{"id":467,"date":"2020-08-17T11:33:53","date_gmt":"2020-08-17T09:33:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.serenagiust.com\/en\/?p=467"},"modified":"2022-09-26T16:38:24","modified_gmt":"2022-09-26T14:38:24","slug":"set-up-personal-objectives-roadmap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.serenagiust.com\/en\/set-up-personal-objectives-roadmap\/","title":{"rendered":"Short, medium and long term (personal) objectives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today is Ferragosto! What the hell is Ferragosto?<\/em> Well… August 15 is the best day of the summer for Italians. If you\u2019ve ever been in Italy during this period, you\u2019ve undoubtedly noticed the \u201cClosed for holidays\u201d<\/em> signs posted up in nearly every shop window. This is the day for friends and family gatherings, fireworks at the beach, loud music and food coma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unless you are an Expat! Like me. In that case, Ferragosto is a very nostalgic day where you end up working or doing God knows what<\/em>. Speaking for myself, today I decided to open a giant excel file where I listed down all my (very confused) personal objectives for the upcoming months. Great idea, eh? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A lot of stuff changed during Corona time: I moved to a new place, I fell in love. I discovered how much I love interior design, how good life is in Haarlem. What I would like, for my future, is to combine these interests with my personal goals, and that’s how I came up with the following list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 1: divide et impera<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, it looks like the most effective way to achieve goals in life is to break big goals up into smaller ones. I started by writing down well-established long term goals (to be achieved by the end of 2021) and then I divided them into mid-term objectives (mid-2021) and short term tasks (next quarter).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long term goal<\/strong>
(end 2021)<\/strong><\/td>		Mid term objective
(mid 2021)<\/strong><\/td>		Short term task
(next quarter)<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Increase the visibility of my website and diversify content<\/td>Add new topics: interior design and visit Haarlem<\/td>More content about UX Writing and Leadership<\/td><\/tr>
Create my own monthly newsletter<\/td>Analyze my website subscriber list <\/td>Take a course on email marketing<\/td><\/tr>
Improve my interiors and create a house that represents me<\/td>Join introduction to Interior Design course<\/td>Create a home tour for an online or offline magazine<\/td><\/tr>
Publish a second book, co-written<\/td>Plan the book marketing campaign<\/td>Define contents and collaborations<\/td><\/tr>
Publish a written offline guide about Haarlem<\/td>Plan contents, costs, illustrations<\/td>Write an itinerary on my blog<\/td><\/tr>
Rent a room of my place and become a host<\/td>Empty the room and find a cleaning lady<\/td>Take professional photos of my place<\/td><\/tr>
Attract new career opportunities<\/td>Add a portfolio page to my website<\/td>Create a PDF portfolio<\/td><\/tr>
Build different streams of income<\/td>Ask my financial advisor to review my balance sheet<\/td>Monitor income and expenses on excel<\/td><\/tr>
Improve my Dutch, achieve a B1 level<\/td>Start having small conversations<\/td>Take online classes weekly<\/td><\/tr>
Planning a future together \u2665<\/td>Take a long trip, outside EU<\/td>Meet friends and family<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For those who know me, none of these goals sound entirely unexpected. These are my interests, my passions. I’m just trying to structure them a bit, make a plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are interested in creating a more professional and collaborative roadmap, you can try ProductPlan<\/a> (it’s free for 14 days). There you can also track the status of your tasks. Here is how it looks:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I follow a similar process every six months with my team. We set both team and individual objectives, and we review them together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good to know: if the people around you are aware of what you are trying to achieve, they are more likely to help you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 2: connecting dots<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Steve Jobs taught us that connecting ideas, experiences, and technology is a powerful way of being creative and successful. That’s why I’ve decided to group my goals into themes, and see what comes out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Content<\/strong><\/td>– Increase the visibility of my website and diversify content
– Create my own monthly newsletter<\/td><\/tr>
Design<\/strong><\/td>– Improve my interiors and create a house that represents me
– Publish a second book, co-written<\/td><\/tr>
Travel<\/strong><\/td>– Publish a written offline guide about Haarlem
– Rent a room of my place and become a host<\/td><\/tr>
Career<\/strong><\/td>– Attract new career opportunities
– Build different streams of income<\/td><\/tr>
Life<\/strong><\/td>– Improve my Dutch, achieve a B1 level
– Planning a future together<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have now 5 macro categories, my focus area. I can use them also as categories in my blog, to structure an editorial calendar based on my interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another tool you can try to group ideas is FunRetro<\/a>. I use it at work to organize workshops and brainstorming with my team (you can have up to 3 boards for free). It’s useful when I need to collect ideas from different people and vote. Here is how it looks:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Step 3: Prioritization<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When goals are big, it’s difficult to achieve them all. You need focus and clarity. I decided to prioritize mine using a matrice<\/strong> value<\/strong>–complexity<\/strong>. If you want to be even more precise, you can also estimate the hours, costs, people involved, and risks of each project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High value<\/strong><\/td>– Attract new career opportunities
– Increase the visibility of my website and diversify content
– Planning a future together<\/td>		– Build different streams of income
– Publish a second book, co-written
– Improve my Dutch, achieve a B1 level
<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Low value<\/strong><\/td>– Create my own monthly newsletter
– Improve my interiors and create a house that represents me<\/td>		– Publish a written offline guide about Haarlem
– Rent a room of my place and become a host<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Low complexity<\/strong><\/td>High complexity<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is one of the most intuitive and straightforward methods for prioritizing your objectives. It allows you to define easy wins<\/strong> and strategic initiatives<\/strong>, as well as what to deprioritize or revisit later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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reforge.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Step 4: Sharing is caring<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sharing your goals in life with others is an important success factor. Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • To commit <\/li>
  • To clear your mind<\/li>
  • To measure progress<\/li>
  • To find motivation<\/li>
  • To connect with others<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Also, if people are aware of your goals, they are more likely gonna help you to succeed. Maybe that’s why I wrote it, after all. I am the queen of procrastination, and I have been carrying some of these goals for too long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But hey, do I have to create my goal as well now?<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    No, you don’t have to. Only if you want, if you think is useful, if it’s the right moment to do so. If you are tired or a little stressed, remember that feeling good is always our primary goal! Take time, say no, delegate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Take care \u2665<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Today is Ferragosto! What the hell is Ferragosto? Well… August 15 is the best day of the summer for Italians….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[9,10],"class_list":["post-467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal","category-work","tag-objectives","tag-roadmap"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.serenagiust.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/settare-obiettivi-personali-600x400.png","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/www.serenagiust.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/settare-obiettivi-personali-600x600.png","author_info":{"display_name":"Serena Giust","author_link":"https:\/\/www.serenagiust.com\/en\/author\/admin\/"},"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n