Before Setting New Goals, Evaluate the Previous Ones

Over the next few weeks, you’ll hear a lot about setting financial and other goals. I doubt I’ll be the first (or the last) to ask what goals you have in mind for 2015. Obviously, setting goals and wanting to improve our lives are good things. But by focusing our attention in only one direction — the future — we’re missing an opportunity.

What if we reversed the process? What if we revisit our 2014 goals first?

For this exercise to work, we need to wear our no shame/no blame hats. It’s not about beating ourselves up but about learning what worked for us and what didn’t. We can also weigh our behavior and understand the emotions around our decisions.

Read the rest of the article on The New York Times.