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There are many ways to help people to set goals. The ‘One Year Ahead’ exercise is one that can be both enjoyable and effective. Let’s explore how you can use it in practice.

1) You can invite individuals to look ‘One Year Ahead’.

This article is being written in December. The year’s end is a traditional time for looking ahead. So during the past weeks I have used this exercise with several people. Mary, a senior manager, gave the following responses. Speaking as if we were meeting twelve months later, she said:

“During the past year I have taken several steps in my personal life. My partner and I are now living together. That was a difficult decision, because we both like our independence. But, after a few teething troubles, it has worked out. This time last year I decided to take more care of my body. Since then I have run two half-marathons and raised £1,000 for charity.”

“Looking at my professional life, I changed my role last March. My company finally bit the bullet and decided to merge two divisions. They asked me to lead the integration. The first two months were difficult. We reduced the headcount by 30%, so I spent a long time sorting out the redundancies. Fortunately I had learned from past experiences, so I also spent lots of time with the people we wanted to keep. They also needed encouragement.”

“June saw us get our act together and the past six months have been superb. I now lead a team of 40. Whilst I have four direct reports, they are specialists. So I am looking for a business manager, somebody who knits it all together. On reflection, maybe I should have appointed such a person earlier. They would have helped me to be strategic, rather than get bogged down in the details.”

The exercise invites people to use their imagination. Frequently it helps them to solidify their plans, but sometimes it gets them to reassess their priorities. For example, Mary had not previously thought about appointing a business manager. ‘Looking back from one year ahead’, however, she realised it was important to appoint such a person. Mary built this into her plans for the forthcoming year.

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. Looking at your own life and work, imagine you are meeting somebody in twelve months time. Describe the specific things that have happened in the past year. Try completing the following sentences.

One Year Ahead

The date is: _______________

The things that are happening in my world at the moment are:

*

*

*

The specific steps I took in the past year
to make these things happen were:

*

*

*

The positive things that happened – plus some of
the tough decisions I took – along the way were:

*

*

*

2) You can invite teams to look ‘One Year Ahead’.

Recently I worked with a team that wanted to clarify its picture of success. The leader recognised he was accountable for delivering the goods, but he also wanted to involve his people in setting the goals. “To tell the truth, I am a little impatient with them,” he said. “I’m not sure they are prepared to lift their heads from the day-to-day and see the big picture. So it would be good to get their input.”

Bearing this in mind, we invited each of the team members to imagine they were meeting in one year. We suggested they list what had happened under the headings of profits, ‘products’ – including customer satisfaction – and people. After spending ten minutes writing their ideas on Post-It Notes, they went up in turn and placed these under the following headings.

Profits. The specific things that have
happened regarding profits have been:

*

*

*

People. The specific things that have
happened regarding people have been:

*

*

*

The leader was pleasantly surprised. People were honest, especially when it came to identifying some tough decisions that needed to be taken. After completing the exercise, they themed the ideas and, with some additions, set their twelve month goals.

3) You can invite organisations to look ‘One Year Ahead’.

There are many models for building a peak performing organisation. One approach is to start by ensuring it has a crystal clear purpose. People can then aim to achieve 10/10 in its equivalent of the following areas. Profits: to exceed its targets. Products: to improve its products, including its customer satisfaction. People: to improve its people. Place: to improve its culture and environment. Planet: to improve its contribution to the planet.

Recently I asked a leadership team to look one year ahead. Looking back from that date, they were to complete the following sentences.

The Peak Performing Organisation

The Date Is: ________________

The specific things we have done in the past year to
aim to get a 10/10 in the following areas are as follows.

Profits

*

*

*

Products

*

*

*

People

*

*

*

Place

*

*

*

Planet

*

*

*

The exercise was challenging. People wanted to set stretch goals, but then held back. The leader interjected, saying: “Look, let’s go for broke. Imagine what would be happening under each topic if we were to award ourselves a Perfect Ten. Later we will worry about how to make it happen.” The team found it relatively easy to complete the sections on profits and products; but the challenges were around people, place and planet. But, after much discussion, people settled on specific targets in each area. They then translated the ideas into an agreed plan for achieving peak performance.

