There is a ton of excitement that comes along with starting a business or pursuing big goals. When you first embark on the journey, you tend to be energized, optimistic and full of hope. You likely brush off the first few minor setbacks and stay committed to pursuing excellence. But…as you encounter more disappointments, frustration and self-doubt it can be tempting to abort mission and give up on your dreams and goals. If you want to stay committed to your goals, then you need a process to help you persevere and not give up. This is exactly why I created the Friday Ritual at the start of this year. 

The Friday Ritual is a game changer! This practice helps me celebrate progress, embrace learning from mistakes and intentionally prioritize in the direction of my most meaningful goals. 

What do you need to perform the Friday Ritual? Journal or notebook, pen and access to your calendar. Write down your answers to the 3 parts every week. 

3 Parts of the Friday Ritual 

1. Weekly Wins 
2. Lessons Learned
3. Priorities for Next Week 

The journey to goal achievement can take time. We have become accustomed to instant gratification (thank you Amazon Prime!) but building a business or achieving goals can take months and even years. If we wait to celebrate until the goal is achieved, we miss out on the many milestones that occur along the way. Imagine how different you would feel about your progress if you celebrated the sales calls you made, referrals you obtained or miles you ran instead of waiting until you are number 1 in sales or at the finish line of the marathon. 

We tend to forget what we have accomplished and zero in on what we haven’t accomplished, didn’t get done and mistakes we made along the way. Constantly focusing on how much work remains on our goal achievement journeys is draining. No wonder so many people give up on their goals! 

Establishing the habit of writing down your weekly wins, reframes your mindset. You recognize the progress you actually made. You start to develop a progress not perfection mentality and you fuel your goal achievement journey with momentum. 

Weekly wins – What can you celebrate this week? What progress did you make towards your goals? Where did you excel this week? What risks did you take? 

Speaking of mistakes…when you are doing something for the first time, stretching yourself to grow or taking a massive leap of faith to build a business you are going to mess up. You are not going to have all of the answers, systems or processes when attempting new things. Growth requires us to get uncomfortable and to journey into the unknown. 

I knew I needed a system to process mistakes and learnings. I am incredibly gifted at ruminating. I can take a situation and replay it over and over again in my mind, always beating myself up and creating a ton of negative energy that holds me back. As I started experiencing disappointments in my business (cancelled meetings, unanswered emails, hearing no in the client acquisition process), I started making note of these lessons in my journal. After a few weeks of writing these lessons down, I noticed a dramatic uptick in my desire to keep going. Recognizing the lessons learned at the end of each week is huge because it normalizes the learning process. I feel more inspired to try new ideas because, I know that through trying I am going to learn how to eventually get it right. 

Another added bonus to writing down your lessons learned, is that you can see how far you are truly progressing. Lessons learned at the start of the year have become habitual or are no longer scary. Proof that you are growing in the direction of your goals. 

Lessons learned – What do you need to improve next week? What did you learn about yourself? What did you learn about your process? What didn’t work? What worked well?

It is critical that you stay focused on the key actions and activities that will drive your goal achievement. If we are not intentional with our priorities, we can get sidetracked. So often we work reactively versus proactively. The final component of the Friday Ritual is to identify your priorities for next week. 

For this part of the process, I look at my calendar and note any tasks that are unfinished from the current week and any must dos for the next week. I then think about my most meaningful goal and identify an action that is going to move me closer to goal achievement. The key is to avoid writing a list of 30 things to do! Yes, we likely have a massive to do list, but these 3-4 priorities need to be treated with greater urgency and importance. You might consider blocking off specific times to complete these priorities on your calendar and committing to someone else that you will execute on these priorities. Want more insight into working with intention? Check out my post on how to feel less overwhelmed.

Ending my week by identifying my priorities helps me go into the weekend ready to enjoy personal time and time with family. I am also prepared to start the new week. I know exactly what must get done and what I desire to complete to grow my business. The result…less thinking or worrying about work over the weekend and more productivity come the new week. 

Intentions for next week – What is incredibly important to achieve next week? What is something you’ve been meaning to do but haven’t dedicated the time to do it? What will move you closer to your goals?

The Friday Ritual inspires a growth mindset and increases productivity. Get more done! Be intentional. Stop the head trash that keeps you from maximizing your potential. Learn from your lessons. Keep pursuing your goals!