Fiona Duncan-Steer, founder of RSViP Business Networking Agency, discusses goal setting.
As we enter into the shiny brand-new year of 2022, we firstly ask ourselves collectively: “Where on earth have the past two years gone?” Secondly, we start to think if we haven’t already about the year that lies ahead, pondering what is in store for us and for indeed mankind (if we want to get that deep about the pandemic).
As a rule, new years promote new beginnings, the chance to start again in whichever form that takes for you. It may be the motivation you need to start that business you’ve been deliberating over for the past few years, change careers, start a family or a million other things that relate to YOU personally. ‘The new year, new me’ phrase has become a global phenomenon across social media in recent years, with people from all walks of life announcing their goals into the cloud in a bid to keep themselves accountable; you’ve said it out loud, so you must do it now – right?
There is something to be said for sharing your goals with others, not least because it does indeed keep you accountable, but also hearing yourself say what you want to achieve out loud is quite a powerful thing – a commitment to yourself and those around you.
What I would say given the past two years of upheaval and change however is to be kind to yourself when it comes to goal setting. I am not saying abolish any goals you have for fear of not meeting them, but be aware of the fact that right now it is just as acceptable to be still in operation if you are a business, to be moving forward in the right direction through taking small steps each day as both a business person and as a human being and if some days you don’t take any steps at all, that is still okay.
By all means set those incredible goals by identifying what it is you actually want, after all that is basically what the end goal is – it is a result and with that comes a sense of achievement and a whole host of other positive stuff, but make that goal within reach, a challenge yes, attainable yes, but without impacting your mental health by adding unnecessary pressure to an already potentially stressful umbrella of negativity raining down from all directions in the form of this ever ongoing pandemic, change of government rulings and restrictions.
The trick here is to ‘be self-aware’. Self-awareness is the key to happiness in a lot of ways and the queue jumper to becoming a better person overall, which in turn will present greater possibilities and opportunities through growth. The growth that will ultimately help you smash your goals without even realising you have!
Fiona Duncan-Steer, RSViP
