It’s hard to believe it’s 2015 already. It seems like yesterday we were all worrying about Y2K, something probably many of you don’t even remember. Don’t worry, it turned out to be nothing but a distraction anyway. In business, distractions are a bad thing.

For the last six Januarys, I’ve written about making goals, creating a plan to reach them and then measuring them. I haven’t asked you to do anything I haven’t done myself. Every year, I decide what I want to accomplish and then think of actions to put in place to reach those goals. I usually put measurements in place to track progress and then get started with my year.

This sounds great until business and life gets in the way: meetings, travel, people issues, sales changes, etc. You know the drill. Before you know it, it’s fall and you’re just trying to wrap up the year. So why does this happen? Distractions and unrealistic goals, I believe, are the main culprits.

It’s not realistic to think that any of us are going to stop the constant merry-go-round that business and life throws our way. It is, however, possible to scale our goals back to a realistic level. Then, we may just get some of them done.
Here’s my challenge to you in 2015: pick one thing that you would really like to achieve, write it on a sticky note, and put the note on your computer and your mirror at home. That way, there’s no way you can lose sight of it. Then, get about life and work on your goal when you have a few minutes or hours – if you’re lucky.

Be sure it’s an attainable goal, but one that’s also meaningful. It’s way easier to stay focused on one thing. So many times, we make so many goals that we lose sight of them and also lose focus.

Lastly, make sure someone else knows your goals as well. Send them to me. I’ll make it a point to follow up with you to see how you do. At the same time, I’ll share mine with you – just to keep me honest too. Happy 2015!