Keeping on track with your career goals isn’t always easy. But a weekly evaluation practice can definitely help and is a terrific tool.
The process is simple, takes about 20 minutes per week, and doesn’t require any special apps or skills. All you need is an interest in self-reflection and a bit of time! (See this post to learn my process for setting weekly career goals).
Read on or watch this video in which I outline my weekly evaluation practice for keeping on track with my career goals.
3 benefits of a weekly goal evaluation practice
1. Evaluating your goals weekly helps you take stock of your achievements and accomplishments
As an ambitious perfectionist, it’s so easy to race on to the next thing as soon as you complete an item on your to-do list. When that’s your approach, you rarely (or never) take a moment to acknowledge yourself for the work you’ve done, skills you’ve gained, or contributions you’ve made. A weekly evaluation allows you to give yourself a pat on the back or mental high-five. This act of self-acknowledgment and appreciation benefits your well-being.
2. Tracking your goals weekly lets you see that you can be ok even when you don’t meet your career goals.
As an ambitious perfectionist, you’ve got high standards for yourself and you are highly self-critical. You might also have penchant for being melodramatic (i.e., “If I don’t achieve or excel at [whatever the task is], I’ll NEVER [insert terrible consequence that is unlikely to occur but consumes a lot of your energy]”).
When the above is at play, the prospect of not meeting your goals can feel very scary.
I get it: I used to avoid setting goals because I couldn’t deal with “failing”.
However, when you set weekly goals and evaluate them, you’ll quickly realize that even when you don’t meet your goals, you’re going to survive. This then gives you a chance to practice kindness towards yourself–even (or especially) when you haven’t succeeded in the way you hoped to.
3. Weekly goal assessment helps you course correct.
When you compare a weekly process for keeping on track with goals versus one that happens monthly or irregularly, you can see how much faster it is to course correct and make adjustments with the former.
Course correcting includes:
- modifying practices, habits, processes, behaviours
- dropping goals
- being more clear on your end result and/or steps to get there
- requesting help
My weekly process for keeping on track of my career goals
Here are the 5 prompts I respond to weekly when I reflect on my career goals (which I also set weekly).
- What were my weekly career goals?
- What were my results?
- What went well? (includes: What did I do well? What am I celebrating?)
- Where was I micro quitting? (i.e., where was I quitting on myself?)
- What will I think and do differently next week?
Practical tips: I use one Google doc to write my goals and a separate one to respond to the five prompts. I revisit my goals mid-week, as well as at the end of the week. I take 20 minutes on the weekend to do my evaluations.
Over to you
There was a time when doing a weekly evaluation was not something I considered, not because I discounted or rejected the practice, but because it wasn’t even on my radar. Things have changed: now, I set weekly goals and I evaluate them. And, I derive the benefits of doing so.
Where are you at with setting goals and reflecting (tracking, evaluating, or whatever word feels right for you) on them? In what ways are your current practices supporting you towards what’s important (to you)?
If you’ve got goals — crisply defined ones or vague ones waiting to be clarified — coaching can help you make progress on these! Let’s discuss how on a complimentary consultation – – you can book that at my Contact Page.
Photo Credit: Claudia Dea on Flickr https: //flic.kr/p/UrrRZV. The old train between the poppies.
Credit for weekly goal evaluation: The 5 prompts, especially #3, were inspired by coach Kathryn Morrison.