Three essential questions to kick start 2016

Organisational Development, Personal Development - Comments Off - Published on January 4 2016

A number of my clients start the new year by setting aside a few hours to do some thinking and planning for the year ahead. While the temptation might be to get stuck into the millions of jobs that need doing after the break, these clients create some space to think about their goals for the year and the critical actions they need to take to achieve these goals. That planning time is definitely time well spent – it will help you to remain focused and to work effectively, avoiding stress and maintaining your work/life balance. To help you with your planning here are three essential questions to ask yourself at the start of the year:

Question 1: What went well last year and what have a learnt?

Before launching yourself into your plan for the year take a moment to reflect on the year just gone. What worked particularly well and why? What didn’t work so well and what lessons have you learnt as a result? Your answer to these questions will inform your planning for the year ahead. Your aim should be to capitalise on what went well (can you do more?) and to know how to avoid the pitfalls that got in the way of progress in the previous year.

Question 2: What are your goals for 2016?

A good way of thinking about this question is to fast-forward to the end of 2016 and imagine yourself twelve months from now. In an ideal world what will you have achieved? What will you be doing? How will you be feeling?   Now use this picture of yourself to help you articulate your specific goals. There may only be one (e.g. grow my business by 10%), the goal might be personal (e.g. achieve promotion or a new job), and it might be very specific (move into new offices, or take on an assistant).   Once you know your goals you can work out the actions you must take to achieve those goals.

Question 3: What support do I need?

You probably can’t do it all on your own! What about your own self-development? Where will you get your support and motivation from? How will you keep yourself on track when there are so many other distractions that might send you off course? What new skills do you need to improve your effectiveness? A business coach could be the answer here. With a coach you will be able to monitor your progress, talk through issues as they arise, tease out problems and find solutions for them. A good coach will give you direction, help you to develop new skills and provide you with the opportunity to monitor and review your progress on a regular basis – we so rarely do this on our own! Investing in a coach could be the most important investment you make in 2016 – why not give yourself this gift to help kick start your year!

Call Jeanette on 07946 385178 or email her on Jeanette@jeanettepurcell.com for details of JPA’s Executive Coaching Programmes.

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