New Year's Resolutions in an Agile way

When it comes to the new year we think about new resolutions too..new goals, projects, new thoughts and implicitly new work to do.

But before you decide to make a New Year’s resolution make sure that you are willing to really put in the work and commit to making a change. 

Setting up New Year's Resolution and achieving goals can be done in an Agile Way and below you can find some tips that can help you achieving your goals:

Start with a retrospective 

We can see the new year like a new iteration - a restart moment. You can think about restarting your practices, habits, your mindset or your attitude. But restarting comes after learning so first, start your year with a retrospective of the last year - start your year with last year's learnings. 

Reflect about how things went and think what you would try differently this year. Stop for a moment to ask yourself:

- What do I want to accomplish this year?

- How do I want to behave this year?

- Which are my personal habits that I still need to work on?
- Which is the order to start?

Create a TO DO list & Prioritize

Now that you reflected on how last year went, start to think what you would like to keep from the last year and what would you like to improve. Start your list.

We can see this like a backlog for our goals. Our goals should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time- bound). 

By creating smaller goals while on your way to achieving your larger goal you create a sense of accomplishment for yourself along the way. This can be very encouraging and helps to break up a large goal into something that is a lot more manageable.
Keep in mind that each goal should be prioritized depending what you want to achieve.

But while these are great goals to have, they don’t mean much unless you do the work.

Split the list in iterations

So split the TO DO list in iterations. Without a specific plan and steps of accomplishment they won't happen during the following months.

Think about having much smaller monthly or even weekly goals that will keep you on track and eventually lead to your overall goal by the end of the year. 

It’s okay to pick a time that is more realistic for yourself and when you can properly focus on achieving what you want.
Always keep in mind the priorities!

Check regularly the progress & Adapt Yourself

As you keep improving on your smaller goals, you get one step closer to achieving your overall goal, all the while making progress towards a better you. 

Life is full of surprises and sometimes we need cut things from the list and to add new ones. Check regularly your iterations. Recheck your priorities. Adapt yourself towards what you want and keep working towards your goals. 

Do Retrospectives often & Continuously Improve your List

Do retrospectives often to check where you are and see how you can continuously improve your list to be achieved, towards a better version of you.

Celebrate success

When we accomplish something, we usually have the tendency to rush for hitting the next goal, but we should stop a moment to celebrate success.

This will give you confidence and more motivation to continue your journey. 

It's OK to fail

Remember that as in Agile, failure is OK as you can learn something from the lessons and to adjust your plan and keep working towards your goals. 

Continuously improve your list as goals and resolutions are not just for the new year.

So don't wait to do something for you until next year's resolution. Start Today. If you are willing to make a change for the better, have a clear goal in mind, and a specific plan of action, you’ll be on the road to success in no time. 

And remember... A new year doesn't change you..you do!

Start your new year in an Agile way! Be Agile!