Make it happen this last quarter of the year...
At the start of this year, you wrote down a few things you want to achieve, if you haven't achieved them yet, you still have the time to. Make this last quarter count...
Happy New Week!
Last Friday we entered the fourth quarter of 2021, the last three months of the year. The final quarter is the opportunity to end your year strong and also start the next year strong. At the start of this year, we all had goals and things we wanted to accomplish. This is the time to go back and see if you’ve accomplished them yet, whether this is still a goal you’re committed to and how you can maximise your efforts and hit your goals and targets before the year ends.
It’s still possible to achieve the goals you set out to achieve for this year. A lot of the time most of our goals can be achieved in a shorter time period than we set ourselves. Many of us only do a fraction of what’s possible because of our thinking, planning, and the obstacles that get in our way.
In order to win the last quarter, the first thing to do is to reflect on the last 3 quarters:
What accomplishments are you most proud of?
Which goals have you met? Which goals have you fallen short of?
What has worked well for you and what hasn’t?
By reviewing your last quarter you can then decide what your most important goals are for the next quarter. When it comes to goal setting, I recommend focusing on three SMART goals. Smart goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based goals. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself with many goals. When your goals are spread out in different areas in your life, you simply don’t have all the energy and time to accomplish them all. Doing less helps you accomplish more.
After reviewing you should then create an action plan. Plan all the steps that are needed along the way to achieving your goals. Don’t just focus on the outcomes, you have to write out the individual steps and cross each one-off, soon you’ll realise that you’re making great progress towards that goal. It’s always difficult to start but the best thing you can do is to take action.
You need to commit to your goals; commit to being better, to being a person of action, to being a person that sticks to their word and follows through. It is not going to be easy but it is possible. Prove to yourself that you are able to achieve what you set out to achieve. Have the self-discipline to show up even when you’re not in the mood. In order to achieve your goals, you have to hold yourself accountable. If this is something you struggle with you can find an accountability partner, a friend, sibling, or colleague that will make sure you keep to your commitment. Accountability partners are great as you can share your wins and challenges with them, they can provide you with feedback and keep you in check to ensure you meet your goals.
This final quarter, I challenge you to do the hard work, don’t take the easy/ comfortable route. Do the things that you would thank yourself for doing at the end of this year. It is easy to brush your tasks to the side and to do the things that don’t require much effort but that won’t draw you any nearer to where you want to be at the end of this year. When you do the hard work, your confidence will improve. You start to trust more in the fact that you have the time, knowledge, skills, willpower, and discipline to make things happen.
Create your action plan, take action and hold yourself accountable. Even if you fall short at the end of this quarter, you can still look back and be proud that you did all you can.
Wishing you a strong last quarter.
Have a great week!
Subomi