Did you achieve all your goals this year?

Assess where you have really spent your time this year and start making decisions on what you will do differently next year. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Are you tired of saying the same thing, aspiring for change and finding yourself in this same spot?
  • Perhaps it’s time to evaluate what stopped us from making progress before setting more goals.

We are less than two months away from next year.

Chances are that we will once again set fresh resolutions in January next year – except that they will be a reprise of the ones we set in January this year.

Are you tired of saying the same thing, aspiring for change and finding yourself in this same spot?

Perhaps it’s time to evaluate what stopped us from making progress before setting more goals lest we fall into the same trap we did this year.

 

You had no incentive to do things differently. We like talking and perceiving ourselves as people who get out of our comfort zone frequently, but we are not.

For example, you might have wanted to manage your spending better. That’s a nice plan but on an emotional level it didn’t resonate, hence you didn’t do it.

There is something you get out of spending money. Identify that first then you can see what is blocking you.

Do you get some fulfilment, social status, sense of relevance from it? Are you using spending to avoid certain things? Do you get a sense of security (as false and temporary as it may be) from spending?

There is something in it for you to spend the way you do, to have stayed in the job, to keep digging yourself in debt, to not have made the changes in your business. Once you do this, you can then look at the goals that you are going to set for yourself in the coming year and ask yourself if they really connect with you.

The cost of your comfort zone is the price of your goals for a greater benefit. Many people wanted to start businesses but could not give up the sense of security a stable income comes with. Those that did substituted it for a greater sense of purpose and fulfilment.

 

What other people think still influences our choices. Many people did not pursue certain agendas because they were worried about the perception others would have of them. We still believe that if other people don’t buy into it, it can’t be the right thing to do.

I think there are some people around you that you simply have to stop giving a toss about. Most of the time they don’t know what they are saying because they have never done it themselves. They are uncomfortable with the fact that you want to do something that they don’t see themselves doing.

Miriam*, who I spoke to, didn’t pursue an investment because her colleagues discouraged her. In many of my articles and classes I have referred to these people as the poverty support group.

As you think about your next year, identify these people and be selective about the conversations you have with them. Maybe some need to be ditched all together.

There is another group of people whose considerations and support might be important to you: Family, mentors, friends.

Understand that they may not also always agree with what you want to do and it doesn’t mean you love or respect them any less. If anything, your belief and putting actions behind this belief is what helps in bringing them round.

 

Do you really have no time to pursue your goals? However, you still have time to watch TV, be on social media, hang out with friends, and so forth. So it is not a lack of time; it is lack of prioritising.

Assess where you have really spent your time this year and start making decisions on what you will do differently next year.

In our classes, we calculate the time (in hours) spent on TV like activities and it usually ends up being the equivalent of two to three whole months in a year. That’s usually more than enough time to work on our goals.

So we will not have a different year next year if we don’t come to terms with the mistakes made, the reason and come up with new intentions for the year.

 

Waceke runs a course on personal finance & entrepreneurship. Get in touch with her on [email protected]|Facebook/WacekeNduati| Twitter@cekenduati