Forget Those 2016 Goals, What Are Your Goals For First Quarter?

The end of a year is a great time to reflect on all of your accomplishments. When you playback 2015 in your mind, the first thing you do is think of all your achievements. What goals did I reach? What awards did I receive? and more importantly, what am I going to do next year? Every year, vision boards are created and new lists are made. Each contain goals to achieve in the new year but why not set goals for the next few months instead?

Don't get me wrong, creating goals for the year is always a great idea. It gives you a nice overview of what's to come and you give yourself a nice timeline. But let's face it, once you hang up those boards and post it notes on the wall you tend to lose track. The first couple of months in the new year are always great, you're motivated and the momentum you have is on full speed. Then spring comes and you begin to decelerate. By summer, you've completely forgot about your goals and lost focus. Before you know it, winter is here and you're playing catch up to get things done. This is probably because you didn't map out everything properly which is what quarter goals would do for you. When I was working in Ad Sales, our CRO would give the department goals for our earnings. They would give the target for the year and then break that number down into four quarters. Each quarter consisted of three months out of the year for us to focus on. The first quarter would be from January to March, the second quarter was from April to June, third quarter was from July to September, and the last three months would bring the final quarter to a close. This was a great way to keep Account Executives on track and monitor the earnings. This also allowed room for recovery and motivation to stay on their toes. If my boss didn't meet her goals in one quarter she would go hard the next to compensate. This was a lot less stressful than waiting until November to look at her earnings for the year and finding out that she didn't reach her goals and had no time fix the damage. Breaking your goals down to quarters can help you do the same whenever you feel the urge to slow down and procrastinate When you break your goals down to quarters, it's easier to focus on your target and get things done.

So as you construct your vision boards and list your goals for 2016, take the time to break it up to further your productivity. Ask yourself what do you want to achieve in the first quarter. Maybe one your 2016 goals is to write a book. What kind of research do you need to do? How many pages do you want to complete? Should your book be completed by the end of 1Q? These are questions that are guaranteed to help you stay on track and also avoid that dreaded procrastination. It will also keep you motivated when you see how much you're doing within a short amount of time. Here's an example of mine. My 2016 goals are:

• Publish a children's book

• Start a children's clothing line for boys

• Get a job that allows telecommuting and travel

• Get a role in a play

• Participate in a dance project

• Be the best mom I can be

My first quarter goals are:

• Complete two books of the series with illustrations

• Obtain a job with telecommuting and travel

• Take one acting class

• Attend three auditions

• Get back into shape

• Bond with my newborn son

Once March arrives, I will then begin to work on my goals for second quarter. I would ideally like for all the above to be completed but whatever is not will just be added to my 2Q goals. By the end of the year, I will have accomplished the things I set forth to do and be able to look back and start all over again. So tell me, what are your goals for the first quarter? Comment below or tweet me @alyssabigbee.

#goals #2016 #selfdevelopment