did your resolution last? 😏”. Recently, I have seen another group of people who just set goals for the year and work towards achieving them.

Time for honest confessions - I have both of the below over the past few years-

1. Took up a new year’s resolution , only to leave it in a few months , sometimes few days, and sometimes even a few hours .
2. Set goals for the year - added it in my Microsoft To-Do app, and sort of just left it in the app to rot.

Why is it that none of these things seem to work right? Is it a lack of motivation? Or is it just laziness? Or something else?

At work, all of us have specific goals defined and we get measured based on how we perform on these goals and accordingly get our salary hikes, bonuses, etc.. Then why not replicate the same model for your personal life? I might fail again, however, no harm in giving it a shot. Anyways, most of the organizations change their performance review system every few years, then, why can’t I.

Inspiration

I definitely got inspired by Jon Levesque , who shares his goals on Twitter and also shares how he performed compared to what he committed to. I also had a good conversation with him about this when we met at Cincinnati ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL6sca-b81M ) and talking about this with him just inspired me more.

2019 Review

Though I didn’t set any goals in 2019, this is what I achieved last year -

https://twitter.com/that_API_guy/status/1213528864800038914?s=20

2020 Goals

• Content
  • 4 blog posts or vlogs every month
  • Launch a podcast on Power Platform and release new shows once every month
• Speaking
  • Speak at 10 conferences
  • Re-engage the Ohio Power Apps and Power Automate User Group . Target to have 6 user group meetings and get at-least 10-15 regular members.
• Training
  • Become a Microsoft Certified Trainer
• Mentoring
  • Guide / mentor at-least 3 people in their #PowerAddicts journey
• Fitness
  • Get at-least 3 hours of exercise every week

As you can see, I have divided my goals into different categories and also each of them is a measurable goal so I can exactly see how I performed compared to what I committed to.

Now, some of you might think why the heck do I care about this random guy’s goals. Exactly, you shouldn’t! My objective here is to just give you some examples.

Sharing Goals

I totally get it if you don’t feel like sharing this on social media. However, share it with someone - your spouse or your best friend or your parents(think twice before sharing with parents 😂 ). You HAVE to share with someone to keep you sort of answerable to someone. If you think you can be strict with yourself and that the only person you are answerable to is yourself, no need to share with anyone else.

Scheduling time for Goals

SUPER IMPORTANT! It’s very easy to get lost in your day to day activities and lose track on your goals. As most of your goals will involve smaller steps to finally achieve the goal, schedule time for each of the step. And yes, I mean setup specific hours in your calendar so that you get reminders for it. For example, if it’s a blog post that you want to write, schedule time on your calendar to work on that blog post. This step is very crucial to your success.

Tracking Goals

How am I going to a keep a track on this? Duh! Use Power Platform of course. In my next blog post, I will share how I created a Power App to keep a track on these goals and also, how I intend to stay on top of it.

Celebrate Success

It is important to reward yourself and celebrate your success. The rewards could be smaller for smaller goals or you could even reward yourself for reaching milestones within your goals. But there should be some reward, something to keep you motivated along your journey. Also, target to have a big reward if you achieve all your goals like taking a trip to some place or buying something that you were eyeing for some time.

Final thoughts

This is going to be a new journey for me and I will keep posting and sharing as I embark on this adventure. If you would like to hike along with me on this journey, share your goals and your journey with me by adding the hashtag #2020journey.

Photo by Archie Binamira on Pexels.com