Set—and adjust—your goals!

Mark McMahon | May 14, 2020

I started this year by setting some goals for myself and my business. A goal is a target, or defined as “the end to which effort is directed.” Setting goals is important—they provide clarity, focus, measurement and intent. 

 

Not all goals are big professional goals; most are, in fact, small, and personal. Two of my goals this year revolved around playing tennis. One involved the number of USTA/ITF tournaments I planned on playing, and the other was about an area of my game for specific improvement. 

 

A few years ago, I had a goal to build a business that would help people exercise more easily and live a healthier life. This was a big goal that required a great deal of time, energy and money. 

I didn’t achieve that goal in the way I had originally intended, but I did manage to make it happen in other ways. What I learned, though, is that goals are set based upon the information available to you at the time you set the goal. As circumstances change, you should change your goal. 

 

Many of us probably set goals earlier this year for our personal and professional lives, but now those goals have been impacted or upended as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Now is the time to take the opportunity to reset your goals. Even in the very best of times, the “time-sensitive” component of a goal needs to remain a little “squishy” around the edges. There are generally factors that will impact your goal that cannot be controlled. 

 

If you find yourself falling short with a goal, or if your goal has been recently upended due to the coronavirus, step back and make some adjustments. It’s your goal, and only you get to control whether it survives as originally intended, if it needs to be adjusted, or if it even still matters in these changing times. What’s key is your focus and your intention on how you decide you will work towards your goals, maybe reset your goals or set totally new goals. 

 

Whether your goals are personal, professional or attached to your love of tennis, remember, YOU are the one who is in control. 

 

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Mark McMahon is the president of McMahon|10s, an executive search and consulting firm that also offers career and life coaching.
 

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