Posts

, ,

Goal Framework | Eradicate Your Limiting Beliefs and Step Forward into 2022

Eradicate Your Professional Limiting Beliefs

Our experiences and limiting beliefs can colour the lens through which we will view 2022. Do you have any professional limiting beliefs that you need to eradicate to move forward?

Some of the limiting beliefs that I have heard the last month include:

  • “It is not the time to make any changes, the economy is terrible.”
  • “Things aren’t going to get any better until we are all vaccinated (AGAIN!), so best to stay doing what we are doing and not make any change.”
  • “I am no good at x,y,z… that is why I can’t grow and scale my business.”
  • “I don’t have the skillset, nor experience for the position/to get promoted.”

Don’t let your assumptions on what will occur in 2022 hold you back. You can have goals around outcomes that you have control over. What goals do you want to have around your: professional life, relationship, parental, social, financial, health, fitness, and professional development.

Our thoughts around our limiting beliefs directly impact our execution of action and bottom-line results. If you can mentally switch your negative beliefs as you experience them, you will have a better year in 2022. Identify where your limiting belief came from (e.g., past negative experiences, media…) and test the validity. Limiting beliefs are just that, barriers to what we can achieve.

2022 Goals

Step Forward into 2022

If you don’t think you can achieve your goals, it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Take action with the following:

Step 1

Write down five limiting beliefs that may stop you from what you want to achieve in 2022.

Step 2

Objectively evaluate each limiting belief and determine if it is empowering, or hurting you from taking the next step forward.

Step 3

Reframe or replace each limiting belief. If it crops up again, then go back to your reframed statements and use these as motivational cues to move forward.

SMARTER

2022 Goal Framework

If you are nearing year-end with a ‘To Do’ list that is so long, you feel exhausted merely looking at it. Or, if you had so many goals this year that you were unable to achieve and are reluctant to set more in 2022, I want to share a goal framework that will simplify the process for you.

Writing your 2022 goals will help you focus your efforts and set out a roadmap of action for the year ahead. Written goals provide you clarity, motivate action, and help you think through the critical steps that will be required to attain achievement.

For 2022 define seven to ten goals (a combination of professional and personal) in your control. These goals will enable you to focus efforts on what is essential. I usually set seven professional and three personal stretch goals annually.

Goals should follow the S.M.A.R.T. or, better still, S.M.A.R.T.E.R. framework. I am sure you have seen the original S.M.A.R.T. acronym that gained great popularity after General Electric adopted this goal-setting technique in their company.

The intent was to ensure all company goals were specific, had measurable criteria whereby progress can be tracked, were attainable, realistic and timely. There have been many reiterations to the S.M.A.R.T. framework, and it has morphed now into the S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goal framework. Of the various versions, the words used for the acronym differ, so I have listed the most common words referenced to the right to provide you with an overview of other additions, and you can simply choose the words that resonate with you.

S – Specific

M – Measurable or Meaningful

A – Attainable, Acceptable, Achievable or Actionable

R – Realistic, Relevant or Risky

T – Timely, Timebound, Time Keyed or Time Frame

E – Exciting or Extending

R – Reviewed, Recorded or Relevant

Your professional goals should be based on your job description, or if you are an Owner or C.E.O., the functional areas of your business that are falling short whereby you know you need to focus.

For example, business functional areas:

Marketing, R&D/Innovation, Sales, Operational, Financial, Information Technology, Human Resources, Talent Development, Personal Professional Development or Customer Focus.

After you have identified 7-10 professional and personal goals to focus on in 2022, map out in what quarter you will complete the required activities. Schedule consistent and relentless action daily towards your goal achievement. Having a plan will help you remain motivated, do better, and be a better individual.

Execution is Key

Execution is Key

Getting started is often the hardest step. To decrease the potential of procrastination, write down the first five steps required under each goal that will provide you with an excellent strategy to move forward. When you are writing down the activities under each goal, if you get stuck, simply think, ‘what would the next best step be towards completion.’