—————–

There are many ways to use the ‘One Year Ahead’ exercise. You will obviously adapt in your own way to help individuals, teams and organisations. As ever with good planning, the aim is to ‘start from the destination and work backwards’. People can then make a clear road map for working towards achieving their picture of success.

Everybody has a positive history. So the strengths approach encourages people to learn from their achievements.

“But I have not achieved anything,” somebody may say. Looking back on their life, however, they may have:

* Overcome an illness as a child.
* Performed in play.
* Played sport at a high level.
* Written an article.
* Built a good relationship.
* Designed a house.
* Learned a language.
* Led a team to success.
* Built a successful prototype.
* Helped a specific person.
* Or whatever

They can learn from what they did right to succeed and follow these principles to create a positive future. Here are three steps for making this happen.

1) You can encourage them to describe their positive history.

Invite the person to list all the things they have achieved in their life. You may say something like:

“Start by drawing a time-line down the side of the paper. Go from 0 to your present age. Beginning from as early as you can remember, list all the things you have achieved in your life. These can be small and big things. Continue until you get to the present day.”

So invite them to tackle the following exercise.

2) You can encourage them to learn from their positive history.

Encourage the person to talk through their achievements. Certainly this may take a long time, but it is well worthwhile. Going through each point in depth, you may say something like:

“Tell me about this example. What actually happened? What did you do right then? What were the principles you followed to overcome the challenge or reach the goal? How can you follow similar principles in the future?”

Three things may happen as the person revisits their positive history. a) They grow in confidence – realising that they already have successful patterns. b) They identify the principles that enabled them to be successful. c) They start focusing on how they can follow these principles in the future.

So invite the person to do the following exercise.

3) You can encourage them to shape their positive future.

You may want to say something like:

“Let’s move onto shaping your future. Looking ahead, consider what you want to achieve in the years ahead.

“First, start by drawing a time-line showing your future years.

“Second, taking each 5 year stage in turn, brainstorm and then settle on the things you would like to achieve during each periods.

“If you wish, focus on both your personal and professional life. Certainly it is impossible to predict the future – but it can be useful to clarify what you want to achieve or leave behind.

“This can become a useful road-map to look at – and possibly change – now and again in the future.”

Doctors invite people to describe their history of health and illness. The strengths approach applies a similar discipline, but exploring their positive history.

This is a good exercise to use in a one-to-one session or, if appropriate, in a strengths workshop. People are able to find their successful principles and then follow these to shape a positive future.

Imagine that somebody has asked you for help with overcoming a setback. They may have suffered a redundancy, lost a relationship or experienced some other difficulty. You may be working as a mentor, coach, counsellor or whatever. There are several things you can do to help a person to shape their future.

People like to feel in control to at least 7/10. Many difficult situations stem from them feeling out of control. This is particularly relevant now due to the seismic shifts in the world of work.

Some people ask their employers to provide security by protecting them from outside forces, but this is virtually impossible. There are no jobs anymore; there are only projects. Sometimes it takes time for a person: “To recognise that you are a freelancer and reframe every role as a project.” This means following the eternal rules: build on your strengths, find sponsors and deliver success. It also calls for continually working to find possible future projects.

This article focuses on how you can help a person to take charge of their feelings, finances and future. Please note, however, that these do not replace any medical or other professional help the person may require in some critical situations.

* Start by creating a sanctuary.

You can clarify: a) Where the person is now; b) Where they want to be in the future; c) What are the person’s strengths they can use to achieve their specific goals.

Imagine you are meeting the person who wants help overcoming a setback. They may well be going through various stages of the change curve (see later diagram). So help the person to feel welcome, at ease and able to talk about their challenges.

You can create a sanctuary where they can begin shaping their future and working towards achieving success. Bearing in mind the changes they are experiencing, it can be useful to go through the following stages.

* You can clarify where the person is now.

People often need to go through a catharsis by talking about what they have experienced. From the facilitator’s point of view, it can also be useful to get a clear picture of what has happened. At some point, however, it will be important to move from talking to action. So this leads to the next stage.

* You can clarify where the person wants to be in the future.

It’s important to raise people’s sights to focus their long-term picture of success. This can provide them with a greater sense of purpose and perspective.

People can then see their present situation within the context of their overall goals. They can be helped to make an action plan for working towards their picture of success. Each facilitator has their own questions for helping somebody to focus on the future. They may say, for example:

“Looking back in future years, you may be able to see what you are experiencing now from a different perspective. But that does not change the validity of what you are feeling.

“Bearing this in mind, I wonder if we can explore your long-term goals. We can then return to the present and how you can achieve your picture of success. There are three themes we can explore. We could look at either:

* Your overall personal and professional goals. For example, imagine you are looking back on your life when you are 80. What do you want to have done by then that for you will mean you will have had a successful life?

* Your professional goals. For example, looking back at the end of your career, what are the things that you want to have achieved in your professional life?

* Your annual goals. For example, looking twelve months forward, what is your picture of success? In one year’s time, what do you want to be doing and feeling?”

“Looking at these themes, which one you would like to explore? We can then use this as a framework for working towards your picture of success.”

Imagine you have helped a person to clarify their future goals. Before they set out on their chosen route, you may wish to take the next step.

* You can clarify the strengths they can use for achieving their goals.

Everybody has encountered setbacks, but they also have assets they can use to reach their goals. Bearing this in mind, you can explore these with the person by saying something like:

“Before moving to your action plan, it might be useful to clarify the resources you can use to achieve success. So I wonder if we could clarify your assets and strengths?

“First, what are your personal and professional assets? Your personal assets may include, for example, your health, relationships and finances. Your professional assets may include your talents, drives and network.

“Second, what are your strengths? What are the specific situations in which you deliver As, rather than Bs or Cs? We can also explore your successful pattern for overcoming setbacks. Looking back on your life, for example, have you ever been in a similar situation and overcome it successfully? If so, what did you do right then? How can you follow similar principles in this situation?

“Third, how can you use your assets and strengths to achieve your goals?”

Let’s move onto how you can enable a person to take charge of their feelings, finance and future.

1) You can help the person to take control of their feelings.

Imagine you are helping a person who has experienced an accident, lost a job, suffered rejection or had another setback. Whilst everybody reacts differently, many go through the reactive change curve.

They experience the stages of shock, denial, paralysis, anger and hurt. Healing takes time. But they gather new strength, set new goals, work hard, achieve success and gather self-confidence.

So how do they overcome the setback? People often take time in a sanctuary. They then shape their future and get a quick success. This involves them taking charge of their feelings.

How to take this step? You can help them: a) To accept their feelings are authentic; b) To decide on the feelings they want in the future; c) To do their best to generate these feelings. Let’s explore how this works in practice.

* They can accept their feelings are authentic.

What does this mean? When running communities for troubled teenagers, for example, we gave them the message:

“Whatever you feel is real, even though to others it may appear illogical. Accept the feeling; but then move-on to how you can change it in the future.”

Why adopt this approach? Consider somebody who has been abused and now feels guilty. The abuser often imprisons the victim by inferring that nobody will believe their story. Helping an abused person to recognise that their feelings are real can be the first step to recovery. One abused young person said:

“Previously I felt crazy, but nobody would believe me. Talking with others who had suffered abuse showed I was not alone. Suddenly I felt liberated.”

Whatever their situation, it is helpful for the person to accept their feelings – then move onto the next stage.

* They can decide what feelings they want in the future.

Is this possible? The approach we used with the young people was:

“You know that doing certain things will produce certain feelings. Everybody knows exactly how to make themselves feel bad. They can refuse to take responsibility, drink too much or spend time with negative people.

"They also know what is more likely to make them feel good. They can take responsibility, be kind, get healthy or spend time with positive people. People choose their behaviour – the things they do – and in this way choose their feelings.”

Whatever their situation, the person can decide what feelings they want in the future, then move onto the next step.

