3 KEY STRATEGIES TO REFOCUS YOUR GOALS

We are entering the third month of 2017, which means, we are about to complete the first quarter. Since I’m an educator, and grew up with in a family of educators, my brother and I learned the concept of quarters very early. Every school year was broken into four quarters, so, every quarter, we received grades on our job, which was school. Our parents set high expectations for us, and we were expected to deliver the results based on the goals we collectively set for ourselves. I learned about the value of setting goals, reflection, and refocusing to meet an end result at an early age, through trial and error. As we close out the first quarter of 2017…my question for you is, what about your goals? What goals did you set for this year, and as we approach the third month of this year…what is your grade? Whether you have set a long-term or short-term goal, it is critical that you take inventory of where you are periodically.

In this article, I would like to revisit one of my previous strategies called “Pause and Self-Reflect.” We will review three simple tips using this strategy to assess and define our journey through the first quarter of our best year yet!!

1. Press Pause – So often when balancing your career, and all that life brings, we are often moving so fast that we don’t even realize that life is happening right before our eyes. It’s those moments when one second it’s Monday, and the next minute, it’s Friday…. When we continue to live and work at this pace, we lose sight of our goals. I love this quote:

“Practice the pause. When in doubt, pause. When angry, pause. When tired, pause. When stressed, pause. And when you pause, pray.” – Unknown

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We live in a society where we often feel that we have to always “press play” to keep up or to compete with someone else. The truth is, the only person we are in competition with is ourselves. We can be our own worst enemy by failing to slow down, pressing pause, and taking a moment to just reflect on ourselves.  This piece is critical to being successful. If you think that you need assistance with making time to do this, make an appointment on your calendar for reflection time. Sometimes, this could be the drive into or from work. It could be when you are soaking in the bathtub…Only you know when. I strongly urge you to take some time to press pause to truly reflect on your journey.

1. Reflect & Assess Your Progress – Now that you have taken the time to Press Pause, take out a laptop, iPAD, or a notepad, and self-reflect on the following questions:
   1. What are my goals? Put them in categories if you haven’t done so already. Let’s start with professional and personal.
   2. What is my deadline for reaching my goals?
   3. As I complete quarter one of 2017, what actions have led to goal attainment success?
   4. As I complete quarter one of 2017, what actions have not helped me to achieve my goal?
   5. What distracted me?
   6. What are my next steps to do better with my goals in Quarter 2?
   7. Now – set the exact date and time that you will reassess your journey in Quarter 2 (*Hint – this should be a date in June).
2. Clarify Your Vision–  So, what I mean by this is, actually write down your vison of what each result looks like for your goal, and be specific. If your goal is to lose weight, write down exactly what that will look like, and exactly what behaviors accompany that goal to ensure sustainability over time. For example, if that was my goal, I might write:

My goal is to lose 10 pounds by June. The evidence of achieving this goal will be in:

• Smaller size in clothing
• Living a healthy lifestyle
• Eating healthy: cooking more, and eating less fast food
• Drinking more water
• Establishing and maintaining a set schedule for exercising

Remember, the purpose of clearing your vison is to be accountable to ourselves, and to have a clear picture of what we plan to achieve. We want our goals to create a better lifestyle. By writing down our thoughts, and vision, we become conscious of our own actions so that we have a true personal blueprint on how to move towards personal greatness.

By pressing pause, assessing your progress, and clearing your vision, you will be able to visually see the roadmap of your personal and professional actions that impact goal attainment.  By making the invisible visible, you will be able to pinpoint and perfect precise behaviors that can be replicated to create a cycle of consecutive wins in your life. Take some time today to begin this process to continue to the planning process for your best year yet!

​About the author:
Educator, Leader, Mentor, Strategist and Influencer, our founder & CEO, Nicole Grimes (TheNicoleMG), has led in many roles as a teacher, educational leader, supervisor, in the public-school setting, and within multiple organizations throughout her personal and professional career. She has received extensive education, training, and professional development across the United States. Nicole has also been to and attended multiple summer institutes at Harvard University. She is a chartering Executive Board member of The National Coalition of 100 Black Women - Metropolitan Baton Rouge, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc, MRSA, and The BOSS Network. A two-time graduate of Southern University and A & M College, she is currently a doctoral candidate in Educational Leadership. A polished and professional trendsetter, Nicole is known as an advocate for empowerment, education, leadership development, and coaching.