Don’t forget to put Easter Eggs 🐣 in your New Years Goals

End of year reviews & gaols

End-of-year reviews are a strange time. Even when things are going well, there is often a low-level hum of fear or anxiety in the background, especially in the current ‘climate’.

I really believe we need more fun Easter Eggs in EOY reviews and New Year’s resolutions. After many annual cycles of OKRs, roadmaps, and development plans, I have noticed something consistent. Goals really benefit from an element of fun and a mindset of ease. Stretch or BHAG goals matter, of course, but fun and easy is often a mindset <knowing nod to any choice theory nerds out there>.

Small, incremental goals help. As do slightly playful or unexpected “curveball” goals that keep things interesting. Motivation and mission tend to follow enjoyment, not pressure.

We have all seen how a relaxed workshop, a design sprint, a bit of music, or a moment of humour changes the energy in the room. People rarely remember the conversation or what was said, they remember how it felt. Designers are in a unique place to be a catalyst for that fun IMO, if the culture allows.

Culture matters too. If everything feels ‘hard’ all the time, every proposal or design concept is impossible, and there is ‘zero craic’ as we say in Ireland, that should be acted on and you should plan to move on. In any job move I now screen for culture using my 80:20 rule, 80% culture aka people aka mindset and 20% everything else. It has made a huge difference. This aspect of career coaching will be hugely important for folks in the months and years ahead in the current burn-out ‘climate’.

Anyhow, be kind to yourself this review season and write some fun personal goals. Life is short… have some craic.