Try This Method to Organize Your Goals and Achievements for 2024.
If you’re looking to try a more organized approach to achieving your goals in the coming year, try this monthly schedule designed to both set goals and track your progress.
The first step is to create a personal single source of truth , or SSOT, which is essentially a repository of all the information and resources related to your work and goals. You can use Google Drive, OneDrive, SharePoint, or any other software that allows you to create folders and organize your files—the goal here is simply to collect all the files you regularly use (or plan to use frequently) in one hub.
Step two is to set goals at the beginning of each month. Essentially, you’ll be using AgileResults , which you may have read about before: it’s a goal-setting system where you set goals for the short and long term. On the first day of every month, set five specific goals for the next four weeks. Track them in your SSOT, where you’ll get 12 sets of monthly goals. Your five goals should be specific, detailed, and achievable by the end of the month (I’m sure you’ve already heard of SMART goals —specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound). And it can help to have overall annual goals to structure your smaller, progressive steps, so feel free to add a list of annual goals to your SSOT as well. Then track your goals each month in your folders.
Your last major step is to regularly review your accomplishments (and shortcomings). At the end of each month, evaluate your initial list of goals (and if you created an annual list of goals in your SSOT, add your new successes to that larger list as well). Revisiting them isn’t just important for improving productivity: Tracking your achievements can help you get a promotion, facilitate performance reviews, or help you fill out your resume for your next job.
Tracking your goals gradually throughout the year will help you stay on track and be less likely to forget the victories you achieve month after month. And at the end of the year, you’ll have a portfolio of everything you’ve accomplished, all in one place.