5 Steps to Conquer your 2016 Goals

Happy New Year!

I hope your year has gotten off to a great start. Mine has been incredibly eventful and I’m expecting lots of change for me in 2016.

As we all know the New Year is a time for resolutions and goals. Last year, my goal was to speak at a TED event, and this year I’ve set a goal to curate a TEDx event. And while I achieved my 2015 goal and became a TEDx speaker, in many ways it happened fortuitously. I had a goal, but not much of a plan.

And I’m smart enough to know that that won’t happen again. So this year I’m doing things differently to help me achieve my goals, I’ve joined a Master Mind group.

What’s a Master Mind group?

It’s a group of professionals and/or entrepreneurs who meet regularly to advance professionally by helping one another set goals, challenge themselves, and move forward.

Most importantly, it is a group of people to hold me accountable for the goals I set. According to Forbes and StatisticBrain.com, of the 45% of Americans who set New Year’s Resolutions, only 8% achieve them. And while I’m sure there are lots of reasons why folks let go of their resolutions, I think there are two MAJOR reasons:

1. People goal set on a very superficial level: Very few people create a plan to achieve their goals with exactly how they are going to achieve them. As a result, it is easy to get side tracked and derailed from a goal.
2. People don’t hold themselves accountable: We might tell a friend or announce it Facebook, but when we start to slack there isn’t anyone there to remind us of our goal or take us to task, if necessary.

Just last month, I talked about achieving my 2015 goals in “Got Goals?” and I outlined how to create SMART goals and provided a set of reflective questions to help you identify areas you want to improve and grow.

But once you have a goal, how do you ensure you are working towards it and achieve it? How do you hold yourself accountable?

Tons of you made proclamations on Facebook; probably, in part, because you believe if you say it out loud “on Facebook” it will help you stay on track. But really, who on Facebook is actually going to remember what you said and hold you accountable?

No one.

The idea of making it public is great; but it is even better to identify some key people in your life who are going to hold you accountable. A friend, partner, co-worker, coach, or group; in my case, it’s a Master Mind group.

This allows me not only to make my goals public, but also have a group of people who are going to consistently challenge me on my progress and support me in moving forward when I’m struggling or hit a road block.

For you, it doesn’t have to be a group but it certainly can be. At a minimum, it is critical to identify at least one person per goal who is going to hold you accountable. I mean, really hold you accountable.

Then you want to share with this person, exactly how you want them to hold you accountable. Some people liked to be nagged. Others coached. Some coddled. You know yourself better than anyone so you have to be honest with yourself and your support system on how you want to be held accountable.

So to conquer your 2016 goals, take these 5 simple steps:

1. Set SMART goals, and create a detailed plan on the actions you will take to achieve them.
   Use this template to help you: Goal Planning Sheet
2. Identify key people or a group who will hold you accountable.
3. Share with the group your needs and how you want to be held accountable. Be honest.
4. Make time to check-in and share milestones, and/or course correct as needed
5. Celebrate successes.

So what are you goals for 2016?