How many of us have felt the disappointment of setting goals at New Years only to have them completely fall off the radar by Valentine’s Day? Your life goals are too important to not complete them. Maintaining accountability to yourself and others is key.
At the end of each month, quarter, and year review your goals to assess what you’ve accomplished, experienced, and learned.
Set your timer for an hour, assemble your tools, and ink it.
Ink Your Accountability Review
Review the last time period to see how you closed in on your goals, what strengths contributed to that movement, how you could make it stronger, and what you learned. Get out your keyboard and mouse, or pen and paper, and ink it!
- Make or re-use a table with these headings: Goals, Milestones, Progress, Strengths, Opportunities, and Insights.
- Review your planned milestones, your last review, annual goals, and five year goals. Note your accomplishments in the categories of Goals, Milestones, or Progress, and write them down in your table.
- Review the table as you go and at the end of the listing of accomplishments. Fill in the 1-3 Strengths you used that led to the accomplishments.
- Approach your Opportunities for improvement the same way, identifying 1-3 for each accomplishment.
- Discover and record your insights as you reflect during steps 2-4. Come up with 3 insights, at least, for the period.
- Write a short summary of the accomplishments and a separate summary of the opportunities. Save these to plan your next time period.
- Congratulate Yourself. Don’t give in to evaluating and criticizing yourself. The month/quarter/year is over and you’re moving forward to fulfill your dreams. Learn from the experience and prepare for the next opportunity.
- Summarize your insights and discoveries.
- Share your summary with your stakeholders / accountability partners / coach or mentor.
Conclusion
Review regularly and with self-honesty. This practice helps you stay on track with your goals so you’re always accountable to yourself and proactively accountable to others.
Image Credit
As we wrote this post, we reached the end of the summer and started fall. We took some time to reflect on the changing of the seasons and celebrate being here, being loved, and always moving forward! The picture was taken near Robert Redford‘s Sundance Resort in Utah. (c) 2017 by David Leasure.