Looking to make some changes in your life? Try doing the same – small – assessable changes. Small steps allow for big changes. Every month or so – I try and re-assess where I am at both personally and professionally and then create new goals. (Think mini New Years resolutions that actually happen.)
Examples:
- Personal: take 2 hours to do nothing except relax on a weekend day (without feeling guilty)
- Personal: do 100 push-ups for 100 days
- Personal: substitute nuts for chips for snacks
- Personal: call old friends who I have not spoken to in the last 2-3 months
- Professional: increase transparency by making sure each client logs in and understands our project management system
- Professional: find a way to give back (donation, time) to a cause
- Professional: talk about the benefit of unit testing for clients who could benefit from it
Make sure you write your goals down so once you have achieved them, you can cross them out. This sounds simple/not-important but crossing something off is surprisingly rewarding. This also helps you re-assess your priorities and goals for the next month.
Planning/re-assessing every few months works well for me because it makes me focus on things that are obtainable, assessable, and allow for tweaks/changes along the way (vs. big plans/big failures). I know not everything will go perfectly or as planned – but keeping on track and allowing myself flexibility ultimately allows me more success than failure.
