This is a one-off entry about quarterly reviews in business and life.

It’s hard to believe that the end of Q1 is tomorrow.  The first quarter is always integral to the success of the year for a few reasons.  First, the momentum generated in Q1 is often what carries the business to its goals for the rest of the year.  Second, if things aren’t quite going as well as the company hoped they would there is still time to make changes.  With this in mind, the moment Q1 officially ends, businesses across the country will begin analyzing their books to see how they are doing.  They will calculate sales and growth.  They’ll look at selling, general, and administrative expenses.  They’ll look at their investments and evaluate ROI.  As they perform these calculations, they’ll ask 2 simple questions.  How are we tracking toward our goals?  Are we investing our resources wisely?  From there, they will adjust things as needed.

What does this have to do with anything?  What if we applied the quarterly review process to our own lives?  What if we spent just a few minutes asking ourselves the two questions outlined earlier (How are we tracking toward our goals?  Are we investing our resources wisely?)  If you paused a moment to do this, what would you find out about yourself?  How might you adjust things?

The challenge: Will you take the time to do a quick quarterly review?  What adjustments will you make after doing one?

Bonus: Here is my mini-quarter review based on the dimensions in my life I set goals for.  Sharing in hopes that it might spark your reflections.

• Career- (B+)  The goal is to feel mastery and magic in my role.  I’m tracking toward that, but not there yet.  Q1 was a hard grind, but I’m feeling good about things and have momentum taking me into Q2.  I’ve learned a heck of a lot and contributed in meaningful ways.  As I look at Q2 I know my personal career success will hinge on my ability to prioritize and on my ability to take care of myself (Physical Health) so I can perform.  On the prioritization front, I’m blocking 2-5 every Friday to make sure I pause, plan, and prioritize.  Each week I’ll focus on 3 things I HAVE to get done. 
• Physical Health- (C+)  The goal is to get stronger and feel energetic.  I’m a bit of a mixed bag with this goal.  I’m on track with my goal of completing an obstacle course race every quarter with one done in January and one coming up in May.  That’s a huge positive.  However, while I’m doing good on the physical activity front, I had about a month during the meeting cycle timeframe where my nutrition and sleep were non-existent and I didn’t do the things I needed to do to process stress.  I have to do a better job on those fronts.  For me this all comes down to finding and sticking to a routine.
• Financial- (B)  The goal is to hit our savings/investment targets.  Things are going well here.  I’ve found that if the money isn’t in my account I can’t spend it.  Every year we do a lump sum save, so we can hit that goal.  The majority of the money we plan to save for the year has already been moved into the right accounts/investments and my financial advisor is telling me I’m in good shape.  With that said, we can do better by not spending money on all the small things that quickly add up.  
• Family- (A) The goal is to feel like I’m being an amazing husband and dad.  I feel I’m doing great in this area.  I’ve been really focused on being present and patient in all things.  I feel I’ve made some great improvements here.  As a bonus, my wife and I have date nights set up for the rest of the year, which is awesome!  Side note, you know you’re married with younger kids when your date nights often turn into going to a bookstore, picking up Yats, going on walks, and just low key chilling with no responsibilities.
• Fun/Social- (A) The goal here is to plan and take all my vacation days.  All of my vacations are booked for the year!  Almost everything is planned.  I just have to go on them now! 

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry