At this time of year, as holidays loom closer, it is traditional to consider your resolutions for next year. This annual festival of improvement is something that most of us go through, somewhat akin to the annual process of objective setting.
The two have many similarities. First, it is traditional that many of the resolutions that we make at New Year are never considered again after the end of January. Similarly, how many of us actually review and consider our annual objectives outside of any formal performance review process? Of course we know we should regularly review goals and objectives, but mostly we’re too busy actually doing our jobs, and responding to changing circumstances and dynamic environments to worry about objectives. When we come to performance review—or the next New Year—we dig out our objectives or resolutions and discover that we’ve actually been doing something completely different for most of the year. Life has moved on, but our objectives are still set in stone.
Maybe we need a ‘better way’?
Why bother with goals?
Why do we actually set goals at all, either personally or professionally? The answer is that having personal goals provides both long-term direction and short-term motivation. They help us to focus on where we want to be, and how we are going to get there. They also help us to keep track of progress, and measure our achievements. Without clear goals—and a regular assessment of progress towards them—it is easy to get lost in the day-to-day minutiae of work, and fail to move forwards.
This matters for thought leadership. We have said before that it is important to develop consistency, but also that consistency is not about saying the same thing over and over again. Instead, it is important to develop your ideas, and show that development to your audience. Your thinking will change as new evidence emerges, including from interactions with other experts, and with your followers. Your goals therefore need to be flexible enough to take this on board, but fixed enough to provide you with the clear ‘red thread’ that makes your content recognisable.
It should therefore be clear that it is not the inherent setting of goals that is wrong. This implies it must be the process that we are using that is not doing its job. This makes sense. Setting goals is a personal process aimed at helping you to improve what you are doing, and provide personal growth and development. Why, then, do we try to force it into a ‘once a year’ box?
Changing the process
We know how quickly everything can change nowadays. Confining your goal-setting to an annual process ignores the fact that opportunities and the need for change may arise at any time. Instead, you need to be setting and reviewing your goals on a continuous basis, to make sure that they still fit what you are doing. This is a much more fluid and responsive process—and much more attuned to the way that thought leaders need to operate.
Your broad goals may be constant. After all, you probably know what your thought leadership vision is, and how it fits with your expertise. However, your shorter-term objectives may be more variable. It may be helpful to build times for self-reflection on your goals into your weekly or monthly content production process. You can then consider whether your goals have changed, and if your editorial calendar also needs to change.
This more fluid process also has other benefits. It avoids the potential procrastination of realising that you need to change, but putting it off until the annual objective-setting process. It also avoids the expectations that often come with New Year Resolutions, and enables you to be more realistic with your goal-setting. Finally, it means that you can take advantage of ‘tipping points’ in your own life, without worrying about external and arbitrary dates. This means that you are more likely to be setting goals and objectives when you are motivated to achieve them, making it significantly more likely that you will achieve them.
Going with your personal flow
If setting New Year Resolutions works for you, then by all means do it. If, however, like most of us, you find that it is hard to get motivated in January, and other times of the year are better—then try a different approach. Personal development and growth is, after all, personal, including for thought leaders. You need to find what works for you.