Last week my article revolved around creating effective goals that work. Briefly, effective goals needs to be defined clearly, well timed, followed-up consistently and always celebrated in one form or another. Great, you now have an effective well planned goal to achieve! Nevertheless, every now and then, something comes up in the middle, that hinders your progress. Don’t worry, you are not alone. These setbacks are a normal part of any goal setting, and my focus in this article today is to share a system that I personally use, that encompasses of 3 simple steps, to reduce setbacks that one may encounter during the delivery of an effective goal. I call this simple system “Triple A” i.e : Accept, Analyse and Amend.
While I have not come through a formal study or research that shares the percentage of people that experience setback on their goals, I can confidently confirm that setbacks are a common part of life that affects many people, in their personal and professional lives, and in various domains that includes but is not limited to financial, health, career, academic, relationships and the likes. I have personally gone through these challenges, you may be going through them now, and many others did in one way or another, throughout their life journey. The good news is that the majority have passed through these challenges, normally via persistence and commitment to delivery, irrespective of the ultimate result that one may achieve at the end.
Having gone through many personal and professional initiatives over the past 3 decades that were coupled with many ups and downs, fails that were eventually turned into wins, all having well planned goals yet everlasting setbacks that kept and keeps creeping into the delivery journey, I am happy to share the 3 As system that I continue to follow till date, to reduce goal setting setbacks that I encounter.
First, accept the setback! Take one step back, recognize and accept the setback as part of the journey, and realize it’s just temporary hindrance towards your goal. Take an acceptable break, go for a walk, or even indulge yourself in a different activity with a friend or family to revive yourself. The energy and feelings that you will attain after this step is profound, especially that you are aware it’s just part of the effective goal setting process.
Next, analyse the setback! What went wrong? Why did it happen? You need to get and gain a clear understanding of the reasons of the setback. Unless you clearly understand the challenge or the problem, you may not be able to progress smoothly. Furthermore, you may encounter the problem back again during this journey or the next one in the future. Learning about the setback is a necessary part of the process.
Finally, amend the setback! What change or additional activities that needs to be done? Do I have what it takes to fix it? Is there anyone else I can involve or anything else I can get to fix the problem? Make sure you refine and enhance the activity or approach of the goal to overcome the setback in place. I normally speak to my father as a friend and coach, so as attain the support from subject expert matters as an opinion on ways to resolve the setback in question. It’s important in this step to be open to trying different approaches with the ultimate goal of progression at the end.
To conclude, setbacks that you encounter on your personal and professional goals, throughout the delivery and implementation journey may not be avoidable. You just need to know that they are a temporary hindrance or obstacle that disrupts you from achieving your goals. By simply accepting and acknowledging the setback, finding the relevant reasons and solutions for the same, and then accordingly adapting or refining the approach, keeping the ultimate destination in check, I am confident success will be awaiting for you at the end of tunnel. Until we catch up again next week, stay focused and keep winning your goals!
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