I’ve mentioned in the past that I’m not concerned with not meeting every goal I set; the process of working toward them still makes me more productive than I otherwise would be.  One thing that helps make this process useful is revisiting the list periodically.  Our lives ebb and flow and our needs change all the time.  That’s why we need to take a fresh look at our goals periodically and do a couple things.

Remember Them

This might sound kind of obvious, but it’s pretty important!  We have to remember what our goals are.  This is best accomplished by looking at them again on a regular basis.  I try to remember to look over my larger goals every month and set more specific or smaller goals for the month.  These are on a list I keep in my calendar so I can reference them regularly.  (Notice I said “try to.” I don’t always remember.  It’s better when I do, but, well, life happens.)

Sometimes, though, you’ll find that certain things are progressing and others just sort of…aren’t.

Reboot Them

That’s when it might be time for a “reboot.”  If you’re not making any progress at all on a given goal, take a moment to ask yourself why.  It might be that there’s some concrete thing standing in the way, and thinking through it will help fix that.  But maybe something wasn’t as important to you as you thought, and you find that you just don’t care enough to work at it.  Or maybe your situation has changed or something else has come up to juggle your priorities around; there are new goals you’re working toward and some of the original ones have taken a backseat or fallen by the wayside altogether.

Don’t beat yourself up over this or legalistically assume you have to accomplish everything you originally set out to do.  Just be honest about what’s really important right now, and adjust.

Right now, we’re about halfway through the year, so it’s an excellent time to revisit and reboot this year’s goals!

This post is being shared at Works for Me Wednesday.