* They can make an action plan for increasing the likelihood of generating these feelings.

People are creatures of habit, so they can develop daily disciplines. They can focus on: “These are the things I can do that will increase the likelihood of me feeling better.”

They can do something early in the day to get a quick success. Do things that given them positive energy, rather than be passive victims. Spend time with encouragers, rather than stoppers. A person can aim to set their agenda for the day, rather than simply drift. Certainly they may get flashbacks that throw them into a state of uncertainty. But they can then aim to follow the daily habits that are more likely to lead to feeling better.

Great therapists encourage a person to spend time in a sanctuary. They then encourage them to step out, shape their future and get successes.

2) You can help the person to take control of their finances.

This sounds matter-of-fact, but it can be necessary. People who get divorced – or those who suffer redundancy – quickly aim to take control of their finances. This is a necessary hygiene factor in shaping their futures.

If a person is facing redundancy, for example, you will probably invite them: a) To get advice on any legal matters; b) To get the best possible deal; c) To make a budget for taking control of their future. Others take similar steps without suffering a crisis. One person said.

“My income kept increasing, but so did my outgoings. The garage was full of unwanted items and we had lost track of our expenditure – so we did a financial reality check. The result was shocking. Bank statements showed a monthly direct debit for unnecessary personal insurance and there were many other opportunities for saving.

“Starting again from scratch, we stuck to buying what we needed – rather than what we wanted – and revolutionised our finances within a year. Feeling in charge of our money enabled us to feel more in charge of our lives.”

People have different attitudes to finances. Some act quickly when faced by redundancy, for example, whilst others decide: “To take time off and then decide what to do.” The latter approach is more common with those who have extended ‘gardening leave.’ But this can also have dangers.

The people who thrive are those who, from Day One, decide: “To make getting a job a full time job.” They secure their next role, then go on holiday. Others take months out but, when returning to the fray, find the market has changed radically. It can take them a couple of years to find another rewarding role.

3) You can help the person to take control of their future.

Imagine you have helped a person to take control of their feelings and finances. Here are three steps you can take to help them to shape their future.

* You can encourage the person to focus on their picture of success.

People need to see a link between their daily actions and their long-term picture of success. This provides a sense of meaning. It also gives them the energy to tackle short-term challenges on the way towards achieving their long-term goal.

This is the approach adopted by expedition leaders, film producers, Olympic athletes and many others involved in pursuing stimulating adventures. They see their short-term feelings within the context of achieving the long-term goals. This gives them the strength to overcome immediate challenges on the way towards reaching their destination.

Bearing this in mind, encourage the person to revisit the earlier exercise on clarifying their goals. If appropriate, invite them to translate these into a specific long-term picture of success. Soon you will be focusing on a concrete action plan for achieving these aims. So invite them to tackle the following exercise.

   

* You can encourage the person to focus on controlling the controllables.     

Peak performers tend to be positive realists. Bearing in mind their long-term picture of success, they put their energies into focusing on what they can control.

They can control, for example, their attitude, professionalism and the ways they apply their talents. They cannot control other people or the market. Though they can, of course, try to influence these factors. Great workers build on what they can control and manage what they can’t.

Bearing this in mind, encourage the person to tackle the following exercise.

* You can encourage the person to do something every day to work towards achieving their picture of success.

Peak performers develop a daily rhythm. They do the right things in the right way every day. Sometimes it takes time to get into this pattern, but then it becomes second nature.

Starting the day, they refocus on their long-term goals. Returning to the present, they focus on the daily actions they can take to towards their picture of success. Peak performers love to make lists and cross-off items along the journey.

Reflecting at the end of the day, they clarify their achievements, before making another list. They enjoy a sense of meaning by seeing how their short-term actions link to their long-term goals.

Bearing this in mind, encourage the person to tackle the following exercise.

People can’t always choose what happens to them, but they can choose their attitude towards these events. Viktor Frankl described his nightmare journey through concentration camps in his book Man’s Search for Meaning. He wrote:

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread.

“They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.”