Can you believe the year is half over already fRNds?! We just rounded out June, the sixth month. We have six months to go before it’s New Year’s Eve! It’s crazy!
Speaking of New Year’s, let’s talk about those “resolutions” you had at the beginning of the year. We all picked something we wanted to change for ourselves, but how good have we all been about staying on track with those goals? Personally, I’ve never been one for New Year’s resolutions because I know I can’t keep them without some type of accountability. This past year, I tried something different when creating goals for the year. As a career and life coach for nurses, creating goals and keeping track of them is key to successfully designing and maintaining the nurse+life you want. I’m going to share my tips with you so that you can keep up with yours too, no matter where you are or what you are doing.
We all picked something we wanted to change for ourselves, but how good have we all been about staying on track with those goals? Personally, I’ve never been one for New Year’s resolutions because I know I can’t keep them without some type of accountability. This past year, I tried something different when creating goals for the year. As a career and life coach for nurses, creating goals and keeping track of them is key to successfully designing and maintaining the nurse+life you want. I’m going to share my tips with you so that you can keep up with yours too, no matter where you are or what you are doing.
First things first, what is a goal?
It’s a desired result that we aspire to achieve. This is different from a resolution, which Dictionary.com defines as “a firm decision to do or not do something.” For most, a resolution involves going cold-turkey from something or all-in on something, causing people to fail within the first week. A goal-getter mindset requires small transformations over time, rather than a complete shift if we want to be successful. Why? Because we are more likely to be motivated by small wins than large failures! In order to develop a goal-getter mindset, we need to create goals using the SMART guidelines we have all heard about AND evaluate our goals weekly, monthly, and quarterly. Are you ready to become a goal-getter in scrubs?! I’ve created a tool for you to use to set and track your travel nurse+life goals on a regular basis. Let’s dive in!
1. Determine what you want to achieve.
Think about what change(s) you want to make. Typically, the change(s) we want lie in specific areas of our lives- physical, emotional/personal development, social, spiritual, financial, and professional. WHY do you want to make a change in that domain? The WHY will be the key motivator for you to maintain momentum.
2. Develop the overall SMART goal.
We all know SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable/attainable, realistic, and time-bound. The overall goal is what you desire/aspire to achieve in the time you set. I suggest that the overall goal have a timeframe of 3 months. When you set a 3-month timeframe, you give yourself time to make change, but also the opportunity to evaluate your goals quarterly. You can develop an overall SMART goal for each area of your life, or just the areas you want to transform.
3. Define smaller SMART action steps for each overall goal.
These smaller SMART steps will determine whether you will be successful in reaching your overall smart goal. Earlier I said we are more successful when we achieve small wins instead of large failures. That’s where smaller SMART action steps come into play if you want to be successful in reaching our overall smart goal. These steps will be more specific and have a smaller timeframe for you to work toward and should be action-oriented. These steps REQUIRE you to do something to work toward your overall goal.
4. Start working toward your goals!
After you’ve created overall goals and smaller action steps, it’s time to get to work! Every day is important. You must remember WHY you are working toward this goal. Get an accountability partner in the beginning who will keep you on track. Don’t wait until you are struggling to seek support and guidance!
5. Check yourself!
Regularly checking in on your progress is key to staying on track toward your goals! I love to check in on Sundays. I look at what I’ve done well for the week and where I have been struggling. When planning for the next week, I focus on the areas I’ve been struggling with. Checking in weekly and monthly allows you to see how far you’ve come. Every 3 months you should start the process over. If you didn’t hit a goal, keep it! If you’ve achieved your goal(s), think about WHAT’S NEXT!
Remember fRNds, you DO NOT have to wait until January 1st to begin a new goal. You can start TODAY! Just make sure you are evaluating your goal(s) weekly, monthly, and quarterly. Stay persistent and committed to your goals. Take them with you no matter where you go and what you are doing. Utilize the tool I’ve created EXCLUSIVELY for this post. Go get ‘em GOAL-GETTER!
If you need help designing your nurse+life, please reach out to me and we will set up a goal-setting power-hour session at a discounted rate! Or you can head to www.nextlevelnurse.co to schedule your discounted ELEVATE power-hour for $99 using code GOALS19.
Here are a couple more articles on goal keeping as a travel nurse
Finished the travel nursing guide and are ready to look for an assignment?
