Are you ready to make your 2020 your “Year of Plenty” (aka full of happiness & success)?
As a leader in your business you will already be aware of the importance of ensuring that your employees feel happy and supported. It not only increases productivity and profitability for your business, but it also ensures that your employees experience less stress and anxiety at work.
When an employee feels happy at work this helps them to achieve more in their personal lives, and vice-versa. This is the key to achieving a good work-life balance.
Given the importance of the above, there is little doubt that you should be placing significant focus on your business’s employee well-being programme, so that you can help your employees feel happier and more supported in the workplace. But how are your employees coping with their own PERSONAL GOALS?
It is now mid-February, and by now, most individuals feel that their personal goals have already started to fall to the wayside. This means that your employee’s overall morale and confidence may already be starting to wane. This article has therefore been designed towards your employees, as individuals, so that you to share these insights and help them succeed in their own personal goals. Thereby, offering them a greater chance of achieving a good work-life balance.
To begin with, we are aware that in order to achieve
goals and ambitions with confidence and regularity (both personally and in the
workplace) individuals need to be resilient today.
To be resilient, your employees need to focus on the following two areas:
- Their Mindset – To be positive and resourceful
- Their Energy Levels – Discovering their key to personal endurance
With these 2 factors in mind, I offer the following 5 top
tips for your employees and how they can approach, maintain and achieve their personal
goals with greater confidence and success in 2020.
Thereby making 2020 your Year of Plenty- together.
- Have a constructive review of 2019
- Link your 2020 goals with your emotions
- Prioritise and create balance with your list of goals
- Become a master of your energy levels
- Hold yourself accountable with regular check ins
- HAVE A CONSTRUCTIVE REVIEW OF 2019
Reflecting on and reviewing the past is key to fast tracking our personal success.
KEY ACTION:
Write a list of your positive traits, thoughts or actions that lead to your successes. Then list any personal limitations or unwanted actions and re-write them as new behaviours or approaches that you would like to adopt going forward. This forms your personal toolkit for success.
- LINK YOUR 2020 GOALS WITH YOUR EMOTIONS.
Great goals have
a clear vision or direction, but then why do we often find ourselves losing
focus or momentum?
Quite simply, because we often don’t really understand WHY we want to do
something.
If we aren’t emotionally connected, we naturally tend to lose interest &
motivation.
For example, if you’re passionate about your football, would you miss watching your
team play? Probably not. You’re far more likely to be resourceful in finding a
way to watch it.
KEY ACTION:
Ask yourself WHY this goal is important to you and then what that importance
means for you.
Keep asking these questions until you reach the most core emotion/ driver for
YOU! (e.g. feel safe, feel empowered, feel
happy, feel loved, feel secure etc.)
Intentions (vision) + Emotions (motivational driver) = increased goal success!
- PRIORITIZE AND CREATE BALANCE WITH YOU LIST OF GOALS
One thing is certain, there is only one of you and there are only 24 hours in a day. This means you need to prioritize and align your goals with your time, energy & your current responsibilities.
Merely adding new goals to an already busy schedule only increases stress levels and often leads to overwhelm, lack of motivation or failure. If a balanced position can be achieved between all areas of your life then you’re far more likely to feel happy, energised and able to succeed.
The following are key personal areas to consider:
Your finances, your career, your health, your family and friends, your self-development, your living environment, your passions or hobbies, your faith/ religion.
KEY ACTION:
When prioritizing and allocating time for your new goals, first check that you are happy with the overall impact they will have on your wider life (e.g. family, friends, responsibilities etc.).
If there is a serious conflict, then reassess your goal. If the impact is fairly reasonable and aligned, then decide what must change or fall away to make space for the time and effort you require to achieve your new goal.
- BECOME
A MASTER OF YOUR ENERGY LEVELS:
Resilient people are able to manage and maintain their energy levels (both mentally and physically). This allows them to then adapt more easily which increases their ability to succeed.
Think about this…
You wouldn’t expect to be able to drive your car around endlessly without having to fill up with fuel. So why do we expect that we are any different?
Consider the following:
- Everything
in Nature works in the continuous cycle of “GROW – REST – REPAIR”:
Give yourself permission to rest because it is essential for you to perform at your best! - Discover
and fine tune your list of nourishing self-care techniques
By nourishing self-care I mean doing things that help you to truly feel rested alongside activities that fill you with joy and inspiration so that you can feel energised and motivated. Just like re-fuelling your tank!
Everyone is unique in terms of how much fuel we need and what specifically
fills our tank.
Listen to your body and observe what activities truly top up your energy and
inspiration.
Here are a few nourishing activities to consider:
MOVEMENT (Yoga, stretching, walking, running, dance etc.)
CREATIVITY (drawing, photography, gardening, new skills etc.)
MIND (Mindfulness, meditation, reading, catching up with friends, learning,
etc.) and
NOURISHMENT (Sleeping, clean eating, massages, water intake etc.).
KEY ACTION:
Listen to your body and observe how various tasks or activities will influence
your energy levels. Create a list of the activities and techniques that truly
make you feel rested and re-stored. Incorporate creativity and inspiration to
drive your energy & motivation. Be guided by your intuition to choose an activity
or techniques that suits your needs and your environment.
- HOLD
YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE WITH SELF CHECK INS
Unlike business performance plans, individuals rarely scheduling time in with themselves (“our real managers”) in order to maintain focus on the vision and the accountability for its delivery.
The trick here is to act as if you would in the office. Here are a few guidelines to think about: - ENSURE VISIBILITY OF YOUR GOALS. E.g. on the fridge, as a screensaver, a daily reminder…
- TRACK YOUR PERFORMANCE AND OBSERVATIONS: Just like minutes from a meeting
- ENGAGE AND SHARE: Share your WHY and your tracking with another person.
- REVIEW: Put regular “personal meetings” in your diary and make sure you attend and review your progress. This is a critical step to keep you on track and ensure your success.
- REWARD YOURSELF: Big or small… celebrate and be proud of achieving your key milestones!
KEY ACTION:
Become your own best manager. Set up and attend regular “personal meetings” to
track and maintain your performance. Increase your motivation by sharing your goal
and progress with someone you admire. Feel proud and celebrate achieving your
key milestones.
In summary, remember that humans are creatures of habit and efficiency so to make progress means we need focus and repetition.
Be kind to yourself and listen to what your body and mind needs so that you can be resilient and efficiently maintain your focus and energy. Be your own best manager and support yourself where necessary to help you achieve a Year of Plenty in 2020.
If you are interested to finding out more or would like to chat to me about building up your confidence and resilience please get in touch with Stefano or myself at Waves Wellbeing.
Wishing you a wonderful year ahead!
