Last January, I asked you to take some time to think and define what success looks like at the end of the year. I encouraged you to write your performance review for 2021 and use it as your compass. I wanted you to have some specific things to brag about in December 2021.

So here we are. What do you want to brag about? As you reflect on the past year, what are you most proud of? Did you accomplish your vision for success this year? Are you ready to brag?

When I ask these questions, most of my clients answer, “Sort of.” Directionally, they moved toward their vision for success. But, as in all cases, their years were filled with twists, turns, and adjustments. Fundamentally, they had to address unexpected issues, navigate barriers, and work hard to stay focused on their initial vision. In several cases, they came close to their view of success and realized additional accomplishments they had not envisioned one year ago.

Many leaders, however, fell short of their vision for success, getting sucked into the daily tasks and fires of the days, weeks, and months, not able to keep their vision of success a priority. Perhaps it was their lack of delegation or falling to the temptation of keeping busy versus working on and shaping their future. In general, they maintained their group versus achieving the vision they had for themselves back in January. They did not prioritize the steps necessary to make their vision a reality.

So why do some leaders stay on plan and improve it, while others get consumed or distracted with the issues of the day? Why do some leaders enjoy the initial dream of success, only to put it on the shelf once the year starts?

When I evaluated successful leaders, I found three major themes.

1. They had a high-quality, realistic vision that was consistent with their current roles.

Successful visions related to expanding responsibility and improving effectiveness are the most common. Everything these leaders do is tied to moving toward achieving their vision. For example, business leaders increased the efficiency of their group, improved their products and markets, developed talent, and in general, expanded their scope of responsibility.

Having an exciting vision unrelated to the primary area of focus is extremely difficult since the vision can be a distraction from current job responsibilities. For example, if you work in finance and your dream is to open up a pizza place, you may be spending all your time looking at locations or dough suppliers. Your finance job will suffer, and you will be lucky to keep it at the end of the year. However, spending some time to learn about what a successful P&L looks like for a pizza place, or spending some time in the evening looking for businesses for sale is more appropriate. In this case, the big vision is to eventually get out of finance and into running a pizza business. The bragging issue for the year is to know more about pizza in preparation for the move perhaps 1 or 2 years later.

If your big vision is outside your current area of responsibility, be realistic about how much time you can spend on it without jeopardizing your current role.

2. They have the discipline to keep the vision as a top priority without distraction.

Successful leaders maintain the discipline to allocate time and energy to the steps required to achieve the goal. It is very easy for random day-to-day events to consume our days, weeks, and months.

Think about your inbox. We spend a great deal of time “reading our emails,” when there are probably 2 or 3 a day that actually require our attention. Yet some leaders take pride in “cleaning out their inbox each day.” Is that really the best use of a senior leader’s time? I think not.

Keep the time to work on the high-quality vision sacred. Allocate a portion of the day to the strategy to achieve the vision. Fight distractions. Before you start a task or attend a meeting, ask yourself how this contributes to your vision of success. In some cases, a distraction may be an opportunity, and in those cases, do it. However, in most cases, distractions will keep you from achieving your goals. Certainly, there are unforeseen priorities, but leaders who achieved their vision had an effective filter for what got their attention.

3. They broke the vision up into smaller parts to recognize when course correction and adjustments were necessary.

In my January 2020 blog, “Take Time to Think”, I talked about designing the Christmas concert. How can you possibly be successful without breaking the concert up into the program parts? Each piece and instrument requires a unique piece of music. Just like planning a concert, you must break your vision into parts. What has to happen in January, February, March, etc. to ensure that you are on track to achieve your bragging rights in December? Or, in the case of the pizza place, what has to happen in December to achieve your restaurant vision 1 or 2 years from now?

In psychotherapy, it is a common practice to have the patient break up their day into 4 parts. This allows three opportunities to restart on a new goal and not be devastated and discouraged when the patient does not make progress in the morning. How can you break up your vision on a monthly basis so you do not end up empty handed in December? Give yourself some restarts.

In Admiral William H. McRaven’s book, Make Your Bed, he tells about how important it was to make his bed during SEAL training to ensure the day started off with a win. SEAL training is the most grueling in the military, with many frustrations and setbacks. Starting the day with a win in his pocket had much to do with his motivation, discipline, perseverance, and ultimately gave him great success with his training goals. How can you achieve short, quick wins in pursuit of your ultimate goal?

Take the time to look back at the year in December. What distracted you? What kept you focused? Did you achieve your goal because you were lucky or because you were disciplined with your plan?

In January 2022, look forward and establish your dream for December 2022. The role of planning and discipline is important to minimize the role of luck. Dream about what success looks like for the year. Imagine what you want to brag about in December and put a plan in place with short-term milestones. Planning and prioritizing are a strategy for success. Hope and luck are not.

January ’20 & ’21’s Blogs for your reference:
An Outside the Box Approach to Goals > 
Take Time to Think >