Recently I’ve had some fresh insights about goal-setting. The first is that goals are often artificially forced to squeeze into a certain timeframe such as a calendar year or an operational quarter; but in reality, they are ongoing journeys captured through guideposts or benchmarks that we use to make them timely, relevant and measurable.
During the 2009 holidays, I fleshed out my “2010 Holistic Goal”—but, in retrospect, it seems a bit silly to title it with the year. My holistic goal is my goal, period, and during any season of time I should be doing my best to accomplish it.
Another insight is the value of starting with one’s core strengths and then proceeding to goals. A person gains more clarifying insights toward their strengths through the laboratories of experiences and relationships, and once strengths can be confidentially articulated you can really set some S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) goals.
What I’ve learned about myself and my own strengths is that I’ve built a vocation on the transforming power of words. Whether serving as a political reporter; magazine editor; United Methodist pastor; Morgan Stanley financial advisor; freelance writer; or leadership consultant, executive/life coach and speaker, written and spoken words have been a constant tool for helping people to grow into new insights and take action that improves them both personally and professionally.
But “words” is too vague a conceptual bucket to be called my key “strength.” These experiences and successes in using words have led me to identify and articulate three core areas of strength that I leverage to help others thrive. They are:
1. Communication (associated behaviors include coaching, consulting, facilitating, speaking, training and writing)
2. Relationship Building (associated behaviors include active listening, collaboration for mutual benefit, networking and servant leadership approach)
3. Strategic Thinking (associated behaviors include big picture understanding and articulation, development of execution and progress-to-plan framework, goal identification and articulation, high level strategy development and tactical drill-down)
Thinking “strengths first,” then, I can state my ongoing, holistic goal.It is to increasingly leverage (and think critically about) these three core areas of strength, across all spheres of life. There is nothing I should be doing that doesn’t intentionally, purposefully flow out of my core strengths.
My current reflections teach me that there are five such “spheres” toward which I am strategically applying my strengths. These “spheres” will vary for each individual, but here they are for me:
Availability
Emotional, physical and spiritual wellness efforts that make me fully “available” to live out my strengths.
Connecting
Relationship building through a variety of activities and vehicles that open more and more doors for strengths utilization.
Learning
Through reading, relationships, exploring, traveling and so forth; a constant learning journey that creates fresh insights toward strengths application.
Serving
Focusing on my family, friendships, workplace and community in a manner where I consistently offer the best of my strengths for others’ best purposes and needs.
Writing
My chief vocational passion and foundational talent of my core strengths, expressed in many forms and especially centered these days on works of fiction, blogs, articles and marketing copy.
I encourage you to go through this exercise of identifying your core strengths, and developing a goal (or goals) and “spheres of life” strategies for how you are (or how you intend to) make your goals a reality. From here you can set specific benchmarks for tracking your success.
And even if you do not accomplish everything you set out to in 2010, this activity will certainly increase your level of self-awareness and critical thinking. And that’s always a good thing!