Got a quarter?

I did not practice what I preached. I didn't set yearly goals (aka New Year's Resolutions). This may explain why I have been all over the place in the first quarter of the year. I am back doing pottery, working on a parenting book, outlining videos, and cleaning out my closet (after meeting with a stylist. Thanks, Mom, for this gift). So what do I want for this year? Hmm…

Wait, what if I set quarterly goals? Then, I could make returning to pottery class a first-quarter goal. Add to that a more concerted effort to understand my food choices and now I have two first-quarter goals. Add working on my book as a business goal and now it's three. This is one personal, one health, and one business goal a quarter. Now, I am back on track. I need to set the next three quarters.

Personal Pottery (Q1), Italian Language Classes (Q2), Rock Climbing (Dolomites, here I come!) (Q3)

Health Tracking food (Q1), Portion and Snacking control(Sorry, Sylvie, the “why are you snacking” signs will return.) (Q2), Teeth Health (Q3)

Business Launch redone website (Q1), Parenting Book (Q2), Workshop development and implementation (Q3) 

Well, I got to Q3 and ran out of steam. Actually, I feel that way off, and will come back to it after Q2.

"When done right, goal setting can inspire, motivate, and energize individuals and teams to focus on successful outcomes. On the other hand, unclear, unrealistic, or poorly timed goals can result in frustration and failure (Clough et al., 2021)." — Jeremy Sutton, Positive Psychology

Yearly goals vs. Quarterly?

Quarterly Pros:

1.    Celebrate little wins.

2.   "I find these quarterly goals much easier to break down. It also gives me a much better picture of the time it's going to take to reach the goal. For example, one of my goals was to create a new resource for my business during this first quarter. " — Laura Shaw

3.    Easier to prioritize.

4.   Yearly goals can be broken down into quarterly goals.

Yearly Pros:

1.    "Goals are good for creating motivation and desire. I call it the "gap." It's the distance or time between where you are and where you want to be. This gap creates tension in your mind and tells you that you need to get up and do something to get what you want. In other words, the gap creates motivation within you." — Purdeep

2.   Give you clear direction of what you want.

3.    Give you focus on what's important.

 Whether you do yearly or quarterly goals, the over-arching consensus is that doing goals is a must for clarity, focus, and motivation.

"Most people think they lack motivation when they really lack clarity." — James Clear, Atomic Habits