A while ago I stop being too attached to SMART goals.
(SMART Goals: A popular business framework where goals must be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. SOURCE: GOOGLE)
The reason is that this acronym is missing two important elements all goals needs:
✔️Goals must feel good in your body, like sweet good
✔️Goals must not be anchored in the future but the now
This is one of the principles I share in Mid-Year/ Life Review for Interpreters.
And now you can get it as a bonus, when you subscribe to the Interpreter Golden Circle.
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HERE IS MY STORY ABOUT GOALS: I used to have this goal of prepping meals over the weekend. Everyone says it is a good idea. But as much as I tried it never took roots, mainly because that is not how I want to spend my weekend 😟
In time, I let go of this goal, and changed to something that felt more like sweet good and didn’t need me to plan so much in advance!
I realized that every time I cooked, no matter when that was, it felt easy to chop an extra amount of vegetables or double the amount of potatoes I cooked. These could be saved for other meals later in the week. And I could save my weekends to do what I loved, which is baking or just don’t cook!
Create your goals based on something that feels good to do (and maybe this is something you are already doing unconsciously) and ditch the “everyone says or is doing this”
Only you know what works for you and a goal that is written based on what feels good is a goal that will have a chance to be carried through not as a chore but as an extension of your needs and wants.
Moving towards what you want in life should not feel hard or complicated. That is why if you want to completely ditch the traditional goal setting, I have created the diagram below.
This is how I look at moving forward in creating the life I want, and it works!
I always start with what has worked and what didn’t.
And this is not about blaming myself when something didn’t work or congratulating myself (well, yeah, I kind of do anyway!) when something worked.
The truth is we mostly don’t know if something will work or not until we do it IN THE NOW.
Only IN THE NOW is that we create change. The future where your goal is sitting pretty cannot create change.
Being obsessed with SMART goals got me so hooked to the past (feeling bad about what didn’t work) or the future (overthinking about what had not even happened yet) that I spent very little time in the NOW doing the specific, actionable and tangible tasks, the ones that really create a change or shift in my life and career.
This is the philosophy I applied in creating the Mid-Year/ Life Review for Interpreters.
And now you can get it as a bonus, when you subscribe to the Interpreter Golden Circle.
JOIN THE COMMUNITY
If you are like most professional interpreters, you may have this in your list of what you want in your life:
- Increase my interpreting income
- Start offering a new specialty
- Prepare for certification
- Improve my calendar and boundaries
- Take better care of my energy
- Spend more meaningful time with family
- Take a vacation
- Start a creative project
- Finally address something I've been postponing
When you sit down to figure out how to get there:
Check what has worked or not in your efforts to achieve this, and what needs to be done differently NOW to move towards this becoming a reality.
Or you can subscribe to my community Interpreter Golden Circle NOW.
This is a 2-hour workshop designed to help you pause, reflect, and intentionally plan the next season of your career and life. Step away from the daily demands of interpreting and gain clarity about what’s working, what’s draining your energy, and what matters most now.
You’ll create a Personal Career & Life Scorecard, identify your Top 3 Priorities for the rest of the year, and develop a realistic 12-Week Action Plan that supports your professional growth without sacrificing your time, energy, or wellbeing.
And now you can get it as a bonus, when you subscribe to the Interpreter Golden Circle.
In deep presence and looking forward to making what you want in your life REAL & TANGIBLE.
Catalina ✨
Interpreter Coach
Catalina Natalini is a Linguist & Interpreter Coach supporting professional interpreters with continuing education, skill development for certification and specialized business coaching designed to build a sustainable, fulfilling interpreter career—without sacrificing themselves along the way.
CHECK THESE UPCOMING WORKSHOPS IN THE COMMUNITY CLASSROOM:
Or JOIN THE COMMUNITY with a paid-subscription and have access to them all!
September 15: Calm & Clarity Call – Boundaries That Support Professional Standards
September 22 & 29: Consecutive Interpretation Technique & Practice - A Performed Based Workshop – ENG/SP
ALL INCLUDED IN YOUR INTERPRETER GOLDEN CIRCLE SUBSCRIPTION🎉
