Jeff Irby is the Principal at Speed with Purpose, a training company with a mission to change the way America works so that businesses thrive, employees perform at their very best, professional and personal relationships are rewarding, and families prosper. Based on thirty years of industry experience, Irby has taught thousands of individuals a unique method that combines work-life balance principles with a corresponding, tangible workflow. Most recently, his titles have included VP of Middle Markets for BearingPoint Consulting and Faculty member for BearingPoint's Yale School of Management Executive Development Program. Irby received his Juris Doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School and his Bachelor of Science from Indiana University. More information about Speed with Purpose can be found at www.speedwithpurpose.com. The year is just beginning...
This is a perfect time to stop, take assessment of last year's accomplishments, and revisit your goals. There is still time to make a material impact toward your goals.
Here is how:
Step 1: Review your stated goals and validate that they are the proper goals given your current reality. If not, quickly re-negotiate them with your boss. Make sure you are focused on the goals that will give you the most return for your invested time.
Step 2: Create specific projects, (if they don't already exist), to go about accomplishing these goals.
Step 3: For each project, list the very next action step you must take to move toward your goal. When you complete that task, create the next action step. Keep a steady pace forward.
Step 4: Daily scan your list of goals - keep them on top of your mind and grounded into your intuition. This will help you make optimal choices regarding how you spend your time moment by moment.
Step 5: Weekly spend 30 minutes reviewing your goals, projects, and your prior week's performance. Then take a look at the upcoming week's requirements and make sure you are in alignment with your meetings, tasks, and travel to support your goals.
Goal Stoppers: Watch out for activities that will stop you from reaching your goals:
- Poorly run meetings - or meetings in which you do not need to participate
- Highly urgent and unimportant activities - essentially others stealing your time
- Excessive amounts of time spent processing information:
- Spending too much time in front of the screen (TV, Blackberry, PC)
- Poorly handing your email volume - OHIO (Only Handle It Once)
- Neglecting to capture your items into your system as they appear
- Re-listening to voice mail messages without taking action
- Dream killers: people who love to spend their time complaining, whining or telling you why you cannot achieve your goals. Avoid these people as if they have the plague ... toxic thinking can have a very big negative impact upon you
Goal Enablers: Make sure you do these activities:
- Spend time with the people you most care about - cultivate relationships
- Engage in physical activity - stay fit, eat well, and get proper rest
- Take care of your spirit
- Take time to pursue non-work related activities that bring you joy
- Unplug at least one 24-hour period each week (i.e. no work, email, Blackberry etc.)
- Spend time with your mentors to help keep your goals on track