December 2013 Newsletter - Accountability: The Key to Reaching Your Goals in the New Year
Letter from the Editor
Every year as the holidays approach, I find myself more and more reflective on the importance of the holiday season. Maybe it's age or maybe it's circumstance, but I think it is fairly safe to say that no matter what you believe in, the special warmth of the holiday season provides all of us the opportunity to sit down and center ourselves in what’s most important... the love we have for our family... the health, safety, and well-being of those we love...the gifts of friendship and laughter. Notice, none of the items on the most-important-list are “things.” Nope, they don’t cost a dime, and you don’t have to shop for hours to find them. These gifts are all around, and in, us!As the dear Grinch learned in Dr. Seuss’s classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, ultimately the gifts of the holiday season dwell within us. We simply have to be present to them and choose to open those gifts up:
“It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”
Wishing you peace, love, friendship, and hugs this holiday season...
Keeping Your Team Focused During the Holidays
We all know that the holidays stress many people out. This is clearly evident when walking through the mall for that last minute gift, and this stress affects all domains of our lives. Think about your work, for example. It is the week before Christmas and chances are that the majority of the people in your office aren’t 100% focused on the project proposal that is due on December 24th! We are human, after all, and all of the thoughts, feelings, and activities that the holidays bring can take a toll on us mentally and physically. So, what can we do to be energized, give up the bah-humbugs and support each other as a team this holiday season? We have the power to either create an outrageous holiday season (which usually requires some help) or complain about it and be downright miserable all by ourselves! Which would you like to choose?
You are choosing to create an outrageous holiday season both in and out of the office? Fantastic! Read on.
The best way to create an outrageous holiday season is to write about what you want to get out of the holidays and ask for help getting through your stops in order to get what you want!At Clay Nelson Life Balance, we begin, as early as October, writing about what we want for ourselves personally and for our team and we continue all the way through January. We are constantly evaluating, making sure we are on course and that we are being who we need to be to have the most outrageous fun ever. We do this by:
Writing about what we’ve completed personally and professionally this year.
Writing down what we haven’t done and still want to do.
Writing down what kind of fun we want to have at the end of the year... who we want to talk to... who we want to be with, and then we actually take time on the job to talk about it!
Supporting each other in doing what our plans say we are committed to do.
Holding each other accountable.
We support our own humanity by supporting our team, not as employees, but as human beings. And I guarantee that there are few teams having more fun than the Clay Nelson Life Balance team in the 4th quarter of any year!So, please take the time over the next few weeks to really be with your team. Allow people to acknowledge their feelings – happy, sad, stressed, or frustrated – whatever they may be. By giving your team the room they need to say what is on their minds and the tools and support they need for creating the holiday of their choosing, you are giving them the best gift you could possibly give.
Accountability: The Key to Reaching Your Goals in the New Year
How many times have you tossed your New Year resolutions aside, convinced you couldn't see your commitment through? No doubt we've all done that a time or two, but you don't have to! Make this New Year different by creating a system of accountability that keeps you on track toward your goals.Here's how:Accountability Step One:Get clear about what you want, and don’t want, for yourself and your business. You’d be surprised by the number of people who don’t know what they do and do not want! The problem with that is if we don’t know what we want and don’t want, how do we know what to ask for? How do we know what we are going to ask to be held accountable for doing or not doing?Accountability Step Two:Articulate your goals for your future and move on to writing the plan for what you REALLY want to have and by-when you want to have it! Remember: If you can’t put in writing what you want, you can’t language what you want, and if you can’t write down and then language what you want, you can’t ask anybody to hold you accountable for getting it! No one can read your mind and therefore you cannot be held accountable for a plan that is in your head!Accountability Step Three:Once you are clear about what you want, you have to write down the various steps for getting there. “I am going to start here... I end there... and this is what I have to do in between to get from where I am to where I want to be!” It is called a plan, and in your plan you should include not only the tasks and actions you are going to take on in order to get what you want, but by-when you are going to do them!Accountability Step Four:Ask for help! If any of us could get to where we are going by ourselves, we would be there already. So ask for the help you need... give your team permission to hold you accountable for doing what you say you are going to do, and then do it!Accountability Step Five:Keep your plan visible! By keeping in front of you what you wrote down, the plan of how to get there, and the folks that you are going to ask to hold you accountable, it makes it much easier to not be stopped by your circumstances!Every one of us needs accountability to keep ourselves on track for getting what we say we want. So write your plan, ask for help, have fun, and enjoy a fantastic new year!