OH SN*P!  It’s the end of September. As we ease (or hurtle) into the holiday season, you’re probably thinking about those New Year’s Resolutions, S.M.A.R.T. goals, or KPIs you set back in January. You know…those dusty ones on the shelf? Don’t worry. We’ve all been there.

We thought we’d learn some new skills, get some certifications, be a certain type of leader in 2024. I mean we set the goal right? But more often than not we make progress and then life takes us in a new direction. Feeling woefully off track is par for the course. And so is trying to cram in as much progress in the last few months of the year (or stressing immensely that we aren’t doing that).

So, how do you re-engage with your goals and stay accountable? 

We asked SNP Executive Coach, Taryn Reed, just that. Taryn supports leaders from start-ups to Fortune 500s in finance, tech, entertainment, and consumer goods with connecting to their teams, creating clear messages, and achieving results. 

In this coaching conversation, Taryn walks through how she’d advise her coachees on staying accountable to their learning goals. It comes down to reflection, appreciating the journey, and staying optimistic.

I set learning goals for the year. I’m nowhere near where I wanted to be. How do I get back on track for the end of the year?

There’s this quote from John Dewey, “We don’t learn from experience we learn from reflecting on experience,” that I think is so important here. We often focus on doing, neglecting the importance of reflection. To truly learn and evolve, we need to hit pause, assess our goals, and determine if they remain relevant to our current circumstances.

Are we holding ourselves accountable to things we no longer need to? For instance, forcing ourselves to finish a book we hate just for the sake of finishing said book. Instead, we should reframe our goals. Perhaps we wanted to run a marathon but didn’t achieve it. However, we might still be contributing to our health by running five miles daily. We’re still hitting that ultimate goal of health, just maybe in ways we didn’t originally imagine.

Similarly, at work, if we didn’t expand our professional network as we hoped, we could evaluate whether we deepened existing relationships. It’s important to ask ourselves if we truly invested no time in a particular goal. 

But, I still feel like I should be following through on what I set out to do. 

Stop “shoulding” on yourself. The “should” and the “do” go hand in hand. Sometimes what you need is to step back from that, and again, go back to reflection.

Connect to your why. If you should be doing something and you’re not, why do you think you should be doing it? Why does it matter?

On the other side of “should” is “be.” Take stock of where you are. When you’re stuck in should you’re neglecting to acknowledge progress or growth, and you’re also ignoring reality.

Don’t put pressure on yourself to try and accomplish something in three months you gave yourself a year to do. What’s something you can do to make a small step toward that goal?

Think of it as that cliché staircase example. We often want to get to the top of the staircase, that’s our big goal, but maybe this week going up just one step is enough. 

And at times you might stop on a stair. Maybe your pace has tired you out. Maybe there’s an obstacle in your path. Maybe you forgot why you were going up these stairs in the first place. Be in tune with that.

For instance, maybe your goal was to be a great presenter, that’s the top of the stairs. But the little steps are mastering storytelling, eye contact, volume, and gestures, which are big in their own right. Which stair are you currently on? You have to take your time with each phase, breaking your larger goal into smaller focuses. 

How do you ground your goals in reality? 

Again, pace yourself. For example, we always say that great presenters aren’t born that way. People practice. It’s repetition. That’s where expertise and mastery come in. Maybe that can make you feel like you’re stuck and not making progress, but it takes time. There’s a difference between knowing a thing, being able to do a thing, and then living that thing. None of us just got there overnight. 

How do you make something a natural part of your skillset and get to that level of mastery?

Practice. And then start recognizing it around you. Internalize the learnings to a point that you know it when you see it, you know it when you hear it.

How do you stay accountable?

1. Calendar It

If something is going to get done, it has to be on my calendar. Doesn’t matter how far out. If it’s not on the calendar, it’s not going to happen. 

2. Say it out loud – share with others

It’s easy to stay true to your word when people in your corner know where you’re trying to go and what you’re trying to accomplish. I’m more likely to accomplish a task or goal if those close to me know what I’m working towards. 

3. Track it

Find a fun and easy way to track progress. Since 2008 I’ve kept a Google spreadsheet of all the books I’ve read. It’s a simple spreadsheet that allows me to hold myself accountable to each year’s reading goal and provides a snapshot of when I read a certain book.

What about if you have an OKR or metric tied to that goal that you have to share with someone else? 

That’s a whole other conversation. Probably, at this stage, you would have a sense of the progress, what’s possible, and what’s needed to get there surrounding your goal. And it would be your responsibility to communicate with the stakeholders. Be proactive and clear. 

How do you stay optimistic?

The last thing to remember is to never go into it with a mindset of defeat. Stay optimistic, be realistic, and clearly and honestly communicate.

For more support on your learning journey, check out this blog on four learning styles.