The year 2016 was a very exciting year for me. I got married. Period. Jokes apart, last year was exciting simply because I did all things that I wanted to do. It was the third successive year in which I had set goals and invested time in the execution. For most the year, I felt I was in control of my life. The foundation for this was laid in 2014 when for the first time, I pursued all my goals well beyond the initial excitement of initial few days. As is true for many others, ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, a master piece on personal effectiveness by Mr. Covey was the bedrock of this productive start.
2014 ended on a satisfactory note as 1) I had maintained the zeal till the year end (the most important) 2) developed my own format to track my weekly and monthly progress, and 3) got fairly comfortable working at Level 1 and 2 of time management. 2015 was an attempt to move to the next level. My goals guided my daily routine, tracking of progress improved, consistency kicked in and there was a move from anxious ‘Oh I have to do this that‘ to ‘I have a goal, a plan, and i need to focus on execution‘. The results at the end of the year were encouraging. I can’t say I say achieved my goals completely, but I had read more books, traveled more and got better at maintaining relationships.
2016 was sweet both in terms of both planning and execution. My goal setting had become smarter. I created a few overarching categories from where the quarterly, monthly and weekly activities were derived. A model akin to the “4 Disciplines of Execution” (A very powerful concept). I also gave myself the leverage to re-calibrate my goals at the end of 6 months to accommodate for the changes in environment, opportunities and new developments. I attempted to develop a couple of habits (Level 5 time management) by executing particular actions consistently. All of this cumulatively worked well. My execution ability has improved considerably. Many goals were achieved or exceeded, performance in incomplete targets was better than previous years. Most importantly, my confidence and belief in this approach for self development strengthened further.
2017 has already started on a good note. For each category and goal this year, I have clearly articulated an underlying ‘Why’. I have also tried a sneak peek into next 5 years of my life and have formulated a long term plan. That will be my guide post. I feel excited and upbeat for this year. If plans get executed perfectly, then my writings next year will have more than a few words of French. “Pour l’instant, Au Revoir”.