As we 
start the new Toastmasters year, it’s a great time to “reset” your goals, especially if you’ve stalled in your advancement.
Before you think of what goals you want, first think of last year. What were your goals? How did you do in accomplishing them?
One of the best ways to attain your goals is to have clear, specific goals. Write them down. And look at your goals daily. When you think about something often, you are likely to work toward that.
I’d like to tell you how this worked for me last year.
After 30 years of owning a business, I sold it last year. As a dedicated Toastmasters member since 2012, I used my newfound spare time to make a plan and set some Toastmasters goals. In the past, serving as a club president meant putting newer members first and sometimes forgoing giving speeches.
However, my freed up schedule allowed me to get serious about Toastmasters, so I started mapping out my advancement plans. To do this, I looked at the manuals to find out, which speech or role I needed to complete next.
Creating a Toastmasters calendar and listing information, the where and when, about my next speech, kept me on track to complete my Competent Leader, Advanced Communicator Bronze, Advanced Communicator Silver, and Advanced Leader Bronze in one year. That’s a triple crown- plus one.
I couldn’t have achieved those goals without writing them down first and using my calendar to work toward the next speech or role I needed to complete to continue on the right track.
In order to be a successful Toastmaster, you don’t have to earn several awards in one year. Selling my business provided me with a unique opportunity. Regardless of how many awards you earn, celebrate the successes along your journey. Don’t strive for perfection. Strive for improvement. If you break your Big Goal down into smaller ones, you will reach the Big Goal and have given yourself a gift of repeated wins.
To achieve maximum results, share your written goals with someone else. When you make yourself more accountable, you will achieve more.
So go ahead and plan your goals for the new Toastmasters year. Break them down into smaller sub-goals and then go for it!