Setting the Course for Success in 2024: Turning Visions into Reality

The quote “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time” is a great reminder by Zig Ziglar that we need to have goals to be successful. One thing that we have learned about planning and goals is that you can guarantee that something will always change that will cause you to have to adjust. The faster we can pivot and adjust, the more successful we are as leaders and as team members. Despite our best planning, occasionally, things just don’t turn out the way we expected.  

With 2024 approaching quickly, now is a great time to set or revisit your goals. To help with that task, below are some tips to help you and your team be successful in accomplishing your goals, as well as insights on how to handle things when they don’t go as planned. 

Remember your Passion: One reason some teams don’t accomplish their goals is they lack the burning passion to turn their goals into reality. Without passion, it’s hard to get motivated to get something done. When life shoots a hole through your plans, don’t get defeated. Learn to take a step back and remember your passion. Then, regroup and revise your goals accordingly.

Ensure you have a Positive Vision: There are three types of visions (link to vision article): a positive vision, a status quo vision, and a negative vision. Only positive visions motivate people to take action and move in the direction needed to accomplish the goal. Negative visions tend to repel people or at least repel the type of person you want to be around. As a leader, you need to have a deep belief that, by achieving your goals, tomorrow will be even better than today.

Set Immediate and Future Goals: When you have big overarching goals that take time to accomplish, you need to break them down into smaller goals to reach your vision. Get in the habit of setting weekly, monthly, or annual goals to ensure success and maintain motivation. This way, you celebrate the milestones along the way and measure your success more frequently. 

Embrace Flexibility and Failure: It is rare to set a goal and have it be successful the first time. That is where WD-40 got its name. It was the 40th formula that worked. Think of failure as the road to success. Don’t think of it as failing, but rather trying different ways to be successful. Know it usually takes many attempts and adjustments to be successful. If a goal doesn’t work, be willing to change your tactics or even switch goals. Some people spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find out they tilted their ladder against the wrong building. Be willing to pivot along the way.

Celebrate Accomplishments and Milestones: Some people are frustrated because they set the same goals, year after year, and still don’t accomplish the goal. To ensure you and your team stay motivated, celebrate your accomplishments and milestones along the way. Doing so will help you recognize your successes and continue the momentum. 

Enjoy the Journey: Although you have a vision and a goal to turn the vision into a reality, life will be even more fulfilling if you have the flexibility to take detours along the way. Being flexible will allow you to enjoy new experiences, and the ride, even more.

All of us are striving to accomplish something either personally or professionally. To do this, we need to set goals. Some will say they don’t believe in goals. But, even people who set a goal to not have goals, have a goal. To be successful, we need to follow the steps above to ensure we pivot along the way and have the flexibility and disposition to succeed. Bill Copeland said it best when he said: “The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.”