Sow, Reap

Now is the time to plant the seeds for 2019. If you wait until January 1 to write out your yearly goals, you’re already behind.

Goals are projections: GOAL x ACTION + EXECUTION = RESULTS. In writing down your goals, you’re setting the intention and changing the trajectory.

The key to great goal setting is to have an action plan otherwise, they’re just desires. Your goals require you to sow, before you gain the benefits of reaping. I use an Excel spreadsheet to write out my goals. You can use Word or notes on your smartphone if that’s your flavor. I create headings in three columns horizontally, then I break the goals into thirds vertically:

Where do you see yourself a year from now?

I start at the one year mark before I write out the goals at the three month and six month mark. The one year mark is your overall goal, the “big picture,” if you will. By dividing into thirds, you’re breaking the overall goal into smaller goals, thus, the big picture becomes obtainable. Once the goals are identified, I create an Action Plan, i.e., tasks to execute in reaching that goal.

For example, if your goal is to change careers, your Action Plan can be as practical as researching the career you’re considering. One action might be to research the particular field. Another action might be to reach out to someone you know who’s in a similar career path, to pick their brain. The “result” is what you found in your research, or you set a time/place to meet, or a phone chat with the person you reached out to. The “plan” doesn’t have to be complex.

Whatever derives from that action is then the result. The Results column equates to reaping what you’ve sown. The more you’re able to accomplish, the more the “big picture” goal becomes reachable; the more motivated you’ll become in being a goal achiever.

Goals x Action Plan + Execution = Results

Really sit down and think about where you see yourself in a year. What you truly want to accomplish. Make your goals achievable. They don’t have to be HUGE, they can be as small as exercise more, or as large as starting a business.

Get clear. Get focused. Sow now so you can reap the harvest later.

“Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow and act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.” ~ Charles Reade

Be great…the world needs more of that!

-Gillian

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