As easy as... Making the Grade
- Kate Johnson
- Mar 18
- 5 min read
For my part, when I share goals it means that I am making a commitment to follow-up. We’re nearing the end of the first quarter so it seems like the right time to provide an update on this year’s goals.
Here's a short refresher about my 25=100 plan: I identified five priority areas (Writing, Teaching, Consulting, Speaking, and Coaching) and designed this one-year strategy, with the goal to impact 100 leaders in 2025. You can read the full article about the planning process and each goal here.
I know I could give you a play-by-play style update and run through each element of the plan. I’m going to do my best to avoid that approach, though. First, let’s be honest, it’s kind of boring. (Even for me—and they’re my goals!) I also believe this would fail to demonstrate and model a practice that is essential in leadership: honest self-assessment that comes from careful reflection. (Check out this episode of the comfy chairs podcast for more about this topic.)
So, rather than providing a dry recap, I’ve developed a report card and graded myself. You can see that I have some wins to share and there are some areas that need improvement.
On the subject of Preparedness, for example: It’s one thing to keep on top of your accounting practices, but I learned that waiting until the day before you meet with your accountant to scan your receipts isn’t the most efficient use of one’s time…
Pausing to evaluate my progress and results, I am able to see three lessons from the last few months that stand out.
#1 Reality always wins.
We enjoy the Mike Tyson quote in my household: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”
I’m not saying anyone punched me recently (or ever). I am saying that plans are all well and good, but you have to face reality while executing on your goals. It’s been a lesson of a lifetime for me to understand that my due dates and timelines require pencil, not pen, figuratively speaking.
If you look at my report card, you will see that the Drawing Tomorrow workbook, progress on writing book chapters, and designing the first in a series of micro-courses are all, frankly, below my expectations. These lower grades reflect the aggressive timelines I set for myself, yes, but are ultimately the result of it being necessary to adapt and adjust my targets due to unplanned factors (like the nasty virus that hit our house after an out-of-town trip and plane travel).
Timelines are important for goals. So is having the flexibility and willingness to tweak and refine your plans when the unexpected happens. This is how we blend intentionality and nimbleness in a way that leads to success and satisfaction.
#2 Find the lesson in the win.
I’ll bask in the warmth of my A grades for a moment.
I am not ashamed to tell you that the status of the comfy chairs podcast and the biweekly as easy as… newsletter are points of pride. They have one very important thing in common: a public commitment to meet a published schedule. (Again, timelines are important for goals!)
This is one simple way to create accountability for your goals and plans. Tell other people about them. Additionally, a set schedule is easy to follow. The podcast doesn’t come out every third Thursday and on Fridays when the month has 30 days. Nope. Every Tuesday. I can’t lose track of it or forget. Every Tuesday, I have committed to publish a new episode of the comfy chairs. There may come a time when this will look different or the schedule will need to change, but the simple act of setting a specific day has made this goal repeatedly achievable.
Which begs the question: How can I translate this practice to other areas?
I don’t have an answer today, but I will be reflecting on what success here can mean for those areas where I want to improve.
This practice—applying lessons from your successes—is a way to build on a solid foundation and lets you focus forward and continue accumulating wins. Remember, you don’t have to start over every time you set a goal. Obviously, we learn when we make mistakes, but wins have something to teach you, too.
#3 Learning never ends.
You know how you can know something, but not really understand it? That’s been my experience with many of realities of self-employment. It seems like it can go without saying that self-employment means that you are there by yourself. Right? But really, it’s just you.
This means that you are the person who does everything (or at least has responsibility for seeing to it that everything gets done). Knowing and understanding this are very different experiences. I knew I would have things to learn about running a business that were outside of my experience as a learning & development executive. Naturally. Obviously! But did I understand that I would become the head of marketing? No. Not really.
I can see where this specific knowing-understanding gap has impacted my results when I look at my report card. That F that breaks my heart? That’s an artifact of knowing there’s marketing to be done, but not understanding yet how to integrate marketing tasks into my workflow.
What matters here, though, isn’t the F. Yes. It bothers me. I don’t like it. But it doesn’t matter in the long run. What truly matters is that little word, “yet.” One of my favorite parts of working for myself is how much I get to learn. I suppose this is a very good thing for a learning & development person… It’s also a very good thing for my 25=100 plan.
Acquiring new knowledge and relevant skills is possibly the surest way to meet a goal. It means being able to adapt. It means having more wins to teach you how to win more. And it means seeing the continuous growth that can happen when you make yourself accountable to a goal.
More grades to come.
I’m working on the plan for 2nd quarter and will publish an update in early April. This will include revised timelines for the Drawing Tomorrow workbook and the micro-course series and will introduce a few parts of the larger plan that will come into play as the year moves along.
Until then, thank you for being a participant in my accountability for these goals. I would love to hear from you. How do you monitor your progress? What lessons have your goals taught you?
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