Goal Setting
I love goals. I love having some measure of success and pushing myself to do more than I have done before. But I have a tendency to set too many goals and some end up being more stressful than effective. And then if I do not achieve said goals, I feel guilty. Hmmm... this can be a dilemma. Do I set only one goal for the year? Do I stretch and set multiple goals and risk the stress?
Last year I accomplished about 3/4 of my goals - but as I look back I
wonder if my goals changed me for the better or if they were just tasks
to accomplish. For example: I had a goal to read 25 books last year. I did that. I read over 40 books (but most of them were not life changing in any way). I accomplished the goal, but did I get the outcome I wanted to get?
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| Yoga Class at a Gym Category:Gyms_and_Health_Clubs (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
This year, I am setting goals based upon how I want to live, to be true to my spirit, to develop qualities about the person I want to BE. When I look back at the end of 2013 - I want to know that I have improved my life, and not just checked off boxes indicating an accomplished task.
I am sharing my 5 major areas with you in hopes that it might spark some ideas if you want to try this type of goal setting as well.
- I am a spiritual person. This year I want to feel in tune with God every day.
- I am a creative person. This year I embrace the act of creation.
- I love making a difference. This year I will expand my circle of influence in reaching out to help, lift, and be kind to others.
- I love feeling healthy. This year I will focus more time on myself in taking care of my body.
- I love to learn and have adventure. This year I will embrace opportunities and seek out ways to develop my talents, discover new loves, and explore this beautiful world.
Now that I have the 5 outcomes I want for this year - I am working on creating daily habits that will support me. These are the items I will track and check off. And they can change. I am not tying myself to a specific task or habit - but creating for myself patterns of behavior that will provide the outcomes I want. (See, I have accomplished a little bit of goal #2 already - I am creating...)
Now for the daily habits. I am setting these monthly - I can do anything for a month. And each month as I improve, I can increase or adjust the habits to support my desired outcomes even more.
The easy ones for me to identify daily habits are #4 (health), and #1 (spirit).
To improve my health in January I will walk a certain amount of steps, cut out sugar, drink enough water, and eat 5-7 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. I could do more like set times to go to the gym, not eat out, etc, but I think that 4 daily habits are enough for January.
To improve my spirituality and feel closer to God in January I will put more effort into my daily prayers. I will spend more time listening and trying to hear what God has to tell me - and then I will strive to follow His counsel. I will read scriptures daily and ponder more on how they apply to me. I am identifying specific books to study that are inspiring. I will repent each night - reviewing the day I lived and identifying things I should not have done, or things I should have done better - asking for forgiveness and determining to be better the following day. Those are daily habits that will fill my soul and help me to focus more on who I want to BE rather than just doing.
I am working on daily habits for creating (writing every day), learning and exploring (planning out what adventures I would like to have but being open to new possibilities as they come up), and making a difference (looking into monthly large service projects, but also wanting to do something each day even if it is a smile or kind word to a stranger). I am still working on deciding daily habits for my outcomes, but the nice thing about this way of setting goals is that even as I ponder about what I want to do - I am BECOMING more of who I want to become which means I am succeeding already.
I would love to hear about your 2013 goals or resolutions. How are you setting yourself up for success? What do you want to become and how are you working towards your goals?
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