Evaluation Series IV: RESULTS

Good day friends! In the last part, we continued our journey of Evaluations as we visited the personal development pool. I hope that we have taken the necessary steps and resolutions we need to.

In this part, we shall consider the need to evaluate our RESULTS.
I need to remind you of John Wooden’s words: “Without self-evaluation, failure is inevitable”. Can we begin?

It was British politician, army officer, and writer, Winston Churchill, who said “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” I agree that we all have subjective personal perceptions to what qualifies for success or failure. Regardless of our individual perceptions, we can get down to some good evaluations still. Using the basic skills in high jump, let us take these FIVE “how” QUESTIONS as they guide our evaluation:

1. How did you RUN UP?

How was your preparation towards each major endeavor/project of the year? Was it thorough or haphazard? Was it intentional or done just anyhow? Did you equip yourself well for the project? Be honest with yourself. Consider every endeavour of yours this year. Which ones were successes and which ones were failures? Is there a difference between the quality of inputs from your side?

2. How did you TAKE OFF?

How did you start the project? Was it a premature or overdue start? Did the commencement catch you unawares? Can you really say you had a strong start? 

3. How was the FLIGHT?

What happened in the course of the endeavor/project? Did your energy level drop? Did you lose motivation? Were you frustrated? Were you encouraged by pillar-like friends? Did you celebrate too early? Did you give up too easily? Did you learn lessons on the way? Did you seek help when you were at crossroads? Were you fond of giving excuses all along?

4. How was the LANDING?

Did you land recklessly or gallantly? Remember how you landed, not because you want to agonize, but because you need to organize.

5. How did you RECOVER?

Do not try to downplay your mess-ups and do not overblow your successes. Do not beat yourself hard over your failures, and do not over-pamper yourself over a victory. Personally, I have a 24-hour rule. When I fail, I mourn for a maximum of 24hours and get back to my feet. When I succeed, I celebrate for a maximum of 24hours and get on to the next challenge. So, whether it’s a success of failure, I don’t dwell on it beyond 24hours. This is personal for me, and I don’t make it a general rule for everyone.

Friends, you need to arm yourselves better so you can get better results next year. In the next and final part, we will round up this series by evaluating our use of social media. Did you find motivation in this piece? I’ll appreciate your feedbacks and comments. I love you all.

Victor Fawole is the Director and Thought Leader at TheAsegunProject. You can reach him via theasegunproject@gmail.com or +2348131048604