As we are in the home stretch for 2019, it’s natural to look ahead and dream of all the possibilities 2020 will bring for your personal and professional goals.
A new year — a new decade — feels like a fresh start!
But if you’ve ever found yourself setting goals and then abandoning them after a few short months, it’s time to press pause and reflect on what is and isn’t working first.
This year-in-review process may not seem as exciting as setting shiny new goals, but it brings insight and clarity needed to set the best goals for yourself in 2020. Here are five questions to do your own 2019 year in review.
1. What 2019 goals did I achieve?
This may seem like a simple question, but dig a little bit deeper to understand what went into achieving each of your goals this past year. What success factors helped you make each goal a reality?
• Did you get additional support for this goal?
• Did you invest more time or energy on this goal?
• Did you upgrade your skills or habits to achieve this goal?
• Did you spend more money to achieve this goal?
• Did you implement a new process to achieve this goal?
When you understand why you were able to achieve your goals, you are more easily able to replicate that success in the future.
2. What worked in 2019?
Hopefully, you have lots of wins over the last 12 months! But what stands out to you as your biggest wins of the year? What wins meant the most to you?
Maybe your big win included closing a new client and generating significant revenue for your business. Maybe your big win included overcoming your fear of public speaking and getting on stage to share your expertise. Maybe your big win was taking an actual vacation this year and ungluing the phone from your hand.
Taking stock of your wins in detail is really an exercise in aligning yourself to your definition of success. When you think about why these wins mattered so much to you, you can better create goals for 2020 that move you closer to your definition of success.
3. What didn’t work in 2019?
We all run into challenges and failures as we go after big goals. No need to let them keep you stuck… but we do need to look at why something didn’t go according to plan.
Often, I find failures come down to one of three things:
1. Lack of follow-through. It’s not what you do once in a while that gets results — it’s what you do consistently.
2. Lack of commitment. If you’re chasing a goal because you feel like you “should” do something, it’s nearly impossible to stick to the plan when it feels like something better (hello, shiny objects!) comes up.
3. Lack of planning. We can all set goals — but where many people struggle is the lack of a real plan that breaks down the milestones and action steps.
These insights can help you avoid repeating the same mistakes as you set your big goals for the New Year.
4. What should I double down on in 2020?
Now that you have clarity on what is working to help you achieve your goals, what do you need to double down on in 2020 to continue to make progress?
For example, in 2019, I knew I wanted to get more visibility to attract new clients for my business. I tested quite a few different strategies (everything from Facebook Ads to leading local workshops to pitching myself for podcast interviews).
No surprise — some approaches worked better than others!
Going into 2020, I’ll be doubling down on regularly pitching myself for speaking and interview opportunities, as that’s where the majority of my 2019 clients came from.
5. What should I stop doing in 2020?
It’s so easy to add more to an already overflowing plate, but if you truly want to see incredible results in 2020, you have to make the hard executive decision to trim the fat from your plan.
Your stop-doing list could include:
• Tactics that aren’t getting results
• Distractions and shiny objects
• Bad habits that are holding you back
• Busywork that keeps you from higher-level, revenue-generating tasks
• Anything that is creating a bottleneck in your business
When you have this level of clarity and focus, you’re able to not only set big goals for yourself but have the foundation to create the right strategy to make them a reality.
