Last year had its ups and downs. COVID did not go away as I had hoped. But I made the best of it. My wife and I defined a bubble of friends and family and spent time together. I did a number of consulting projects and continued to deliver valuable Develop Great Managers content. And I got my workouts in, started rock climbing, played a lot of golf, and hiked a good deal.
I have no complaints but know others did not fare as well. I hope that COVID gradually becomes a thing of the past, that struggling companies get back on their feet, that anyone without a job finds one, and that we are able to spend time together without fear!
Before jumping into goals and results, I would like to again touch on goal tracking.
Goal Tracking
I have always found goals to be valuable. They help me to focus on what is most important.
Setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation . It focuses your acquisition of knowledge, and helps you to organize your time and your resources so that you can make the most of your life.Personal Goal Setting, MindTools
Creating good goals is one thing. Keeping them front and center is another. The primary tool that I use for this purpose is to create custom backgrounds with my goals embedded. I find one or more pictures that are relevant to me, add goals to the picture, and add these pictures to the folder used by Windows for backgrounds.
In addition to this daily reminder, I regularly (once every three or four months) spend time reviewing my progress and decide if there is more that I need to do to achieve my goals. This simple process creates renewed energy and focus.
New Goals
Selecting goals each year is both fun and a challenge. I want to do more than this, but think that some will “just happen” anyway. These are the ones that need a bit of focus.
| 2 Rounds Golf < 80 | I thought for a long time about the best goal for golf. There are so many options. But making 80 a number that I am mostly above but sometimes below feels right. And easy to measure! |
| Lift 3 Times per Week | As you get older you lose muscle. I want to fend that off as much as possible given my love of golf and my new love of rock climbing:) |
| Ship a Product | This has been a goal twice in the past. I hope that I can actually achieve it this year. I think I have a chance. |
| One Epic Hike | I love hiking. Having an epic hike to look forward to makes me do more hiking and when done, is something that I am proud of. I have a good idea of the epic hike already. |
| Complete Italian Level 1 | I am going to Italy late this year. And there is a good possibility that I will get dual citizenship. So I need to learn the language. This is hopefully the first step on a journey to proficiency. |
2021 Results
Here is a summary of how I did in 2020. I am happy with my progress.
| Deliver Valuable DGM Content | Yes – slowed down but delivered podcasts and posts. |
| Help Anthony and Nick with their Endeavors | Yes – Nick for his FerrarioFitness and then move to Arizona to prepare for Physical Therapy school. And Anthony with personal and company ideas. |
| Find Regular Golf Playing Partners | Yes – I have a regular group and friends that I can schedule to play with. |
| Hike More | No – I did a good amount of hiking, including a nice trip to Zion and hikes in Arizona, but I did not hike more. Not sure that I should have made hiking more a goal:) |
| Ship a Product | No – Did not do this again. But have a good idea for 2022! |
In addition to the goals above, here are two additional highlights.
- I did a lot of consulting, both formally and to help friends with their businesses.
- I became a grandpa – spending time every week with my grandson!
New Tracking Graphics
This year I decided to create three background graphics to keep my goals front and center. Here they are. The locations (Dolomites, Tuscany, and Lake Garda) are where we plan to visit time during our vacation to Italy.
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