The year 2016 is a heck of a startling year. No wonder it has been described as the worst year ever by a considerable number of people around the world – although I tend to disagree with that line of thought.

From the Fuel scarcity that hit us earlier in the year to the gas pipeline destruction by the Niger delta avengers which led to poor electricity distribution in many areas of the country, the devaluation of the Naira against the US Dollar and of course, the ‘recession’ – a word Nigerians have used in this time frame than in our whole history put together. You could say 2016 was a bit messy.

On the bright side of it, a lot of good things also happened this year and more will happen before it ends. If you asked me though, I’d say 2016 moved pretty fast.

Today is the 26th day of November 2016 and if there is any time to reflect upon how you fared and try to make amends so you won’t have to carry over all of your unmet goals into 2017, it is now.

Below are 5 steps on how to make the best use of the rest of this year so you can be happier with yourself, give 2016 a pleasant end and your 2017 a great head start. The only way you can do that is not just reading these 5 practical tips but also to decide to take immediate action.

Here goes:

Step 1: Review Your Goals



To review means 'to take a look at something again'. In this case, it means to take a thorough look at your goals once again.

The essence of reviewing your goals is so you can know and appropriately distinguish between the ones you've met and the ones you've not. This, of course would come easy if you had the goals written down somewhere in the first place. A lot of people usually write theirs in a journal, notebook, sticky note or a document in their phone and this always helps for easy reference and planning towards achieving those goals.

If however you didn't have them already written, for the purpose of reviewing them, it's advisable to do so and no, it's not too late to do that now. Have a very open mind when reviewing your goals, this way you can know the ones you were able to achieve and those that are still pending.

Step 2: Mark your Success, Including Other Things You Achieved Along the Way.



Having reviewed your goals, the next thing to do is to mark out or check your success.

However, don't just check the goals you've completely attained. As part of your achievements, you can also note those you have started but haven't completed. For instance, if learning to bake a cake was part of my goals and I already started learning, I could note it as making a head-start even though I haven't perfected the act.

Another thing you should take note of are those things which you didn't include as goals but you've achieved along the way. Here is where you become introspective. Think deeply. What are those things you've learnt, contributed, created or innovated during the course of the year? It could be a new skill, an extra source of income, good network/relationship, knowledge, etc.

In my case, I did set out to learn more about Corporate Communications as part of my career goals. During the course of the year, I took courses, found mentors and got an Internship with a technology company, all of which have helped me learn more not only about corporate communications but also writing, graphics designing, digital/e-mail marketing and maybe, just maybe even a little bit of coding. I didn't set out to know all of these things, but since I do, I'll mark them off as achievements for this year.

A colleague of mine also set to read 4 books every month so that at the end of the year, he would have read 48 new books. However he found out he could, in his best month, only read 2 books, which meant he did not achieve this particular goal but also within the year, he was able to speak on 3 different platforms to hundreds of people and publish a short story in a collection. These were not on his goals list earlier but are worth mentioning.

Noting these achievements will help you realize that although you did not achieve some of the goals you set out for in the beginning of the year, the year did not pass by without you getting some other things in the bag.

Step 3: Prioritize the Goals that have not been met in Order of Importance:



After marking off your achievements, the next thing to do is to prioritize the goals that you have not met in order of importance and feasibility.

By these, I mean those goals which are dire, necessary and of course, realistic to achieve/start before the end of the year.

I would have suggested you also rank in order of simplicity with the easiest one on top of your list but the truth is, importance beats ease. The fact that something is easy does not mean it is the most important and because something is more difficult doesn’t mean it is the most important as well.



For instance, one of the goals I'm throwing to the bottom of my list is learning how to cook a variety of Nigerian soups. I mean, it's something I can still learn before the year runs out, considering how accessible I am to Google, YouTube and food blogs, but it's not necessary for right now. Even though this goal is feasible therefore, it's not important.

Since you are the only one that can define what your definition of important is, just ensure that the purpose of achieving the goal is strong enough to motivate you through this time.

By arranging your remaining goals in this order, you'll be able to prioritize those you should actually focus on for the remaining 36 days we have left in the year.

Step 4: Start:



It is very true that the time we have left in this year is limited, but having prioritized your goal in order of importance and feasibility (which is very key), one thing you can still do is start.
Even if you know you won't be able to complete it before the end of the year, just start.

Setting goals and not meeting them all the time is a bad habit, you have to do something so it won’t become the norm and you won’t repeat such in the coming year.

For instance, another colleague, Seun, set out to learn how to drive in the beginning of the year but had a hectic schedule and could not meet up with a friend that was willing to teach her for free. Now that she has some free time, he has gotten busy and cannot take her for practice in his car. Instead of Seun moping and feeling helpless about the situation, she decided to start reading about driving and has started learning virtually. Of course she can’t perfect that knowledge before the year ends, but she has started.

You too can do the same with your own goal, no matter what it is. It might just start with a Google search or talking with a friend that has knowledge of what you are interested in and guess how many days you still have to just start? That's right - 36 days. You still have time.

Step 5: Get an Accountability Partner:



Perhaps, one of the reasons you were not able to get to achieve some of your goals was because it was you, the pen and the paper that knew about the goal in the first place. Now that you have taken the decision to start your important goals now and work with it throughout December, you need an accountability partner to assist you achieve your aim.

An accountability partner is basically someone you trust and respect enough to keep you in check. He/she could be a mentor, a sibling, colleague at work or a friend.

This person does not necessarily have to share the same goals with you. Simply let the person be familiar with your goal and the timeline you set for it. (Note that there should always be a timeline.) You should also be able to communicate with this person on your progress, and he/she should be able to reprimand you if needs be, when you are becoming lazy.

For example, if your goal is to shed some weight, your accountability partner must be able to caution you when you want to take an extra plate of a meal or skip your gym days.



Be careful on your choice of a partner however, so as not to get someone that will pressure you so much or be too laid-back.

Conclusion:



As Nelson Mandela said, “It always seem impossible until it’s done”.

If there is anything I’ve learnt so far this year, it’s that I shouldn’t be dependent on any other human being as much as I depend on God and myself.

We are responsible for ourselves, how we feel, and how our life goes. No one will achieve your goals for you. If you leave them undone, then so shall they be.

Often, you might not be able to control some activities in your surrounding but you can control how you deal with them. There is no other excuse for your failures but you. It’s you.

Enjoy the rest of the year, be happy with yourself and get ready to hit 2017 with a bang.

If you want the template on “How to achieve your goals with 36 days left in 2016” to be sent to your inbox, visit
https://insidify.com/discovery/36-days-left:-how-to-still-meet-your-2016-goals and drop your request in the comment box. The template will be sent to you immediately.

Words on marble. You should call lalasticalas attention to do the needful