Posted by It feels a bit frightening to think that the end-of-year is in sight already. Last week, as we looked ahead to our planned weekends and possible openings, we realised we had no completely free weekend until mid-November. That did not go down well for me. I ended up working more than usual this weekend, fighting against the feeling that the end of the year is coming. However, as the Monday morning (and a morning walk by the beach) brought clarity, I can now use that end-of-year foresight to refocus and take stock of my goals.
Take Stock of Your Goals
The summer is usually a time when I take stock. This year, I didn’t. Perhaps because I took a longer break, perhaps because I had taken some time to audit some of my progress back in June. Or perhaps because I was not entirely ready for it. I am the type of person who, when I take stock, goes straight into action. And who wants to do that in the middle of July? (Well, I don’t!)
So, as the dust settled after the summer and a large event I was part of a couple of weeks back, I finally sat down to review my goals. Slowly but steadily, I worked through my 6 goals for the year, being honest and sometimes harsh on myself, but also seeking to stay kind and pat myself on the back here and there.
- For some, like my goal of health or family, I feel like that is where I made the most progress and spent the most time. I kept those top of mind, and that showed.
- For others, like my goal of friendships and finances, I feel like I have taken steady steps to take control and to move these goals up on my priority list.
- And finally, for my goals of charity and business, that is definitely where I felt this audit helped me the most. It was really important to take a reality check on what I have done and what I left behind
I can be a harsh judge, especially with myself. But my morning practice pages have no doubt helped me in staying kinder with my thoughts and achievements. Six long-form pages later, I am now done. Taking stock revealed not only my progress but also the clutter that clouds it
Declutter the noise
As you take stock of where you are, you are reminded of all the things you are juggling. I like the positive effect that it has of reminding you of everything that gets done, rather than only what is left undone. Exploring a portfolio life means there are a lot of things coming your way all the time. You may even think that having 6 goals is way too much. I must say this is the smallest amount I have ever had, since I started having goals a few years back.
Having said that, I have quite a bit going on outside those goals. It has always been very hard for me to say no, and when you lead a portfolio life, most people seem to think you “don’t work” and therefore you must have loads of time for everything! No one other than myself is to be blamed, and therefore, decluttering needs to start with me. So in the last couple of weeks, I have taken some key steps in decluttering my time and my mental space:
- After some small works in the house, I have taken a full week to reorganise, throwing away things, giving away others, and putting nothing back that merited its own place. I am short a few shelves, but I have left it purposefully messy so I have no chance of ignoring it in the next couple of weeks.
Physical decluttering is essential to maintain a sense of control, especially for women.
- After a messy start to the school year (for me, like the beginning of the year), I am taking control of my calendar. I have been aggressive on my Calendly availabilities, and I am starting to be able to look a few weeks ahead, ensuring I don’t take extra commitments, but also that I know which ones I have committed to
- After trying to be away for the summer, my inbox has again taken the shape of its own. While I have no intention to ever go back to inbox zero on my Gmail (subscriptions accumulate faster than my ability to unsubscribe), I do have the intention of answering a few long-lost outreaches (and make sure I don’t leave any bills unpaid). I have dealt with kids, new clubs and registrations, insurance claims, bank deposits and the like.
With this, I am all set to have a less clouded mind when I sit down to work.
Re-centre your intentions
I added a few steps to my audit this year as I rounded up each goal’s “status check” with an action list. I tried to be short and concise and really stick to the areas where I undoubtedly fell short. As an overachiever, I am very conscious that I often strive to do more than I can. I have now accepted that this will never change, and that’s ok. It brings a slight inkling of ambition to life. However, there are areas that are core to my goals that have not gotten my undivided attention. And they must.
Before I go about how to focus on each of the circles in my portfolio, I was thorough in my analysis of what didn’t work well and what short-term actions need to be taken. In fact, the urge was so strong for some of them that I stopped my journaling for a while to go and get some of them set up. In reality, I have interrupted this article about 10 times now to go and do bits of those actions. Funny enough, despite my initial concern that I was really behind on so many things, I only wrote down 7 major actions. That seems more doable! And an added action/ affirmation – stay consistent.
As a strategy practitioner, rather than just a strategist, for me, there is no strategy and no review without taking action. There is little point in getting your mark-to-market done unless you are really going to take some practical steps out of it.
Go deep
For some people, to-do lists are easier said than done. I myself am a master of identifying steps that need to be taken to pursue each milestone in my goals, to advance my business, to resolve a problem in my family. Lists are my expertise! I find there are 2 dangers with them, though, that are important to remember
- First, we have a bias to action that can mean we focus on shallow items in our lists and,
- Secondly, we can easily feel overwhelmed if the list is longer than a few bullets.
I have been working hard on the second part of the problem for a few years, and I have learnt to break down my lists into sizeable and consumable bits, but not overloading a single day. With the bullet journal method, I now rarely over-task myself significantly on a single day. And when I do, I kind of know it.
The part that is tricky is our adrenaline rush, asking us to take things off our list. And that means we will add small things like paying bills, calling that person, responding to that email. That is not the sort of action that I would expect to come out of a goal review. That’s why I reminded myself: not every task deserves equal energy. Some require depth, not speed.
As an example, a key action for me will be to disconnect and spend a few days immersed in deep focus on finishing my master’s program workshop that is coming up soon. And whilst achieving that will need me to break it into steps, that is the single most important action I can take. I could argue for getting a subscription to X or reading book Y, but that would be losing perspective of the overall goal. What I want is to continue to deepen my expertise on the topic of critical thinking, so that by November, I can tackle the workshop with ease and shape some young minds.
In large projects or even in our day jobs, we are often consumed by the immediacy of tasks and emails. And whilst I am a big fan of getting things done, I know in the last couple of months I have moved more towards some shallow lists.
Topping up 2 months “away”, I had an event at the beginning of September that consumed 11 days of my life non-stop. That has definitely thrown me off balance. Now, I have recovered my sleep, my routines and my schedule. I am going back to my deep-work focus and, aided by decluttering around me, I am slowly re-training my brain to focus on what I want to achieve by the end of this year and in the years to come. With an audit in hand and a (short) list of actions, I know where to start each day. I am ready to take action. Are you ready to take stock of your goals?