Keep a good eye on the battle.
Now that you’ve taken the initial steps to attack your goals, the momentum has begun. Each step causes you to lean toward the next. The pace may have even picked up. While you don’t want to kill the momentum, it’s vital that you periodically pause and review your progress.
Reviews can be quick so they don’t interfere with progress. But make no mistake: you cannot pass them up. They are necessary and beneficial to your attack. You can be encouraged and challenged by what you discover. You will recognize your failures and make adjustments. You will identify your successes and repeat those methods.
A good review will help you be more effective in your attack. Here are some things to remember when you make points to review your progress.
Reviews Should Be Intentional
Don’t wait for some unexpected downtime to review. Be intentional. Plan your time just like you planned your chunks. Reviews should be set on your calendar at good “reset” times (end of month, end of week, end of day, etc.).
Being intentional about when you review is key. But you should also be intentional about what you’ll review. As you progress through your goals (between your reviews), write down your out-of-scope and think-about-later ideas so you can pull these up during review. Be prepared to review what’s necessary.
Reviews Should Be Consistent
Equally important to being intentional is being consistent. The intentional time you set aside for review should be repeatable. If it’s at the end of the week, then do it at the end of every week. End of the month? Then, every end of the month.
You should also be consistent with your review method. However you reviewed in times past, review the same way. You want to build consistency and form habits so it’s like a reflex—a goal reflex. The repetition will help you get into the groove of reviewing so you can do it more quickly and effectively each time.
Reviews Must Be Concrete
Since reviews are so critical to reaching your goals, put a high value on their time, just like chunk schedules. Reviews should be on your calendar and only postponed for things more important than your goals.
If nothing can bump your goal schedule around, then nothing should bump your review schedule around. They are equally important. However, if something requires you to reschedule your review, make sure to reschedule to the nearest time available so you don’t miss it.
Be warned: review times can easily be skipped. Don’t make the mistake of under-valuing their importance in attacking your goals. They are critical to your success.
Tomorrow, we’ll look at attacking goals by asking for help. Yeah, I said it.
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