Goal Setting, vision boards, and planning your new year

At the beginning of each new year, I like to take time to first get rid of the old.  I literally toss things out that I don’t need.  I also set my goals for the year.  I have been doing this since I was in middle school when one of my teachers had us do an exercise involving writing out what we wanted to accomplish in their class.  

Since then, it has been something I do every year.  I begin by writing down my intentions for the year.  It helps me keep track of the goals I have set for myself and it also allows me to celebrate when I reach a goal.  When I cheer for myself once I knock out a goal, it gives me added motivation to knock the other goals out.  I feel that it allows me to remain focused.

New Year Goal Setting

When I started writing out my goals I began with five.  At that time, keep in mind that I was 12 years old when I started doing this, one of my goals was to attend a Bon Jovi concert.  Which happened three years later! Manifestation at its finest — that concert was on my list every year because I was going to make it happen or wear down my parents to take me.

I currently write out five to 10 individual goals for myself.  My husband and I collaborate on five joint goals.  These goals are written down on a notepad and we check them every month to see how far we have progressed. If we haven’t made any effort, we make sure we don’t lose sight of our end goal.

Ways to set your goal

Goal setting can set your pace for yourself or your business for the year.  When I managed a social media and creative content team a few years ago, we collaborated on an overall team goal.  We brainstormed ideas and took a good look at our competition in the market.  We also took into consideration the mission and vision of our company to align our goals with our brand.  Once we decided on the goals, we made it a point to review them each week during our meetings to see how well we were staying on track as a team.

At that time, we broke the goals up by quarter, midyear, and overall year.  I also had them write three individual goals for themselves.  When I would have my one on one meetings with them, we reviewed their goals and made sure they were still working towards meeting them. I have always felt that goal setting reminds you to stay on path.  The individual goals each team member set for themselves ranged from professional growth, working on communication with coworkers,  getting better at Instagram videos, to creating a trending hashtag.  

As one of my college professors always told us, “when you are knee deep in alligators, you tend to forget that the main reason you are there is to drain the swamp”.  Goals are a great reminder to drain the swamp!

Here are three different ways you can plan out your 2022 goals:

Write a letter to yourself

Last year my friend told me about how he writes a letter to himself and writes out what his plans are for the year for his business.  It isn’t a long letter,— it is basically a short bulleted note to yourself with your goals.  You want to make sure you read the letter to yourself weekly or daily.  This will help you remain on track.  

The letter can start out by saying, “Here are your goals for the year 2022” then you can begin listing them out.  You can have them be short and to the point or you can go into detail.  For instance, if your goal is a new vehicle, you can write down the color, model, and year.  Because you know exactly what you want.

Items in the letter can also include charity, partnerships, team goals, business growth, just to name a few.  The key to this is the repetitive reading of the letter to yourself.  

I tried this technique for myself mid-year and would you believe that I achieved my top goal within five months of daily list affirmations to myself and the second goal is in motion.  I kept my letter in my email and saw it everyday when I would check my phone.  You can also keep it on a note.  The main thing is to see it daily.

Vision boards 

Vision boards allow you to create a visual representation of what you want to achieve.  You can cut images out of magazines, print them out, and place them on a poster board. If you want, you can use a design app to help you create your vision board.  The visual aspect of the board appeals to your senses.  You see the board daily and see your purpose.  

The vision board sets the mood for your year (or whatever length of time you are choosing to focus on.) .  Some people make yearly ones, others plan out up to five years on their board.  Many celebrities including Oprah Winfrey boasted how they loved vision boards and how it helped them in their careers. Here is a link that can help you get started on creating your vision board for 2022.

Vision boards are great for team building.  When you get your team members to work on a vision board, you get their input on where they see not only themselves in the company but where they see the company going.  This can introduce team members to new ideas they didn’t envision.  Plus, a vision board is something that can be placed around the office and remind everyone to work on those goals!

One Word Goal Setting

This is a popular one! Choose one word that will define your year.  It can be anything you choose to put an effort towards during the year.  Gratitude, focus, organization, are some of the words that people who practice “the word of the year” and work on in all aspects of their life.  

At times, vision boards, setting goals, or even writing out your goals can become an overwhelming process.  Choosing one word is a simpler way to achieve individual and business success.  Think of it as your theme for the year!  Here is a good resource link to learn more about your one word.

What word would you choose for your business?  Growth, opportunity, partnership?  You can also interpret the one word as your “why” for your business.  

Why set business goals?

Goal setting helps you or your business remain centered on reaching your objectives. As a small business owner your goals can include:

• Customer growth and retention

• Employee development

• Financial growth

Once you set your goals then you can look into different ways to reach them.  

Remain accountable 

Goal planning also helps you remain accountable and committed to what you have set forth for yourself or business.  Celebrating small successes and measuring your progress will bring a sense of accomplishment to you and your business team.  This will in turn increase morale and boost the confidence of your coworking team.

Are you ready to set a goal?

If you are ready to get started, one thing to consider for yourself or your business is Earth Class Mail and how our products and services can assist you.  Our products help the environment, allow you the ability to travel for work or leisure without worry about halted mail service, and much more!  We offer a wide range of plans and pricing that can fit your individual or business needs. Learn more here.