Matt’s 2016 Appraisal

by Matt

Appraisal time used to be so difficult when I had a sensible job and in fact a career! I would spend a fair amount of time bolstering the years highlights and trying to turn any negatives into positives, showing how I had learnt from any mistakes etc. My poor boss would then have to read it all even though he knew full well what I had done and where I had cocked up. This year it is a lot simpler, the goals were easy to define, no waffle required. Here we go then:

2016 Appraisal Form

Name: Matt

Job title: Skipper Circumnavigator Professional Tourist

Pay grade: Yeah that would be nice

2016 Goals:

Finish work Move out of home and onto a boat Sail away from the UK and cross Biscay before September Sail across the Atlantic Make the most of the experience Don’t get hurt Don’t sink

Review your performance against your goals over the last year: (Meaning: Justify why you deserve a bonus/promotion)

Goals 1 to 3 were hard work but completely achieved and we even over achieved a little by getting across Biscay so quickly. Goal 4 was challenging, so here I need to turn the negative into a positive. Yes I broke the boom and the spinnaker pole, but we caught a MASSIVE fish and I’m currently sipping rum in the Caribbean so I guess we made it. Goal 5, well where do I start? When I look back at the year from here I see a lot of memories that will be with me for a long time. If you are reading this then you have probably watched the videos we have made, so I’ll let you tell me how I have done on this one. Goal 6, no injuries bar a couple of bruises due to the boat rolling around on the Atlantic crossing. On top of this we managed to be disciplined about wearing our life jackets and clipping on just in case. Finally Goal 7, Looking down, there is no water sloshing around my ankles despite the small leak we had mid Atlantic so I guess we are still afloat.

Managers Comments:

Matt has done well this year, I was happy to see him expand his skills to include gutting and cleaning fish so I don’t have to do it all. Next year I would like to see him be a bit more tidy and stop leaving his tools all over the boat.

Set out your Goals for 2017: (Meaning: Create as many goals that you know you can definitely achieve, in order to be able to justify a bonus/promotion next year)

Get to New Zealand in time for Christmas Don’t break stuff Have an amazing time along the way Don’t get hurt Don’t sink Share the experience via the blog

This year I don’t need to try and justify any bonus or promotion, the fact that we have made it this far means we get to cruise the Caribbean for a few months, that’s a pretty good bonus in itself.

As for the 2017 goals, can we definitely achieve all of these? Stay tuned to find out. If we do then the bonus will be Christmas exploring New Zealand, now that’s what I call motivation.

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