It's no fun to look back and see that you haven't made much progress on your goals. Here's what to learn from that experience.

1. WHAT TO DO
WHEN YOU’VE MISSED
YOUR GOALS
Lou Blaser | Second Breaks

2. It's great to look back on a year
when you've hit all your targets.
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3. Not so much
when you've
missed your
goals.
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4. The impulse is to get
down on yourself ....
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5. ... or to quickly sweep it under
the rug and "try again"
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6. Instead of
blaming yourself or jumping to
a new list of goals, pause and
consider these 3 things first.
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7. 1. Be okay with feeling
disappointed.
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8. "You have to expect
things from yourself
before you can do
them."
—Michael Jordan
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9. Disappointment happens when
you expect more from something,
and it delivers less than that.
You expect a lot of yourself.
That's a good thing.
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10. It's okay to feel
disappointed with
yourself.
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11. It means you aren’t satisfied with
status quo.
It means you want to do more or
do better.
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12. 2. To make it useful, learn
from it.
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13. So, you’re feeling a wee bit
disappointed.
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14. You may be
wanting to brush it
aside and start
listing all the
things that went
well instead.
That’s a common
antidote.
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15. There’s a time for that.
Don’t let this valuable learning
moment slip by.
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16. Ask yourself why you
didn’t achieve what you
set out to do:
Did you put in the effort?
Did you not know enough to do a
good job at it?
Was it because you were scared?
Was it too hard?
Did you feel lost doing it?
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17. There are reasons why
you didn’t do the work to
achieve your goals.
You want to understand those reasons.
So that you can address them.
So they don’t appear again next time
you try.
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18. 3. Consider the possibility
that it's okay to have missed
your goals.
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19. In the process of analyzing
why you missed your goals,
you may discover that it’s
actually okay that you didn’t
meet them.
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20. Priorities shift along
the way.
And sometimes, goals
that you set earlier in
the year may no
longer be in line with
your new focus.
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21. This is a good time to take
stock and re-confirm that
you still want the same
things.
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22. Part of the joy of setting up goals is
imagining the moment when you get
to check off the box and say “YES.”
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23. Missed goals are, naturally, downers.
You don’t get to celebrate for clearing the
bar you set for yourself.
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24. But as dispiriting as it may feel initially, the
moment you realized you missed your goals is a
strong learning moment.
You can glean valuable insights if you take
pause and review why it happened.
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25. Sweeping it under the rug and focusing on a
newer, more exciting plan for the next year may
feel more positive.
But by going there immediately, you’ll likely
miss the chance to pick up key insights that
would be helpful for your next time at bat.
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26. TAKE ACTION NOW
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27. Download the Post-Mortem Worksheet
plus other tools and resources
http://secondbreaks.com/free-resources-library
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28. *your work matters
Second Breaks | Reinvent Yourself and Your Career