Robert Stanke.com

Every year about this time, I spend a good week or so doing some yearly planning exercises.  I like setting new goals and reviewing last year's goals in hopes to see where my successes and failures were.  To help me with my goal planning, I use a document I created called the "Yearly Goal Worksheet".  It is a simple, easy to follow, one-sided sheet that I print off and fill out for each new goal I want to work towards over the next 12 months.  Below I explain how I use the worksheet and how I use it towards being more productive and build my personal development.  You can also download a copy of the template for your own use as well.  I do change the form slightly every now and then to fit my growing needs, so feel free to check back every now and then to find the most current version.  It can be located in the "Downloads" section of this site.

When I Complete the Yearly Planning Worksheet

Similar to what most individuals do on New Years Day, my time to make new resolutions (or "goals") is around my birthday in September.  Since I feel my birthday is a good time to make changes and improvements in my life, it works out perfectly.  I develop the goals using this document, and then review it throughout the year.

How I Complete the Yearly Planning Worksheet

The worksheet itself is very simple and straight-forward.  I find that I usually succeed most often when I focus on between 3-5 goals a year.  So, I print off that many copies of this template and answer all of the questions as thoroughly as possible.  In the upper right-hand corner of the sheet, I fill in the date range of my "fiscal" year (yours will most likely be different, but I find most people who have children, like to use the same date range as me because it runs parallel with the school year) and the date I complete this form.  The first line in the question section is simply to state your goal.  My example is focused around networking for professional and personal reasons.  So my goal is stated as specifically as possible: "To expand my networking circle and make myself more of a networking resource for family, friends, and colleagues."  My 3-5 goals are a mixture of professional and personal goals.  They can be focused on expanding your business, building financial security, spending more time with family, or landing that big client this year.  The important thing to remember is that these goals are very big and broad in scope.  Further worksheets I will introduce you too will break these goals down into more tactical things later.  At this point, dream big!

Answer each of the following questions as specifically as possible.  I have found that it is only to my benefit to lay out my goals completely.  Sometimes I even flip the sheet over and use the blank side for mind-mapping and brain storming to find if the goal really fits my objectives for the next 12 months.

After I have completed my yearly goal worksheets (one for each goal), I three-hole punch the sheets and add them to my Goal & Task File Folder - more on this later... for now just keep them together in a special folder.

What's With The "Points" System?

Some people will like this feature, and some people won't.  It is hard to explain, but I am going to give it a try!

I like to continually challenge myself on a daily basis, and to do that, I need to stay motivated.  Because I am naturally competitive, I developed a point system to track my progress throughout the day.  At the end of the day, as a way to review my accomplishments, I tally the points I earned througout the day.  Then I use that as a benchmark for the next day.  Kind of like I am mentally challenging myself to accomplish more than I did the previous day.  Each goal worksheet, task sheets, and other tools I use are assigned different levels of points that I can earn.  And because my task and goal sheets are meant to keep me productive, the points challenge helps me get more done.  It is probably a weird combination of the love I have for sports, statistics, and spreadsheets, but it really works for me.  The other day, I had earned 163 points in one day, which was a record for me.  I was so proud of myself, that I wanted to beat it again, which resulted in my productivity sky-rocketing the very next day, accomplishing more than I had ever before and I concluded the day with 171 points!  Some days I finish with 55 points, some days with less, and that is okay.  But when I really feel competitve, the point system has huge benefits for me.  So on each sheet I develop, the point system is integrated into it.  (If you choose to complete these first few forms right away, you will just have to be patient for the point tallying sheet, because I am not done making that "download-friendly" yet!)  If you are interested in the point system, give it a try and let me know what you think.  If you don't want to bother with the points, you can just ignore those fields in the forms - they work the same even if you don't care about earning points.  I might develop worksheets without the point system if enough people request it.

Conclusion

Some people ask me why I spend so much time on yearly goal setting, but I think you will find out why as you learn about my follow-up goal worksheets to this one.  They all relate and help me stay on track.  If you have feedback, you can comment here on the blog post, or submit questions and comments on the discussion boards.

Click here to download the Yearly Goal Planning Worksheet.