I, like many educators, like to set and then get goals. One step of the goal setting process that I tend to minimize is the reflection and celebration of accomplishments – the small steps that lead to reaching my goal, as well as the successful completion. Oftentimes what happens is I reach my goal, but as I see the end in sight, I immediately start focusing on the next goal. It may be a continuation in the same vein as the original goal, or it might be something new. While this serves me, and those like me, in continuing to grow and improve, Taking a moment to reflect on and celebrate the smaller achievements, as well as the fulfillment of reaching the goal, is integral to the goal-setting process. It re-energizes, inspires, and motivates you to continue. 

Mid-January is an excellent time to pause and reflect so that you can celebrate your progress on the goals you set for the school year – or even goals you have identified since the new year. Doing so will allow you to observe your accomplishments, identify strategies you’ve used successfully to navigate challenges, and plan next steps to continue your progression. 

In the last ten years or so, I have embraced the importance of reflecting and celebrating goal setting and have worked to refine the process, making it efficient and effective. Here are four tips to make the reflection and celebration portion of the goal setting process impactful.

Reflect regularly – Depending on the length of your goal, identify regular intervals in which to reflect and celebrate. Rather than thinking about celebrating after a big milestone, base your reflection and celebration on time. Time based reflections that occur regularly will serve as motivation to push a little harder to reach a milestone or will help you identify what obstacles you had to overcome during that period of time. This will help to result in further progress during the next period of time. 

Make it useful and brief – There are many questions that you can use to reflect about your progress towards your goal and the internet has endless lists to choose from as support. As you explore various questions, choose those that are easy for you to reflect on, identify your achievements, and allow you to plan your next steps. As I have refined my reflection process, I have pared my reflection questions down to a few: 

• What are 3 accomplishments that have contributed to the progress towards my goal? 
• What obstacles did I overcome? How? 
• What are my next 2 action steps? 

Record your responses – This continues to be the hardest aspect for myself. Oftentimes, I’ll reflect while I am out for a run as it affords me the opportunity to focus my mind on the goal and think about the progress I’ve made from many different perspectives. A strategy that I have found helpful is to set a reminder on my phone an hour before the time I set aside to record my reflections. Another strategy that I recently learned about is to create a google form with the questions – that way your reflection is predictable and you have a record of your progress. Recording your accomplishments, strategies, and plans allows you to become more efficient in achieving future goals. The time spent thinking about what you did and recording it allows it to move further into your memory and become easily recalled when future circumstances are similar. 

Plan a meaningful celebration – Celebrations do not need to be big, involve others, or cost money. However, they are important because this is where your inspiration and motivation to continue progressing comes from. By taking time to craft a meaningful celebration for yourself, you are acknowledging the hard work you have put in. When planning a meaningful celebration, make sure that it aligns with your goal. You don’t want to create an obstacle you have to overcome in order to stay focused on your goal. Celebrations might be simple such as telling a close friend what you have done – or more elaborate such as inviting others to participate in an activity that aligns with your goal. Either way, taking time to acknowledge what you have done so far and that will inspire you to continue. 

With the school year about half over, combined with a school year that has felt taxing like no other, this is the perfect time to reflect and celebrate on your goals. At the start of the year, what did you hope to accomplish? How did you plan to grow your professional abilities, skills, and competencies? Pausing to reflect on your goals and then examining the progress you have made, the milestones and accomplishments achieved, and the obstacles you’ve overcome will help you to see that despite the hardships, you have made a lot of progress that will motivate you to continue on. Through identifying next steps, you’ll feel refocused and re-energized towards your goal and be ready to implement next steps – which in turn will allow your next reflection period to have even more accomplishments listed! 

If your staff would benefit from a group celebration for the goals they have accomplished so far this year, check out our Celebrating Success Faculty Meeting plan. This all inclusive plan will allow you to lead staff in a celebration of their professional successes and accomplishments and highlight how personal growth positively impacts others.

Written by Sarah Fillion & Dana Januszka 2022