December 11, 2017
Closing out 2017 and Readying for 2018
N. Lee S. Price
Major General (Retired), U.S. Army
I have already begun thinking about the new year and setting some new goals. Before we do that, however, let’s assess how we did in 2017. Are there lingering goals that you did not reach? Perhaps you set the bar too high. Stretch goals are great, but if you continually don’t achieve them, they may not be realistic. Or, perhaps you need to set intermediate goals.
I usually set a mix of personal and professional goals. Health, fitness, and weight goals always make it onto my list. Those are worthy goals but, again, be realistic. I have seen co-workers set weight loss goals and compete to lose weight. I am not a fan of this because it can cause some unhealthy actions such as starving before the weigh-in. Make the competition “fair” and consider using percent of body weight. For instance, if you weigh 140 pounds, you should not be losing the same amount of weight as some who weighs 220 pounds. Think about including healthy meals into your competition. One year I made it a goal to try two new recipes a month. I enjoyed those and found myself sharing them with others. If there is a running or walking competition that you’d like to try, do that with your friend and sometime competitor. I set targets to measure my progress. I have normally worked out about 200 days annually. A workout consists of at least 30 minutes of activity. I also keep up with the specific activity: cardio or strength training. I maintain a calendar in my bathroom and write on it daily. I am happy to say that this is one target I far exceeded this year; I have already worked out 260 days this year – yea!
Other goals to consider are setting aside money for retirement or education. One of my favorite quotes is “if you want to be somewhere tomorrow, you have to give up something today.” I feel blessed every day that I have retirement income, but fear the younger generations will need to meticulously manage their savings in ways I never considered or had to do. Volunteer work allows me work in areas I have deep passion, I hope you will consider the same. We only have pockets of time but volunteering in an area you are passionate about will increase your happiness. Plus, it is hard to help others without also helping yourself; the feel-good factor has a nice glow. Work-life balance is tough and an area that I am constantly trying to improve on. I find my bucket-list is a good tool for helping me take concrete actions. Folks, it is just a dream until you book the tickets.
Speaking about writing things down, let’s talk about leadership. I assume you are reading this because you are a leader. Leaders want to continuously improve but sometimes we get lazy. I challenge you to reflect on your personal attributes. Think about the way you spent your time this year. Did your actions reflect the version of you that you take pride in? Let’s hope so, but there is always room for improvement. If someone described you with just one or two words, what would it be? Go ahead, write it down. What is the one word that you would like to add to that list? Write it down and make a plan to improve on it for 2018. I am working on patience in 2018. I have had that on the list before, so this year I am going to develop better methods for achieving it. For instance, I want to practice the 3-second rule; waiting for 3 seconds before I respond to someone verbally. I will also practice saving email in the draft folder rather responding quickly. And, I will put the cell phone away rather than engaging in any text wars; or, I will pick up the phone and call the person to engage.
Finally, for 2018, I am going to work harder at blogging more on my web site. My target is to post something a minimum of once a month; even if it is just a brief “leader tip.” Wishing all of you Happy Holidays and a great year in 2018 – let’s get busy!
Make Your List:
Two words people would use to describe me: respectful, compassionate
Trait to improve upon: patience; work on the 3 second rule
Fitness Goals: Maintain at over 210 workouts annually
Blog at least once per month
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