Week 1: Setting Goals to Level Up

Leveling up your skills is a tremendous point of leverage!

New Year, New You!

Welcome to 2024! This year, I’ve planned a weekly series of emails covering a wide variety of topics to help us level-up our skills and improve our performance. I’d like to suggest we adopt an overall theme of “More in ‘24” – more knowledge, more skills, more productivity, more teamwork and collaboration, more creativity, and doing it all in a way that helps us be much more relaxed!

To kick things off, let’s focus on beginning a journey of personal and professional development. In our workplace, success requires a combination of skill, knowledge, and attitude, so one of the most powerful ways to improve your performance is to learn something new. Leveling up your knowledge and skill is a tremendous point of leverage because you will put in the effort once but it pays dividends for years to come.

Unfortunately, we tend to get caught up in the daily grind and, before we know it, another year has gone by and we’ve done almost nothing towards our self-development goals. For white-collar professionals and knowledge workers, whether team leads, supervisors, managers, or simply self-directed employees, setting meaningful goals is the cornerstone of success – but only if you have a practical plan for achieving those goals. 

This is where the QMWD (Quarter-Month-Week-Day) process comes into play – a structured approach to transform your aspirations into attainable objectives, especially when it comes to learning new skills. 

Understanding the QMWD Process

The QMWD process is your roadmap for goal achievement, broken down into manageable intervals:

1. Quarterly Goal: Choose a significant skill you want to master in three months.

2. Monthly Milestones: Divide this learning objective into three key phases.

3. Weekly Steps: Outline specific learning activities for each week.

4. Daily Tasks: Break down these activities into daily, actionable tasks.

By dissecting your big goal into these smaller units, you're setting yourself up for a journey of consistent progress and achievement. You can use this same process for projects you’re working on but there are plenty of other more robust and widely known methodologies for project management. 

The beauty of the QMWD process for personal and professional development is the simplicity of simply chunking up a large goal into its component steps and then checking them off as you complete them. The only ongoing “administrative overhead” is a weekly review to assure you’re still on track.

Applying the QMWD Process to Skill Acquisition

As an example, one of my goals is to increase my knowledge and improve my skills within the area of instructional design. I have several important training programs I need to create and deliver this year, so I want them to be as effective as possible. Here's how I’m using the QMWD method for this goal:

- Quarterly Goal: Gain proficiency as an Instructional Designer.

- Monthly Milestones: 

  - Month 1: Learn the basics of instructional design.

  - Month 2: Practice the skills by developing a pilot course.

  - Month 3: Pilot the first course, solicit feedback, and make improvements.

- Weekly Steps: 

  - Week 1: Complete two of ten selected online courses.

  - Week 2: Complete the next two online courses.

  - ... (and so on)

  - Week 5: Select learning outcomes and develop high-level outline for pilot course.

  - ... (and so on)

  - Week 9: Deliver first session of pilot course and request feedback from attendees.

  - ... (and so on)

- Daily Tasks: 

  - Day 1: Watch the first ~30 minutes of lectures and take detailed notes.

  - Day 2: Watch remaining lectures and take detailed notes.

  - Day 3: Consolidate and structure notes for ongoing review and use.

  - ... (and so on)

This breakdown ensures that you will be taking a step toward mastering a new, valuable skill every day. Yes, you will need to spend a couple hours up front to think through this, chunk it up into its component steps, and map them out. However, I suggest assigning dates to your Monthly Milestones and Weekly Steps, but then waiting to schedule the Daily Tasks. When you do your Friday review, as described below, you can schedule all of the Daily Tasks for the coming week. This allows you some flexibility and makes it more likely that your plan for the week will be realistic because you’ll know exactly where to allocate time on your calendar for each task.

Making QMWD a Habit for Success

To make the most of the QMWD process, incorporate it into your daily routine. Schedule regular weekly reviews – I suggest every Friday – to track your progress and adapt your plan as needed. Look ahead to the tasks you’ve assigned to the coming week, then block off time on your calendar each day and note what task you need to complete. If you find it helpful, use tools and apps for more efficient tracking and for giving you regular reminders. 

Consistency is the key to success with the QMWD method because it will not only help you achieve your current goal but also establish a robust framework for future learning endeavors.

Call to Action

As we embrace the new year, challenge yourself to enhance your professional skill set. Choose a skill that will elevate your career, and use the QMWD process to systematically achieve mastery. Remember, each small step taken daily accumulates into significant achievements. 

Begin your journey of growth and learning today; the path to achieving your first-quarter goal starts now!