This method, developed by the US Army, will help you to understand how you have been able to achieve your goals and to reflect on how you can improve your plan of action.
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Outline
After a significant period of work, compare what has happened with the objectives set and draw conclusions for the way forward.
If the evaluation is carried out in a team, it is preferable to divide the process into two stages: first, each member of the team answers the questions individually, followed by a joint discussion.
An Example
What was suppoesed to happen?
“I wanted to exercise more and eat healthier in order to lose 9 kg in three months”.
What actually happened?
“For the first month, everything went according to plan: I moved a lot and ate healthy – I felt good! In the second month, I lost discipline and went back to eating in cafes and fast food restaurants; it became harder and harder to motivate myself to run regularly and I started doing it less and less”.
Why were there differences?
“There was a lot of stress at work, which put a strain on my family life. As a result, I didn’t have the backbone to fight temptation and maintain discipline”.
What can be learned from this (what worked and what can be improved)?
At least in the beginning it helped a lot to have a clear plan and to know what to do and when. Now I realise that I can’t do it alone: I need to find a “battle buddy”, someone who can help me through moments of weakness. And I need to raise the stakes to strengthen my backbone, for example by making a bet with a friend”.
