Setting Goals: Identify Specific Action Steps
Achieve Your New Year's Goals by Identifying Specific Action Steps You Should Perform Each Day
I’m writing a series of emails on how to create an effective New Year’s Resolution.
My previous emails described how to align goals and resolutions with values and how to write effective goal statements. New Year's Resolutions and other goals are more likely to succeed when they are connected with values you care about. They are also more likely to succeed when they are specific, measurable, realistic, and timely.
As a college administrator, I regularly create goals and strategies for my academic division, and I also work together with a team of leaders and managers to create goals for other areas of the college. I enjoy doing this work because strategic thinking, planning, and goal-setting are natural skills for me. I have also had a lot of training in leadership, strategy, management, and goal-setting from my MBA degree.
From Goals to Action Steps
In this email, I will show you how to translate goals into specific action steps. This is important because - as the famous productivity guru David Allen says - you cannot act on a goal; you can only take a number of smaller action steps that are related to the goal. So, in order to accomplish your New Year's Resolution (or other goal), you will need to know how to translate a large goal into a concrete action step.
Some goals are small enough that you can accomplish them all at once. For example, if you need to “organize the pantry,” you can set aside some time and get it done.
Also, some "habit" goals (see last week's email) can be repeated on a regular basis. For example, if I want to "exercise more," I can grab my clothes, shoes, and iPod, and go out for a jog. I don't have to figure out a set of action steps; instead, I only have to perform a few actions over and over again.
But many goals are not this simple. They involve a sequence of small tasks that need to be identified, arranged in order, and completed. For example, to accomplish your resolution of "going on a big family vacation," you'll need to identify a week when everyone in the family is available, accrue enough vacation time at work, save enough money, make sure your passports are up-to-date, make sure you can meet covid-related travel requirements, decide where to go, reserve a hotel, schedule airline tickets, rent a car, buy swim clothes and shoes, pack, decide what to do at the resort, and more.
As you can see, the resolution to "go on a family vacation" involves many small tasks. Each of these tasks needs to be identified and completed at the appropriate time.
Make a List
The challenge for accomplishing these goals is identifying the action steps and completing them at the appropriate time. Wait too long, and travel tickets will be too expensive. Forget to check your passports, and you may be unable to travel.
A useful approach is to make a list. Write down all of the action steps involved in this resolution or goal or project. Identify each step individually; don't group together too many little steps that should be completed individually.
When you make a list, don't do it on your own.
Ask others to help you; ask your family what they think needs to be done.
Ask your manager at work how you can request time off.
Ask your banker and travel agent for advice with savings and travel reservations.
Ask other people what they had to do when they traveled, especially if it's something exotic or complicated.
Research what's involved by reading travel journals and descriptions online.
Organize the List
Once you identify each action step, use some project management skills to organize everything.
Identify if one action depends on another, or if you can perform each action step individually. For example, you'll need to decide where to go (at least what country and city) before you can look for a hotel and book a flight. But you can check your passport and buy a new suitcase any time.
If actions steps need to be completed in sequence, determine the best order.
Assign tasks to specific people. For example, everyone could contribute a portion of their paycheck to the vacation savings account, your spouse may check the passports, and you may arrange the hotel with the travel agent.
Do this kind of project management with each of your resolutions and goals.
Summary & Next Time…
In this email, I encouraged you to think of your New Year’s Resolution as a series of small action steps. These are easier to accomplish, and they make the big goal less intimidating. Instead of thinking, "I need to plan a vacation," simply focus on the next action: "I need to check my passports." Then, focus on the next action. When you complete all the actions, you will have achieved your resoultion.
In the next email, I will show you how to schedule specific action steps into your daily calendar.
Thank you for reading my newsletter. I am a college administrator, professor, consultant, writer, and speaker, and I enjoy sharing ideas and strategies for successful careers and lives. Topics in this newsletter include leadership and management, education, personal success strategies, history, literature, and many other things I find interesting.
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