Your Next Life: Taking Stock of Life and Work
Dec 16 2008
A client recently was interviewing with a senior executive in the Washington, D.C., defense industry, and one question stood out as being critical to his success: “Tell me something you have learned in the past year and how you could use this new knowledge to make an impact in our business?”
Among all of 2008’s interview experiences, this question rises to preeminence for being both didactic and thoughtful. It’s also an interesting topic to ponder as you take stock of 2008’s accomplishments and disappointments and establish your priorities for the coming year. If you have trouble getting started, go through last year’s appointment calendar to help you recall the year’s hits and misses.
One effective way to make next year your best year yet is to acknowledge that most successful people strive for a degree of balance between work and their personal life. Corporate coach Jinny Ditzler advises her clients to aim for balance in their goals for next year. “You don’t want to wind up with nine business goals and only one personal goal.”
The next step is to identify the key areas within which you want to achieve results and maintain standards. At work, these areas of focus will converge where you have at least implicit responsibility, such as strategic planning, staff development, market research, customer service, or asset management. In addition, we all have equally compelling responsibilities in our personal lives that might include family, fitness, personal finances, spirituality, and recreation.
Within these areas of responsibility, it’s important for goals to be fairly specific, yet manageable and achievable within the constraints of your life. Personal coach Robert Ferrogiaro reminds his clients not to worry about being perfect. “Concentrate on figuring out who you want to be in each area of your life. Keep in mind why you’re doing it, and don’t get discouraged if you’re occasionally off course.”
Remember, the real trick is sticking with your goals and resolutions and putting them down on paper helps. The small amount of time required to compose and edit your personal and professional goals will add clarity to your thinking. Plus, having your goals in writing will make it easier for you to assess your progress, reaffirm your intentions, and make adjustments — if necessary — in your allocation of time and energy.
“Make a conscious effort to do something about (your goals) on a regular basis,” advises executive coach George Hollenbeck. “Set up some reminders. Tell other people and generate some social pressure to keep yourself on track.
Finally, consider that the most valuable part of the process of establishing goals and priorities for the coming year might not be the goals themselves but rather the time you devote to reflect on your life and what’s really important to you.
About the author: Jim Carman is a graduate of the MIT Sloan School of Management and a retired Navy captain. He writes, lectures, and coaches job candidates on interview skills and career building topics.
