The last day of September: where did the summer go? The third quarter of 2008 was particularly challenging for me. I like to accomplish things; concrete things I can check off on a list and hold up as being complete.
Sometimes I think I should have been a brick layer so I could actually see my progress.
But this last quarter didn’t involve a lot of checking off items from my list. In fact, I never did get my third quarter list written on my white board. Instead, I spent a lot of time that felt like floundering. It was painful and frustrating. I hated most of it, even though it was summer.
And it was the most productive three months in the past three years!
What?
I didn’t realize it until after my weekly coaching call yesterday. My coach suggested it was time to stop worrying about micromanaging my days on our calls and start looking at the bigger picture. I don’t need any more help getting through the days. I’m ready to start creating something bigger.
These past three months, while painful, were a necessary growing period for me. I spent the time re-evaluating my goals and vision; figuring out what I want to do when I grow up. In January when I set my goals for 2008, social media was barely on my radar. I had no idea it would become a fundamental part of my business. This past summer I ground to a halt because I couldn’t continue working towards goals that didn’t reflect this major shift.
There have been other changes too. I’ve become more confident in who I am – as an entrepreneur – and what I can do for people. Business associates have been commenting about how much I’ve changed, but I didn’t understand how until yesterday.
Even how I look at goals has changed. Because I like to check things off, I’ve always had a long shopping list of goals. It’s not unusual for me to have 17 or more goals that I’m working towards at one time. No wonder I was overwhelmed.
But I’ve come to realize that I really only have four categories of goals – each of the 17 or so “goals” are really just steps in each category. The categories are creating products, delivering services, marketing & promotion and writing blog posts. Much simpler.
My white board now has four things written on it. Sure, I have longer action plans around each of these categories. And several sub-goals. But if I work on two categories in a given day, I’ve accomplished a lot. I’ve worked on fifty percent of my goals. That’s much more satisfying than two out of 17.
These past few months were truly horrible for me. But at risk of sounding like an ‘80s workout video, “no pain, no gain.”
Now that I’ve finished this round of growing pains, I feel much lighter. I’m so excited about what’s in store for the fourth quarter of 2008, never mind 2009. Suddenly the bigger goals and vision I have for my future seem more possible. I still don’t know how I’m going to accomplish most of them, but I feel an excited certainty that I’ll figure it out.
If you haven’t reviewed your goals for a while, now’s the time to dust them off and take a look. We’ve got three months left in 2008 and there’s still time to really achieve something fabulous.
Andrea J. Stenberg
Have your goals changed in the past nine months? Or are you on track and blazing ahead? Leave a comment below and share your successes and challenges. And if you’re feeling really brave, share a specific goal for the final quarter of 2008.
