Time to Revisit Those Goals
You can’t live in a mirror, but reflection is an important part of growth.
I’ve been kind of absent since finishing my new reel. Fortunately, it’s because some side projects picked up. I’d wanted to write something about reviewing goals at the beginning of July, but I’m here now so let’s goooooo.
Summary: Check in on your New Year's Resolutions (or any goals you may have) and use a “Mid-Year Assessment” strategy to realign and get back up to speed, if needed. Remember, it’s about balance and steady growth.
How are your New Year's Resolutions going? Yeah, those goals. (Or, for the purpose of this writing, any goals you might have) A lot of us start strong, taper off, then forget about them altogether by March or April. The past couple years, I’ve been doing a Mid-Year Assessment to check in on my own NYRs. It’s a chance to be honest with myself, see what progress has been made, see what progress still needs to be made, and redirect any goals that may need to be changed.
Naturally, seeing progress is always nice. I personally have a tendency to overlook my own progress and keep working, head down. It’s good to remind oneself of the things one has achieved. But what about seeing a lack of progress at Mid-Year Assessment? Rather than beating myself up about it or getting anxious to dive whole-hog into “fixing it,” I like to ask questions and try to find the cause(s):
Did unforeseen priorities pop up?
Is the goal more ambitious than anticipated?
Was it simply laziness? Or maybe a shifting desire to relax and coast?
Figure out why it’s off track (pro tip: this works in business, exercise, and other applications, too). And then decide if it’s worth getting back on track:
Will the extra effort be worth it to get back on track? Or is it ok to continue at the current trajectory?
Does the goal need to be re-written?
Do I need to shift my expectations around the goal?
Is the current progress actually ok even if it’s not where I wanted?
If I take a look and see that I’ve completely forgotten about a goal, rather than panicking or feeling dismayed, it could mean that the goal needs to be reconsidered, rescheduled, or maybe even dropped for now.
Sometimes a lack of progress can be indicative of something else. I’ve been looking honestly at a few of my big New Year's Resolutions for 2021: make 5 short films, post progress weekly with free elements, and start and maintain a blog. I made a year-long plan around those 5 shorts that detailed 6-8 week sprints for each with production milestones throughout. I have not made nearly as much progress as I’d wanted in these particular goals for a few main reasons:
It’s honestly a lot more than I’d imagined
I spent a large amount of time in Q1 preparing for Taekwon-Do testing
Physical and mental training
Completing the Phoenix Group animated video
I went through the break-up of a long-term relationship
Some side gigs have taken priority
It is important to reflect and make distinctions between “reasons” and “excuses,” and that could be a subject for it’s own post. A line from an episode of the Stoic Coffee Break podcast provides a nice distinction between reasons/causes and excuses: “A cause is a fact that can be proven. An excuse is an explanation designed to avoid or alleviate guilt or negative outcome, perception, or judgement.”
It will always be a balancing act with a limited number of “points” (time, effort, energy, resources, etc.) to allocate. This applies to goal-setting and growth, business, exercising, anything. Quick analogy: Growing up, I learned about balancing a limited system from the Star Trek Game Boy game. There is a mechanic in the pause screen to change the output levels of the ship’s shields, speed and phasers. Increasing one decreases the others and vice versa.
Star Trek: 25th Anniversary. Game Boy, 1992.
Sometimes you’d need to be heavy on the phasers to punch through a huge asteroid field or fight off Klingons. Sometimes you’d need a lead foot to escape the gravity of a nearby planet or dodge surprise asteroids, but that left you with little offensive and defensive power. It was a game about balance and reprioritizing based on the situation at hand. (The game is also just fun and very challenging).
Take some time every once in a while to honestly assess where you’re at with the goals you set. A mid-year assessment works well with New Year's Resolutions, but quarterly check-ins are also great. Any long-term goal will benefit from periodic check-ins and it will save you time and stress in the long run. Be honest and be kind with yourself (or your team, if it’s a business goal), adjust where needed, and move forward. You can’t live in a mirror, but reflection is an important part of growth. Remember, it’s all about balance and steady progress, even if it’s slow, meandering, or looks different than you thought it would.