Why I’m Only Setting Quarterly Goals This Year
This year I tried something radical with my New Years Resolutions. Instead of setting goals for the entire year, I’m only setting quarterly goals this year.
After trying and failing to plan any distance into the future for the past two years, I’m giving up. I’m surrendering to the chaos of our present time. There’s no way I can imagine in the first quarter of 2022 what might happen in the next nine to twelve months. I think we’ve all learned that lesson.
This isn’t in my nature. I like to plan. I like to know what’s going to happen, to have a plan, and to feel somewhat in control. So instead of just having no goals, I am only setting quarterly goals. Three months feels like an amount of time that I can handle right now. One season of the year at a time.
I have always been sensitive to the seasons in the year. I love spring. It’s when I feel fresh and inspired. Summer is slow and calm. Autumn is exciting and cozy. Winter is reflective. So why not make my goals according to the seasons?
I’ve never done this before, so I set myself too many goals. We’re almost through the first quarter of the year and I’m nowhere near some of my goals. Some, though, I’m going to be able to tick off in time. Looking back through them, I can re-center myself on my intentions about what I want to spend my time doing. But I also see how even since the beginning of the year, priorities have shifted away from some things I thought I would do.
By reflecting each quarter, I hope to eliminate goals that I no longer want to hold myself to and be open to new ideas and inspirations that may come in through the year. I hope to avoid some of the feelings of failure that come along with lofty annual goals, as well. In the past, I get to the end of the year, look back at my resolutions that I haven’t read in 10 months, and I feel defeated. “Oh, I can’t believe I didn’t do that. I failed.” Sometimes we fail, but sometimes it’s a matter of new priorities and new goals.
The beauty of setting smaller goals is that they are more easily achievable. I did set themes and larger aims for the year, but I broke them down into SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) goals for each quarter. For instance, I’m trying to find a summer internship. I need to figure that out before June. So this goal stretches into two quarters of the year. I can break this down. In the first quarter of the year, I aim to send out 100 job applications. This is very specific and measurable. I can achieve it (as compared to setting the goal of getting a job offer, because that’s not within my control). It’s relevant to my overall goal. Finally, it’s time-bound. It has to get done by the end of March.
Then, at the end of March there are two possibilities: I did it or I didn’t. If I have done all 100 applications, I can stop, reassess. Maybe I need to keep sending out applications. Maybe I will have start to hear back and I can slow it down. If I haven’t done 100 applications, I can also re-evaluate. Maybe I need to change my strategy. I can ask myself, “What got in the way of achieving this goal?” or “Was this the right goal to set?” No matter how it plays out, I can make sure that I’m pushing myself and doing what I set out to without wasting my time doing something that may not pay off.
This is the balance that I think is nearly impossible to find. How can I push myself to do my best without burning out, punishing myself, or feeling like a failure? It feels impossible.
Quarterly goals feel flexible but they still stretch me. I am really excited to see whether I’ve met any or all of my quarterly goals at the end of March. Maybe this will inspire you to come up with some medium-term goals and feel like you can overcome uncertainty.
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