Progress is still progress. What if the glass is actually half full?
Happy December! Can you really believe that 2019 is almost over?! This really seemed like the fastest year that I can remember thus far. I can remember January 1st as if it happened a few days ago and now here we are December 5th. Now is the major part of the holiday season with Christmas and New Year's. This also means that for those of us who have career, business, and life goals, it is a time of reflection on what has happened over this year and where we currently stand. Whether we’ve exceeded our goals, hit them right on the dot, or did not reach them, I believe we can all be proud of what we have achieved.
What were your goals this year? New higher-paying job? More sales in your business? Getting married? How did you do with them? Whether you are content or disappointed, if you’ve made progress, you’ve made progress. Congratulations!! You’re one step closer to your goals and the life you aspire to have! You might have been aiming for 50% growth and you got 30%. You might have wanted to job that pays at least 10k more and you’re at the same job with only a 4% raise. You might be like me still, being so single at the end of the year that you can hear your own echo in your home when you talk (why not make a little humor while we’re at it).
If I’m being 100% real and honest, I can say that I did not achieve the growth goal for my business that I aspired to achieve. I am finishing the year strong and finished with 40% growth from last year but my goal was higher than that and I will not be able to say that I hit it. I feel that a lot of us are in the same boat with not exactly meeting expectations for ourselves. So now the question is, what does one do when they do not meet their goals? Here are my 3 STEPS TO TAKE IF YOU DIDN’T ACHIEVE YOUR 2019 GOALS.
1) PAUSE. Why pause? Because if there’s one thing I’m learning more and more, it’s that being on a constant mouse wheel of chaotic busyness is actually counterproductive. Our minds are funny like this. We can easily trick ourselves into thinking that we’re being productive because we’re busy but then the final results prove otherwise. See this short video that explains Busyness vs Productive here. Taking a momentary pause from the chaos our days can bring will give you the opportunity to look at all you’re doing more objectively so you can begin to re-evaluate every part of the whole picture to determine what’s working, what is not working and what can be done about it.
2) BE HONEST ABOUT WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE. Continuing my last point on looking at everything objectively, you have to look at the shortcomings with a humble and honest viewpoint. I find that sometimes we don’t want to see what isn’t working because out a false sense of pride, we’re worried about outside expectations or fear of being labeled a certain way. Forget about that! This is your life which God gave you. Stop catering to insecurities that are illusions, to begin with. Swallow your pride and take an honest look at what isn’t working without lens filters and make resolutions on how to make changes. Don’t pin blame on outside sources. That’s taking the easy way out. Dig deeper. Get real. Be honest.
3) ACT. Ok. Now that you have found what needs to be changed in your approach to career, business, and life, it’s now your responsibility to make appropriate space and action to allow the changes to be made. Don’t get too down on what hasn’t worked and allow yourself to be overwhelmed by the problems. And certainly, there’s no need to just complain about it. There’s a saying that’s stuck with me for several years now that I only found out recently came from good ole Teddy Roosevelt as shown in the picture below via emilysquotes.com.
That’s right! “Complaining about a problem without posing a solution is called whining.” And I’ll take it a step further and say when you come to a solution to the problem, act on it! Talk is cheap. Just take action. If you need to master your current job position so you can get a promotion or a different job, then do so. Research more, work with purpose and have a good attitude. If you’re like me you need to make some changes in the way you do business, then make the changes and cut away the bait. And again if you’re also like me and you have some personal “you” things to work out, then follow through with them. Whether it’s just taking more time for yourself, talking with friends, counseling or going to God personally about it, make it happen. If you’re too busy, you’re too busy. No excuses. Notice that I’ve spent more time writing about action. The first 2 steps are for not if you don’t act. Let’s act!
Finally, now that we’ve covered pausing, honesty about what needs to change and action, the only thing left to do is to follow through (sound familiar with past blog posts?) The other key factor is to not get too down on yourself if you came up short this year and be thankful for whatever progress you did make. You only have reason to not be proud if you have not done a single thing to get yourself closer to where you want to be. Be happy but always be willing to do whatever it takes to be the best version of you that you can possibly offer to every single person you meet in work and life.
Happy December, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Much Love
Joe Gardonis
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