After defining the next best steps under each goal, the next challenge is how you can keep momentum through to goal attainment. For each goal, identify your top three motivators or reasons for achieving the goal. This will help you stay motivated through to completion. Remember, any action you make is better than making none at all.

 

If you are interested in learning about how professional development or executive coaching can help support your leadership or your leadership team, please reach out to askme@jennyreilly.com to schedule a convenient time for a complimentary strategy session.

Get your leadership strategies and tactics in my monthly newsletter, sign up here to subscribe.

, ,

21 Questions to Help You Reflect on 2021 and Set Your Goals for 2022

Reflect on 2021 and Set Your Intentions and Goals for 2022

 

I asked my connections on LinkedIn and Facebook:

If you could choose one word to describe 2021, what would it be?”

Some of the one-word responses included:

accelerating, adaptive, agility, busy, chaotic, courage, devastating, eye-opening, grit, emotional, faith, growth, hope, humbling, inspiring, interesting, opportunity, prodigious, reset, resilience, risk, stressful, transformational, unusual and a ‘waste.’

What is your word to describe 2021?

What will be your word for 2022?

I encourage you to start your planning process by first reflecting on this chaotic year we have had. Making a note of the lessons learned will help you clarify your takeaways, address areas of challenge, and help set your intentions and goals for 2022.

2021 Reflection

2021 Reflection

 

2021 Reflection Questions

  1. What was your greatest lesson this year?
  2. What were the top three challenges you overcome in 2021?
  3. What was the best decision you made in either your professional or personal life?
  4. What accomplishment are you most proud of this year?
  5. What did you learn about yourself that you were unaware of pre-COVID?
  6. What new skills did you acquire?
  7. What new habits did you integrate into your day?
  8. What did you fail to do?
  9. Are you a different person than you were this time last year? How?
  10. What exhausted you, and on the flip side, reenergized you this year?
Goal Setting 2022

Goal Setting 2022

 

2022 Intentions and Goals

  1. What 5-7 professional goals do you want to achieve in 2022?
  2. What 3-5 personal goals do you want to achieve in 2022?
  3. What are you going to STOP doing next year?
  4. What are you going to KEEP doing next year?
  5. What do you want to START doing next year?
  6. What are you planning to do to enable you to step out of your comfort zone?
  7. What relationships do you want to focus on improving in 2022?
  8. What technical or personal qualities do you want to strengthen next year?
  9. How can you improve the integration of your work and personal life?
  10. Are there any improvements you need to make to your work environment to be more productive?
  11. List 3-5 individuals (professional or personal) who are in your support circle that you can rely on for help and advice?

 

Upon answering these questions if you need some direction on setting your goals for 2022, please get in touch to book a complimentary 15-minute goal setting strategy session.

If you are interested in learning about how professional development or executive coaching can help support your leadership or your leadership team, please reach out to askme@jennyreilly.com to schedule a convenient time for a complimentary strategy session.

Get your leadership strategies and tactics in my monthly newsletter, sign up here to subscribe.

,

Take Action Now! Clarify Your Goals for 2022

Clarity of YOUR goals helps ward off procrastination providing direction and increasing productivity. To move forward, I encourage you to carve out some time, sit down and write what you want to achieve professionally and personally by year-end.

CLARIFY YOUR GOALS

WRITING DOWN EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT

=

A GREATER CHANCE OF ACHIEVING IT!

 

  • Decide what you want professionally and personally by year-end. Write it down; it will help you be accountable.
  • Define all that you will have to do on the list, to complete your goals by December 31, 2021.
  • Prioritize your task list from what you need to do first to last, assign due dates to essential tasks.
  • Take ACTION on your goals, be relentlessly consistent in action, move through the items on your lists by or before your due dates.

Clearly defined goals can motivate you into action. You know the next best step to take, so take it!

No procrastination is required!

Concentrate on your most important task, continually work on the next best step until complete- it is this simple!

Take Action Now

Take Action Now – Jenny Reilly Consulting – Executive Coaching and Consulting

 

Improve Your Productivity, Performance, Output, and Results

 

Concentrate on your most important task, continually work on the next best step until complete- it is this simple!

Focus 100% | Do it well | Finish it!

