I’m not particularly a fan of New Year’s resolutions, but I am a fan of identifying what I want, and what changes I could make to help me reach those goals. That could look like scheduling exercise time in my calendar or setting up automatic savings deposits towards a big purchase.
If you know me at all, you probably expect that I’m going to tell you the key to achieving all your goals is systems. Lord knows I love me some good systems. But, while I do think systems can be a valuable goal-reaching tool, that’s not what I’m going to talk about today.
The key to achieving all your goals is communication – and everyone can improve their communication.
I know what you’re thinking. How does communication help with improving your physical fitness or your financial situation? Hopefully it is clear that communication is instrumental for any goal that inherently involves other people, like nurturing a relationship or getting a promotion. What you may not realize is that:
- Strong communication skills can help you communicate to yourself what it is you really want, and that clarity is invaluable to reaching your goals.
- Even goals that seem to rely only on you and your behavior can often be achieved far more easily when you communicate with others about them.
Something I have found helpful in the past is to write down a goal or a plan as if I need to explain to somebody else. Just the act of sorting my thoughts into sentences and paragraphs can help me have a better understanding of my goals and clarity about the possible paths to those goals.
Even better is to actually share what you wrote with someone you trust. If you do that, consider a few things:
- What do you want from this person?
- Do you just want them to be a sounding board who can tell you if what you’ve said is clear and makes logical sense?
- Do you want them to give any sort of feedback on your goals or plans?
- Is the person you’ve chosen someone who can meet your needs?
- If you don’t want feedback, will they restrain themselves from giving it?
- Is this someone who will be in sympathy with your goals or will they mock your desire to write a novel or learn the banjo?
Not only can the right audience help you get clear on your goals and plans, they might be able to support you in ways you hadn’t considered. They might have relevant experience or connections that you don’t know about.
Another great way to communicate with someone else about your goals is to find an accountability buddy – someone you will check in with regularly to talk about your progress, encourage each other, and keep each other on track. A study by the Association for Talent Development (ATD) found that you have a 65% chance of reaching a goal if you make a commitment to someone else, and you have 95% chance if you have a scheduled accountability appointment with that person.
Communication is the key – and skilled communication is a more effective key. So I propose that we all make a goal to improve our communication skills this year.