Starting Strong – 7 Tips for Goal Setting

With the new year comes new goals… Across our leadership team at Deerwood Bank, we have been working on setting goals for the upcoming year centered around providing excellent service, leading technology, and products that are nice and simple for you and your business. Here are 7 tips to help you set (and reach!) your 2020 goals.

Let’s get goal setting!

Begin with the end in mind. 

Think about how you want January 2021 to look. What will be different in your life, your business, or your department? What big goals have you accomplished? Have you run a half marathon? Have you saved $1,000 more than you did in 2019?  Have you put that dream deck on your cabin? Now, work backwards and think about what needs to be done in the next 12 months to make these visions a reality.

Outline the steps.

Now that you know what January 2021 looks like, start documenting the steps, the nitty gritty of how you’ll get there.  If you’re going to save $1,000, how will you do it? What will you cut from your current spending pattern? If you’re going to run a half marathon, what will your training plan look like? What time of day will you run, who will watch the kids when you run? Be specific about how you’ll achieve your goal.

Get buy-in.

Whether you’re planning for your business or in your personal life, include your team (or your personal tribe) during the goal-setting phase. Be explicit about how they can support your efforts. If your team or the people closest to you know your goals and how you expect them to support you, they’ll be more willing and able to support you throughout this journey.

Identify potential hurdles.

Inevitably, issues will arise. We know this is a part of life, right? Plan for the hurdles and how you’ll overcome them. If you’re going to run a half marathon, what happens when it’s raining or snowing (after all, we’re in Minnesota, right?!)?  How will you continue to train? What will be your backup plan for those days?

Set monthly or quarterly goal check-ins.

Twelve months can feel like a long time to accomplish a goal, but many wait until October to start, and then get overwhelmed with the amount of work each goal takes. Breaking annual goals into quarterly segments, and then focusing on one to two at a time is more effective than trying to accomplish many at once.

Consider your workload and keep it realistic.

When you’re setting your goals, remember that not everything can be done at once. When everything is important, nothing is important. Be realistic about your existing workload, the additional work that the new goals will add to it and give yourself grace.

Celebrate the wins.

Along the way, it’s important to celebrate the wins – both big and small. By celebrating wins you’ll be able to build momentum along the way, instead of waiting for the whole goal to be achieved.  Identify at what milestones you’ll celebrate, and how you’ll celebrate.

We hope this helps you get a clearer vision for 2020 (see what we did there?!).  We can’t wait to see what 2020 brings for you as you set and crush your goals!