Goals?
/“The biggest casualty of COVID will be goals and plans”. So said Jason Clarke, Mindworker when I interviewed him right back at the beginning of the pandemic.
I reckon he hit the nail on the head. Many of my goals and plans got sidelined, and no doubt yours did too. During that period we all experienced this together, but that kind of disruption happens all the time on a smaller scale.
Factors outside our control make a mockery of our plans. Consider some of these scenarios, any of which could leave your plans in a smoking pile. Some of them might be familiar:
War breaks out in your region
Interest rates climb, changing your financial reality
New technology threatens or removes your job
You or someone close to you becomes seriously injured or ill
A competitor out-paces you
Your entire worldly goods are lost in a natural disaster such as a fire or flood
A funding program changes its costing model destroying the margins for your not for profit
Your business is unable to source mission critical supplies
You cannot find enough staff to run your business
I’m sure you know people who have been impacted by such realities. Maybe you are currently directly experiencing them yourself.
In the face of these kinds of disruption a typically constructed SMART goal may not stand up.
On survival courses we taught 5 priorities for survival. The priorities give clear focus to make a flexible plan that you can adapt to the reality you face.
Some of the sectors I work with find “Areas of Focus” a great way to handle uncertainty.
Regardless of how much duress you are currently under, being clear about your top priorities and key areas of focus is part of creating a psychologically safe environment that withstands disruption.
What are you focussing on in 2023?
If you’d like a conversation about planning for/in uncertainty, I’d love to hear from you.