The end of one year and the beginning of another brings the opportunity and inspiration, for many, to consider their personal situation and plan for the coming year. We all hope to end the New Year better in our personal lives than we started it. By “better” we can mean financially, in terms of happiness and relationships, in our careers and lifestyles; in fact, in any aspect of our lives.
If we begin the year with a positive intention in improving our lives somehow, then there’s a good chance we can succeed in doing so. One of the ways we can help ourselves be successful is to set personal goals for the coming year. It has been a long tradition to make New Year’s resolutions, and they are an example of goal setting, usually based on correcting a personal weakness, such as smoking or being overweight. However, New Year’s resolutions are often just a bit of fun and not taken all that seriously. Planning ahead for the entire year based on a set of goals can be a much more beneficial way to improve over the course of a year.
New Year’s resolutions, however, hint at one way to set personal goals for the year: they tend to address weaknesses. If you have a personal weakness at the beginning of the year and have strengthened it by the end of the year, you will have made progress. So when you sit down and consider what personal goals to set for yourself, focusing on your weaknesses may be a good place to start.
How to go about setting your personal goals
There is more than one way to start formulating personal goals, but I will focus on focusing on personal weakness. By “focus” I don’t mean thinking about those weaknesses all the time in a negative, self-deprecating way. The purpose is to get better by the end of the year, so those weaknesses, or even just one weakness, need to be addressed in a positive way. Ultimately, you want the weakness you are focusing on to no longer be a weakness by the end of the year. Here are some simple steps to follow:
1. Your first step is to identify an area or areas in your life where you want to make significant improvements. As an example, let’s say you have your own business, which is fairly new, and you’re still finding your way.
2. Once you have decided which area of your life you will focus on first, you should think about it objectively and realistically, pen in hand, a blank sheet of paper in front of you. Review in your mind your experiences since the business started and point out what weaknesses have been exposed since the business started. Write them down in a relaxed way, there is no rush. When you’re sure you’ve highlighted the most critical weaknesses and haven’t missed any, move on to considering your list.
3. You should now review your list of business-related weaknesses and prioritize them. If something really stands out as critical, then that will be your starting point. At this stage, keep in mind that goal setting is not about aiming for the impossible; that’s self-destructive. If you have a long list of weaknesses and it seems daunting, then prioritization is especially important.
For this example, let’s assume that your most critical weakness in your new business is finance and accounting. For many people starting a business, that’s a reality, so it’s a pretty realistic example. Don’t expect that you will eliminate all weaknesses 100% in a year; it should be realistic and take a phased approach. Every year, you will develop your strengths and constantly eliminate your weaknesses. However, you can’t expect to do it all at once.
4. Now think more about the financial side of the business and with a new piece of paper write down all the things that concern you. Is it all about finance and accounting? That wouldn’t be unusual either. You may not even be able to tell a debit from a credit, but that’s not surprising. For a normal person, double-entry bookkeeping is the other way around.
5. Assuming that everything related to finances and accounting is a mystery to you, come up with a plan to remedy that situation. Any wise businessman needs to understand the finances of his business; he will be vulnerable if he doesn’t. There are several ways to address this weakness, but you’ll want to improve your accounting skills throughout the year. Thus, as an example, you could consider the following objectives for the year:
A. Learn some basic accounting. You can accomplish this through a book on bookkeeping for small business owners or evening classes. If you have a local small business help desk of any kind, they may be able to point you in the right direction; they may even have regular seminars.
b. Familiarize yourself with your own accounting system, or perhaps introduce a simple accounting software program that will not only help you keep accurate accounts, but will also teach you along the way.
vs Learn about profit and loss accounts so you can begin to understand how and why your business is making a profit or a loss.
d. Learn how to make cash flow forecasts, which will always be critical to your business.
By the end of the year, you should have a better understanding of your business’s financials, and when you do the same exercise again the following year, you can plan to move higher if you feel it’s necessary, or address those weaknesses. you haven’t mastered yet.
The finance and accounting example is just one. It could also be marketing or time management or any other aspect of business. The important thing to do is to assess the most critical weaknesses and address them through your personal goals. That process can be applied to any part of your life you choose, whether it’s related to career, family, personal health, or bad habits.