2024JanFeb-CoolingJournal - 4

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Setting Up & Securing Your Goals in 2024
THE START OF EACH YEAR is an
invigorating and refreshing time to
reinvest yourself into another business
season. Regardless of whether your
fiscal year and calendar year align, it is
comforting to see January 1st show up
on the calendar and know that there is
a new set of goals waiting to be tackled.
At the beginning of each year, I take time
to set goals both big and small, declutter
emails, desk and workspace, and plan
how to best pursue personal and work
growth. Some of these self-motivating
goals are follow-ups from lofty dreams
not met from previous seasons, others
are new concoctions that have brewed
over brainstorming sessions with peers
and friends.
The last year was full of unique
challenges: domestic freight costs have
been at an all-time high, a post-COVID
world is allowing manufacturing to come
back close to full swing, and the North
American trucking market is starting to
come down off of a 3-year peak. Each of
these changes presents new opportunities
as well as a level of uncertainty on how
best to react to changes in our industry
and further promotes the idea of setting a
plan for the year ahead.
Prioritize Your Goals
Goal setting can seem ominous for several
reasons. Those reasons can range from
not having clear direction, to some goals
seeming unattainable. For me, goal setting
follows a set of simple rules that can apply
to almost any person or business. Goals
need to be set on a few levels: immediately
needed, planned throughout the year, and
if everything goes right (also known as
" Big Picture Dreaming " ).
Immediate goals are must-haves in our
business that need to be done as quickly
as possible to make the fastest impact in
our company. An immediate goal could be
one such as: replacing a worn-out delivery
vehicle, filling a needed position left
vacant, or implementing a process that
saves time and energy.
Planned goal setting may not be able to
be finished as quickly as the first field
but should be accomplished within the
year. These goals could be as simple as
Bryan Braswell
NARSA/IDEA President 2022-2024
bryan@rockymountradiator.com
creating team leads for organization or
redefining the workflow processes on
a company-wide level. Our company's
2024 goal following this theme would be
to replace our Point-of-Sale system with
upgraded software that fits our current
needs better.
The lofty goals where everything
goes right are the big picture ideas
that should be discussed as a plan
for when everything pans out. This
" ten-thousand-foot view " goal could
be something as large as an addition to
your building, branching into multiple
locations, or hiring upper management
positions. Clearly defining goals that
are attainable, yet require planning and
execution, is an effective way to keep
momentum for your company throughout
the year and to maintain something to
strive for as the year goes on. Setting the
stage early helps set up your team for
yearlong success.
2 | THE COOLING JOURNAL | January/February 2024
2024JanFeb-CoolingJournal

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