Know why you didn’t obtain the achievements you wanted last year? Your compass was set in the wrong direction. Your plan lacked relevant tactical strategy. Your feather-weight gear wasn’t equipped for the rugged land-mine-filled trek. You over-promised, under-planned, greatly compromised. Want to make sure you don’t repeat the same mistakes? This time don’t delegate your parachute-packing.

Start taking ownership and personal responsibility for any career derailments. Yeah, you. No one else but you should pack your parachute. Leave your success in the hands of your employer, co-workers or family, and you needlessly remove your ability to control the outcome. That dumb move will turn your career / business expedition into a frighteningly out-of-control free fall that can only end in disaster.

Overcome headwinds that’ll be there to counter your momentum by preemptively sighting the deterrents. Do this on paper, not in your head. Keyboard or use paper and pen to perform the following mind-mapping, “terrain-analysis” exercise. Make the time now to do this task, don’t procrastinate, and watch how much fast you’ll regain control of the steering mechanism that pilots your career and business direction:

• Develop a comprehensive list of 10 professionally-related things you wanted to accomplish this past year, but for whatever reason, didn’t achieve. Include revenue targets, job functionalities, key responsibilities and tasks or projects you wanted to complete, skills you aimed to learn, and / or people you desired to know. Be specific.

• Next to these 10, write down a one-sentence reason why the tasks or initiatives did not get completed. Keep it brief and succinct. Preferably use a different-colored font or ink so that there’s delineation. Also include who or what you want to blame that prevented the achievement. Yeah, go ahead and blame someone else, blame a situation, blame yourself. At this pre-filter point, it doesn’t matter because stream-of-consciousness raw thought is what you’re after, not a nun-like remorse of shirking responsibility. You’ll have plenty of opportunity to repent later.

• Observe and note next to the 10 things you wanted to achieve, any commonalities or patterns that impeded your success. Preferably use yet another colored font or ink. Group these together on your list. Don’t forget to include obstacles such as budgetary, politically-motivated, or your lack of niche-skill. Grouping helps in pattern-identification.

• Now rank your entire 10-item list using the numbers 1-10. Order these by the greatest importance to you with number one being the lowest, and number 10, the highest.

Drive your success by what drives you. Complete this exercise and you will identify the top five things that matter most to you; the initiatives that stir your passion and fuel your energy to succeed. You’ll need that vigor to push you past the obstacles.

How do you decide which career or business initiatives to tackle next? Your top five “what matters most” that you just created is the required foundation to build an insurgency against all excuses you’ve previously used to dodge success.

The more you take ownership for your career / business detours and derailments now, the less you’ll find in resistance to achievement, later. Mind-mapping on paper, what went right and wrong this past year, professionally, is huge in mental housecleaning. When you face your regrets, pinpoint the causes, and take responsibility for the missteps; you free yourself from the weight of guilt and blame and are then prepped for a fresh start in a new direction.

Part Two of this series will retrofit you with a new compass, bullet-proof gear, and a tactical blueprint that’ll shorten the lead time to purposeful accomplishment and revolutionize how you get things done.

About the Author: Marta Driesslein, CECC is a management consultant for R.L. Stevens & Associates, Inc.

About the Company: For over 25 years, R.L. Stevens & Associates (http://interviewing.com/) has been the Nation’s most successful privately-held firm specializing in executive career searches generating quality interviews through both advertised and unadvertised channels.

• When is Right Now?


• Where is There for You?


• Creating Powerful Goals – Learn How to Generate Wealth by Overcoming Short Term Obstacles


• Setting Personal Objectives for the New Year


• Why Not Realize Your Goals?


• Fail to Plan, Plan To Fail: The Importance of Goal Setting


• Resolution Without Commitment and a Plan is Another Word for Fantasy


• Are You Achieving Your Goals?


• 12 Healthy Habits For The New Year


• Blogging Can Help You Stick to That New Years Resolution


• Re-plan Your Goals Every 6 Months


• No New Years Resolution