Who are you right how? and how to use Covey’s ‘roles & goals’ to check in.

I’m excited about the tool I’m sharing today because it’s so relevant right now. It has freed up some of my stuck thinking and definitely helped to make our current home-all-the-time scenario a little easier; you can see why I’d want to share!

I first came across ‘roles & goals’ whilst reading Stephen R. Covey’s 7 Habits book many years ago; applying it at the time to the very discrete areas of ‘work’ and ‘home’ – it’s been a lightbulb moment to realise how much this simple technique can support me now that work and home are inextricably linked…

… and I don’t just mean ‘linked now in this situation’ because, for all of us who are growing our businesses or our children from home, the home/work line can feel blurry all year round!

How to use roles & goals

Start by thinking about what roles you want, or need, to play in the coming week.

Covey introduces this in relation to planning your week ahead and actually the regular and short-term nature of this tool lends itself really well to where we’re at just now.

For example, you may take the role of ‘Christmas-tree-decorator’ in mid-December, but you don’t need to think about that today! Equally, maybe you caught up with all your friends last week, and so your role of ‘friend’ might take a back seat again until next week. This isn’t about not being all of your usual roles, it’s just about not being all of them this week.

For this coming week, mine will include:

• mum
• business owner
• wife
• volunteer
• gardener
• me!

That last one is the easiest to forget and the most important!

And here’s my lightbulb… because I’m home-all-the-time (just now) or home-most-of-the-time (normally) I don’t separate these out!

I just get on with being everything, all at once, and end up giving nothing my full attention; and this makes so much sense when I think about it. How can I focus when I have six or more channels running at the same time? I feel drained whilst having achieved very little. Contrary to popular belief we are not good at multi-tasking; more on that another day.

Becoming conscious of who I am right now* has been game-changing; setting aside chunks off time where I have full permission to sink into each role is so much more fulfilling. Just doing this one thing might be all you need to think a little differently… try it and let me know?

* I’ll be talking about where am I right now in another letter soon!

Make a note of the most important roles for your week ahead… and then read on!

The second part of the tool is goals; so have a think about what goals you have in each role this week, what’s the most important thing you need to achieve?

My goals will include; 

– writing my newsletter and being visible every day; 

– helping my son re-adjust his body-clock after a long Easter break; 

– a bike ride and a film night with hubby; 

– finalising all the paperwork for two new volunteer befriending roles; 

– planting up our new border, and 

– doing 20 minutes exercise each morning

Make a note of your important goals for this week’s roles, put them into your diary ahead of anything else and protect them! 

When you use this as part of your weekly diary planning you’ll find that all the other little things still get done. Or maybe they don’t… maybe they’re not that important after all, or perhaps they’re part of next week’s plan?!

Do let me know how you get on, checking in with who are you right now, and prioritising your goals in each role – I hope it brings you some clarity and energy!

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