Speaker 1: Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the New Corner Office,
Speaker 1: the podcast where we share strategies for thriving in the
Speaker 1: new world of work, where location and ours are more
Speaker 1: flexible than in the past. Today's tip is to set
Speaker 1: one dozen goals for the new year. Well, that might
Speaker 1: seem like a lot, structured the right way, a dozen
Speaker 1: goals will feel incredibly doable. This goal setting strategy will
Speaker 1: help you succeed professionally while having a balanced life. For
Speaker 1: the past few years, I have greeted the new year
Speaker 1: by setting quarterly goals. Three months seems like a great
Speaker 1: amount of time to focus fully on something, and setting
Speaker 1: quarterly goals allows me to set multiple goals while pacing myself.
Speaker 1: I can set a goal to say, write a novel
Speaker 1: and launch a podcast without having the to compete against
Speaker 1: each other. I don't worry while I'm writing the novel
Speaker 1: that I should be thinking about the podcast. I know
Speaker 1: there's a time for that, and now is not that time.
Speaker 1: Whenever I make priority lists, I make them in three categories, career, relationships,
Speaker 1: and self. Putting something in all three categories means I'm
Speaker 1: thinking about all three categories, and I think that's a
Speaker 1: good thing. It's good for weekly planning and it's good
Speaker 1: for goals too. So that is how we get to
Speaker 1: a dozen goals. Each quarter gets three goals, a career one,
Speaker 1: our relationships one, and a personal one. Three goals a
Speaker 1: quarter for four quarters is twelve goals for the year. Now,
Speaker 1: none of these dozen goals has to be particularly huge,
Speaker 1: though it's nice if they are substantial enough to feel meaningful.
Speaker 1: I set a first quarter personal goal to get outside
Speaker 1: for twenty minutes a day. I did that. I set
Speaker 1: a third quarter personal goal to make a decision about
Speaker 1: our housing situation, and lo and behold, my husband and
Speaker 1: I had our offer on a house accepted in August.
Speaker 1: Of course, with the pandemic, some goals didn't happen. I
Speaker 1: did not make it to Germany for the boch Festival
Speaker 1: I planned to attend, so it goes. I think setting
Speaker 1: goals allows us to articulate what is important to us.
Speaker 1: And knowing that I cared about the box festival inspired
Speaker 1: me to sign up for a local virtual box lecture
Speaker 1: and sing along series. It's not Leipzig, but it's something.
Speaker 1: If you find the idea of a dozen goals appealing,
Speaker 1: then I encourage you to set some time aside in
Speaker 1: the next few days to brainstorm potential goals for each slot.
Speaker 1: Some you'll already know. I know that my third quarter
Speaker 1: goal for next year is turning in the manuscript of
Speaker 1: a book called Tranquility Tuesday. My contract specifies that it
Speaker 1: be done by October one, so there we go. We're
Speaker 1: doing renovations on the new house and then moving in,
Speaker 1: so that will be a family goal, though I guess
Speaker 1: the question of which quarter depends on how ambitious I
Speaker 1: intend to be. Make sure the goals feel like they
Speaker 1: matter to you, But in any case, I found it
Speaker 1: appealing to know that I've designated goals for later in
Speaker 1: the year and that I planned to devote time to them.
Speaker 1: Even if I'm not devoting mental effort to them right now,
Speaker 1: I know I will be doing cool things in my
Speaker 1: professional and personal life all year long, and that makes
Speaker 1: the start of the new year feel more exciting. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura, Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: the succeeding in the New Corner Office. The New Corner
Speaker 1: Office is a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts,
Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you get your favorite shows h