It’s Almost September. Do You Know Where Your Goals Are?
Do you remember the public service announcements of the 1960s and ’70s?
“It’s 10 p.m. Do you know where your children are?”
The PSA wasn’t really asking parents whether they had children. It was asking whether they were paying attention to where they were.
We can ask exactly the same question about our goals.
We are approaching September. Most of us set goals in December or January. Maybe we revisited them in the spring. But now, eight months into the year, do you know where your goals are?
Not, Did you set goals? Not, Do you generally remember what you wanted to accomplish? But where are they right now?
Let’s face it, it is easy to get off track. Even with the best intentions, operational challenges, supply chain issues, customer demands, staffing changes and the normal distractions of running a business can pull our attention away from our goals.
The good news is that it isn’t September yet. You still have four months to make meaningful progress.
So, where do you start?
I am assuming you established goals with an action plan identifying specific activities, timelines, resources and milestones, and that those goals are still relevant. Start by revisiting them. Look at the last update you made and ask: Where do I stand today?
Have you completed the critical activities? Have you reached important milestones? Are you on track to meet the completion dates you established? If the answer is yes, great. Make sure you have protected the time and allocated the resources necessary to finish strong.
If the answer is no, it is time to recalibrate. First, reprioritize. Which goals will have the greatest positive impact on your business? With four months remaining, everything cannot be equally important. Decide where your time, attention and resources will have the greatest return.
Next, revisit your action plan. Adjust the timing of critical activities so the most important goals can still be accomplished. That might mean compressing some deadlines, delegating differently or allocating additional resources.
Then, challenge the activities themselves. Are all the steps you identified in January still necessary? Eight months into the year, your business may have changed. You may have adopted new technology or AI tools that can eliminate steps, automate tasks or significantly reduce the time required to complete them. Don’t continue doing something simply because it appeared on the original plan.
Finally, put the work back on your calendar. A revised goal without dedicated time is still just an intention. Block time for the most important activities, identify who is responsible for each next step and establish a regular check-in to measure progress. Accountability helps keep the urgent demands of the day from crowding out what is important.
September is a natural point to take stock. There is enough of the year behind us to see what is working, and enough of the year ahead of us to change what isn’t.
So before September arrives, pull out those goals.
Do you know where they are?