We all have too much to do in too little time; the sea of rolling tasks and responsibilities can be handled if you focus on the most critical job first until finished.

  • Habitually set your daily priorities
  • Start working on the most critical item first in your daily schedule. Don’t be tempted to put it off because it is challenging or complex; get working on it straight away at the beginning of the day.
  • Block time in your schedule daily (preferably morning) to work on your high-value projects. Do not allow yourself to be interrupted.

Time to focus on what is important and get it done – TAKE ACTION NOW!

 

If you are interested in learning about how professional development or executive coaching can help support your leadership or your leadership team, please reach out to askme@jennyreilly.com to schedule a convenient time for a complimentary strategy session.

Get your leadership strategies and tactics in my monthly newsletter, sign up here to subscribe.

,

Team Member Development

As we near year-end, after you have conducted your quarter 4 review and set your intentions for 2022, I encourage you to list each person in your team or small business and connect with each one of them. This discussion is not an annual review but a check-in on their professional development progress. If you had identified professional development training or areas of focused development previously, then check in on progress or completion and outcomes. If not, use this time to identify the individual’s technical or soft skills gap and define an improvement plan. Professional development does not have to involve time away from the job. It can be as simple as the following:

  • Hold a lunch and learn on defined topics requiring attention. The topic should address a bottleneck or choke point in a process or the operations, at the beginning of the session plot where individuals rank their knowledge and again at the end of the session.
  • Reference a relevant book, podcast, or online training session (e.g., LinkedIn Learning module) that will assist. Ask the individual when they can finish the item and set up a time to follow up in their schedule and discuss their takeaways and how they can be implemented in their position.
  • Have a standing agenda item on the individuals one-to-one to ensure the topic identified is actioned.
  • Discuss professional development themes that can be a focus for each quarter in 2022. 
  • Implement a daily huddle with the team for a maximum of 15 minutes to focus on priorities, discuss challenges and obstacles and determine an action plan to move forward.

If you can encourage and practice having a desire to learn and be better in one position, in addition to demonstrating action and relentless follow-through, team members will develop and be encouraged to always be on the lookout for how to do things better and improve.

If you want to learn more about, leadership, team member development, and executive coaching for you, your team, and your business, reach out to askme@jennyreilly.com or schedule a convenient time for a complimentary strategy session via Jenny Reilly Consulting Calendly.

Get your leadership strategies and tactics in my monthly newsletter, sign up here to subscribe.

,

The Power of Asking a Great Question

If you are helping a client, colleague or team member with a problem, asking the right and relevant question will help guide the conversation. Don’t assume what has occurred. Ask specific questions to obtain the background information that will set the scene to enable you to be of assistance. Often you will find, when asking a series of questions to attain information, the individual that you are assisting will often resolve the issue themselves as they verbalize the background and the steps they have taken so far to resolve the issue.

It is not often the knowledge that is missing to prevent an individual from taking action; it is the motivation to follow through and execute on what is required to resolve the situation—working out how to encourage motivation to act and getting buy-in to execute increases the attainment of results. Possessing the self-confidence to take the next best step in a situation also often requires the ability to help an individual feel empowered to do so. 

When a situation or challenge is shared, that is problematic, asking questions and eliciting ideas from the individual on how they feel the situation could be addressed. It can be as simple as ‘Do you have any ideas on how this issue could be resolved?’ or ‘Is there anything that you could do to help with xx?’ this will develop their capacity to see themselves solving the problem and building their resilience and responsibility muscles that in turn will increase their self-confidence

  1. Ask specific questions about the situation to obtain background information and question on what action they have taken to date to resolve the issue/challenge.
  2. Test the motivation of the individual to execute the action steps to resolve the issue/challenge. 
  3. Ask individuals for their input, suggestions or ideas on how to solve a problem.

Executive coaching can bring you, your team, and your business support and elevated success,  please reach out to askme@jennyreilly.com or schedule a convenient time for a complimentary strategy session via Jenny Reilly Consulting Calendly.

Get your leadership strategies and tactics in my monthly newsletter, sign up here to subscribe.