5 min read
We constantly strive to become better and improve our lives. We plan our time and set goals, but the truth is, not everyone can turn their big ideas into reality. One of the keys to actualise your goals and fulfil your purpose is to have the habit of regularly reviewing.
Imagine this situation. Ben loves planning and setting goals with digital tools. He creates to-do lists and uses online calendars to view his monthly projects. But he still forgets his deadlines, double-books appointments, and eventually fails to reach his own expectations. You might be wondering, with all those to-do lists and plans, he should be able to stay on track and progress towards his goals. The main failure is that he put aside his lists and calendars and did not review his goals and performance on a regular basis.
So the key question is, why is the habit of a regular review so important? Let’s dive into the habit of a regular review to promote our personal development and business growth.
1. Improve the visibility of your goals
A regular review can help create a picture in your mind and visualise your goals. Neuropsychologists have discovered that people who vividly picture their goals are 1.2 to 1.4 times more likely to achieve their goals due to the “generation effect”. To increase the visibility from digital calendars and to-do lists, print and place in a highly visible physical location such as your main office wall or kitchen fridge. With your goals fresh in memory, it gives you a sense of motivation and purpose to drive your growth. It helps you keep track of your objectives and helps to reduce distractions of unimportant things that come your way.
2. Measure your performance
While a daily review helps to keep you focused and motivated, weekly, monthly and annual reviews help you recognise your progress and performance. HR Central demonstrates that evaluating progress can provide feedback regarding the performance. This helps you to identify your strengths and weaknesses for personal and professional self-improvement. Appreciate and utilise your strengths and achievements. Learn and adapt your weaknesses and mistakes to reach your goals more efficiently.
3. Reflect on your life and know yourself better
A regular review is also a form of reflection on ourselves. Research from Harvard Business School proves that reflection has a positive impact on achieving your goals. Your regular review creates a personal and safe space to evaluate know yourself to create the best possible performance. In your daily review, ask yourself, “What did I do today?” “Did I tick off all the small goals?” “What was the most impressive part?” “Which aspects can I improve upon?” “Are my goals realistic?” etc. Focus on the things that truly matter and strengthen your advantages to foster your growth.
4. Update and revise the original plans
Your regular review creates an opportunity to adjust your plans and goals to produce better results. During your regular review, take time to measure your performances and reflect on the progress. Along the way, recognise what is and is not working well, whether your goals are achievable and then make necessary changes and adapt your plans. If you are working hard but feeling stagnant, it may be time to rethink your plans and goals.
5. Accelerate the process towards big goals
Keeping the small habit of a regular review stimulates your growth and helps turn your big goals into reality. A study from Harvard Business Review found that small habits including a regular review have a powerful influence on fulfilling your goals. Your daily and weekly reviews help you see your small actions and achievements; your monthly or yearly review visualises your incremental progress over time. Combining these techniques helps, to get motivated and maintain a positive attitude to move forward. Make a more actionable plan to invest your efforts into the most valuable things.
6. Increase team engagement
For project managers and team leaders, a regular review can improve communication and interactions with your team members. Reviewing performance and goals monthly or annually within a team helps you gain a greater understanding of your colleagues’ personalities, work styles and contributions. Additionally, employees are keen to know how well they perform. Regular reviews offer valuable feedback to them, which can lead to more effective collaboration and a steady growth towards business goals.
7. Strengthen relationships and accountability
Regularly reviewing the performance of your team members creates opportunities to build positive relationships. During the review, identify and reward good performances, listen to any feedback, questions or concerns that they may have. This helps you to create a clearer picture of how the business is performing, increases the transparency of your team, and promotes team morale. These factors lead to strong and long-lasting relationships within your team to grow more effectively.
8. Identify job promotion and plan staff leave
Quarterly and annual reviews of your staff members encourage your team development and balance staff leave. As a business manager or leader, it is your responsibility to make sure everyone involved is on the same page. Through the review process, you can promote star performers by valuing their great efforts. This conveys a positive message that hard work is rewarded and instils the spirit of dedication in your staff. Regular reviews help you visualise the staff movements to schedule and approve leave. By understanding your staff members’ needs, you can offer the necessary training to help foster their professional development.
Make a habit of regularly reviewing
These eight reasons demonstrate the benefits of having the habit of a regular review. It is easy to forget to make time to regularly review so start by adding daily, weekly, monthly and annual reviews into your calendar.
To help you form the habit of regularly reviewing, Year Glance is the perfect (and only) tool to print your year and apply as a wall calendar. Use both digital and physical calendars to create a clearer picture of your goals and movements. Start your FREE 14-day trial with full customisation right here and keep your free plan forever.
Evan Englezos, the founder of Year Glance, further demonstrates the importance of keeping the habit of a regular review in this short video. Share your questions and comments and follow us on the socials. We’re more than happy to help!