In a recent blog post, Mustang Marketing founder and president, Scott Harris, describes what he has termed as “unicorn and rainbow goals.” These include any and all goals that are vague in terms of their lack of a timetable and set quantity, such as:
Make more money.
Think outside the box.
Happy employees.
I couldn’t help but think of these goals, filled with all of their obscurity and lackluster, with the new year — and all of the New Year’s resolutions that come with it — upon us. For many, New Year’s resolutions look something like this…
Lose weight.
Spend more time with friends and family.
Try new hobbies.
While these all sound nice and dandy, they are likely to be forgotten by Jan. 15, when excuses, procrastination, forgetfulness and busyness rear their ugly heads.
Instead, resolutions should be similar to the Goals described in “RoadMap: A Guide to a Successful Strategic Marketing Plan,” in that they should maintain a set timetable (every week, once a month, by the end of the quarter, by 2017, etc.) and a quantifiable element (10 pounds, one new hobby, two family activities each month). This is especially important when creating company-wide Goals, wherein excuses, procrastination and busyness are multiplied threefold, tenfold or even a hundredfold.
So, I invite you to ask yourself and your employees: What are your resolutions for 2016, and how do you plan to get there? If your resolution is to incorporate more team bonding, quantify and schedule it (one company outing a month), and come up with ideas (e.g., bowling, happy hour, movie night) to help make it happen. If it’s to liven up your social media presence, quantify and schedule it — one Instagram post per week, two Twitter posts a day, three Facebook post a week (whatever it may be) — and hold a brainstorming session to come up with fresh, innovative concepts. You get the idea.
I speak from experience, because this past year my resolutions were 1) live healthier, 2) explore and 3) share the love (I know, vague, right?). Unsurprisingly, these resolutions did not come to fruition, as I would have hoped, so I’m taking the time to revisit them and define them with attainable quantities and timing. That way, unlike 2015, 2016 can be filled with two servings of vegetables per day, a weekender each month and at least one daily act of kindness.