Happy New Year!
I think we can all agree that 2020 was one of the most challenging years any of us have experienced. Even though here in Western Australia we have been relatively lucky due to our isolation – we even had our border to the rest of Australia closed, let alone international travel… I’ve had close friends in other countries contract Covid, luckily they are ok.
One thing 2020 has helped me learn is to really try and differentiate between the things I can control and the things I can’t.
If you’ve been a reader of my blog for some time you’ll now I make heavy use of the 3 Wins Technique. I just set my 3 big wins for 2021 and what I realized was that my 2020 wins were, in reality, not things I could control.
I’m not saying having goals that are not 100% controllable is a bad idea, for example having a general savings/investments/paying off debts goal is fine. However you don’t control interest rates or share prices for example.
I still believe the 3 Wins Technique is a simple and effective tool, this year however I am going to be more conscious of setting goals that are in my control.
As a hypothetical example, suppose one of your 3 wins is to “get a pay rise”. This is out of your control. I know that sounds negative, but you can’t force your employer to give you a pay rise. A better goal would be something like “I’m going to learn as much as I can this year and add as much value as I can”. This should lead to the opportunity to have a discussion with your employer and show them the extra value you’ve added and talk about a pay rise. Of course the answer could still be “no”, at which point you can control whether or not you apply for jobs elsewhere – you’ll now have more skills to offer a new employer.
As another example: “get 1000 subscribers/followers on [INSERT SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM HERE]”. This is also not in your control. A better version: “I’m going to learn everything I can about how [INSERT SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM HERE] works, I’m going to learn how to create valuable content, and I’m going to cross-market my content on the other platforms”. Again, it’s about reframing what you can and cannot control.
It’s likely that 2021 will be another challenging year, but if you set your “wins” based on things you can control and work hard to make them happen, you‘re more likely to finish 2021 with a sense of achievement rather than disappointment.
Best wishes,
Jason.
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