At work, we are in the midst of a mid-year review of our performance. At the beginning of the year, we were required to set certain goals with regard to business objectives, development objectives and competencies. By mid-year, we are expected to have accomplished certain of these goals and to provide specific examples regarding how we met those goals. Then our manager will review this information and provide feedback regarding the success of our endeavors and make certain adjustments to our priorities and goals if there have been changes in our particular work situation during the first half of the year.
I think that this is a great idea. It has worked well on the job and I am now thinking about incorporating it into my personal life. There will be certain adjustments to applying the program in this way but I think it could work. So as we approach the end of June and the end of the first half of this year, I started my own personal review. Now since I did not set specific goals at the beginning of the year other than my one New Year’s resolution, I am reviewing the major happenings in retrospect. So here goes!!
For my New Year’s resolution, I wanted to lose weight. Here at the nearly half-way point of the year, I have lost a total of 10 lbs. So, my evaluation of this goal is “on track”.
Right after the beginning of the year, I learned that my cancer was back. I met with all of the doctors that I needed to meet, had all the tests that I needed, had surgery and am currently at the midway point in my reconstruction. Therefore, my evaluation of this goal is “moving ahead”.
Toward the end of January, I decided that I would write and post a weekly blog and have done so since the first week. However, I was one day late in my posting last week and now I am two days behind in my posting this week. So, my evaluation is that I am “falling behind”.
Now I understand that we can all set goals and not meeting these goals is not always a bad thing. After all, I do remember that there are two plans for my life – my plan and God’s plan. Now which one do I know about and which one will win out in the long run? Certainly, I don’t know God’s plan but I do know that his plan is the one that will always win.
So I have decided that I am going to set some new goals for the second half of 2008. I am not sharing them with anyone because I am the only one who is in a position to evaluate whether I have ultimately met these goals or not. And if I meet the goals that I have established, I will be delighted. But if I fall short of any of them, I will not be sad or upset or diminished by the shortfall. Rather, I plan to consider why I didn’t meet the goal, whether it is a goal that I feel is worth pursuing and if it is, then how can I make certain adjustments in my life to meet a particular goal. I promise that I will provide an update at the end of the year regarding how my experiment has worked out.