Here it is, a brand new year! It’s a wonderful opportunity to reflect, reset and establish new goals and expectations for the next 12 months. Where do you want to go? How much growth do you want to see and how will you go about achieving it?

The best way to set goals is to make them SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. They need to be something understandable and not nebulous, something that can be broken down into smaller steps and milestones to understand the progress you’re making toward achieving them. The best goals are ones that keep you focused and motivated, ones you’re eager to achieve because they pertain to your overall success, and they need a deadline to keep you moving.

Here are some tips on how to set achievable goals and objectives for the new year.

Make it personal.

Goals are just words unless they matter deeply to you. Ask yourself, before setting a goal, why THIS particular goal. Why is THIS what you want to do and why does it matter? If you can’t answer that question, no one else will be able to either. If you’re establishing goals for a team of people, they need to clearly and easily understand why this goal is one you’re focusing on and how it matters to them and their responsibilities.

Make it time-sensitive.

We’ve all set personal New Year’s Resolutions in the past and how many of them have fallen by the wayside before January is over? The best way to stay focused is to keep the pressure up, within reasonable limits. Establish a goal that needs to be accomplished in the first four to six weeks of the year. That way you’re setting the tone and hitting the ground running and you’ll be able to get some wins early in 2024 to keep your motivation up. But in order to keep things from getting overwhelming or too stressful…

Break it all down.

You know the old saying about the journey of a thousand miles beginning with a single step. The truth is, the journey starts even before then: By making the decision to take the journey, then buying the right footwear to withstand such a trip. Goals become much easier to accomplish when they’re broken down into small, simple steps that all build upon each other. Accomplishing even small goals is inspirational and helps keep people going.

Work smarter, not harder.

Another cliche but it’s true: You don’t have to reinvent processes or procedures in order to make your work more successful and to achieve your goals. Are there ways to eliminate redundancies? Is it possible to be more efficient? Can tasks be grouped together in order to streamline a process? Maybe there’s a new technology available that can help automate processes that used to take up hours in your team’s day. Take a little time at the beginning of the year to see where projects were taking too long to be completed in the past and see how things can be sped up, not by cutting corners but by being smarter.

Understand that one-size-fits-all is unrealistic.

There will be bumps in the road and there will be moments where something that used to work no longer does. In that moment, take time to shift your goals and reassess. Talk with your team to see how they want to try solving a problem, or if they have new ideas they want to try to try and tackle a tough situation. You might have some brilliant creative thinkers on your team without knowing! When it comes to accomplishing goals, the ability to look at the familiar with a new set of eyes and a new approach can open a world of possibilities that lead to bigger benchmarks in the future.

As we get into January, it’s a time to learn from the past — and then leave it there. Whatever mistakes were made or setbacks occurred in 2023, learn from them and move forward. Use any stumbling blocks to set your sights higher for 2024 and make sure to bring your team along on your journey to reach new levels of success.

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If you’re looking to add to your team this year, call Bishop & Company. Our team of experts and recruiters are ready to build on our success by adding you to our list of satisfied clients! Give us a call and learn how Bishop & Company can find just the right talented candidates to add depth to your team. It might be the easiest goal you can set!