Goals, that’s a word that I’ve fought for years. I used to argue that I didn’t have goals, I just had stuff I wanted to do, intensions. The more I try to argue it, the more it becomes a losing battle. I have goals.
In January, I set goals for the year. Although I didn’t call them goals at that time. I called them wants. That was a bit of a bad thing to do on my end. There’s something that I learned many years ago in a journaling class that I took: when defining goals, if you say “I want” you’ve already set yourself up for failure. Want, there’s a lot of things that we want, how many of those “wants” do we really get. I used to say that I get whatever it is I want, and in many respects that’s true. I get most material things that I want. But when I set up a goal as an “I want” it doesn’t always come to fruition. Setting up a goal as an “I will” almost always comes to fruition. But setting up goals goes a little bit deeper than just the I wants or I wills of life.
In the last year at work, I learned that goals are set to be reached, and that if we set a long term goal there has to be short term goals that are helping us along the way to our long term goal and that goals are always changing and often need to be reevaluated.
This ties into a lesson we had in church a couple weeks ago that I kindof just sat and ignored but has now become important. Well, it was important at the time but I had no desire to fill in the gaps of knowledge I already had. The lesson was about setting SMART goals, or S.M.A.R.T. actually.
S.M.A.R.T. being Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Sensitive.
Make them Specific.
Sometimes we’re vague. By being specific we’ll know when we have achieved it. Being specific helps us develop our plan of action and it gives us something to aim for.
Make them Measurable.
By applying numbers to our goals it makes it easy for us to see if we’ve reached our goals or not. It also helps us break down our goals into smaller parts that we can handle and it makes the goal less daunting. When we set large goals they seem to loom over us, but by breaking them down into smaller goals we feel as though we can reach them.
I’ll give an example: my big goal -> I want to read a minimum of 24 new books.
the smaller more measurable goal ->I will read 2 books each month.
Make them Attainable.
What use does it do us to set goals that we’re never going to reach? By setting goals that are attainable, goals that we know are possible, we’ll be more likely to achieve them.
Make them Relevant.
Um, yeah, can we say “duh”. Goals are specific to what we want to achieve, or at least they should be and therefore they’d be relevant. Nuff said. (well, not quite nuff said, I will say this, if they were going to have to use the letter R than they should’ve said something like “realistic”, it makes more sense than relevant.)
Make them time-sensitive.
Putting a time on our goals means that we’ll get there. If there’s no time for meeting our goals then we’re never going to meet them. When applying “time” to our goals, we need to make sure that it’s far enough away that we’re able to meet our goals but close enough that there’s a sense of urgency to it. By applying a deadline to our goals, we’ll work harder to meet them because we know that the deadline is quickly encroaching upon us.
Ok, all this being said, I now need to go back and look at the goals I set in January. I think they were for the most part S.M.A.R.T. But they need to be reevaluated and changed in a bad way.
I want to meet up with a d-blogger in every city i visit this year, if you read this blog and you’re in Orlando, FL; Tucson, AZ; San Diego, CA; Napa Valley, CA; Raleigh, NC; RI (RI is so small I don’t have to specify a city right?); or Boulder, CO; I’ll be in your neck of the woods at some point in 2009 and I’d like to meet you.
I want to ride in 6 new (to me) Tour de Cures. So far I’ve lined up Tucson, AZ; San Diego, CA; Napa Valley, CA; Raleigh, NC; Narragansett, RI; and Cape Cod, MA as new ones.
I want my A1c to drop below 6.5
There are exactly 3 triathlons I want to do as an individual -> Jay Benson, Bottomless Lakes and Socorro. All others I’d like to do on a team and I’d like to be the cyclist. (wink wink to my fellow outlaws that may not want to cycle but want to run and swim )
I want to read a minimum of 24 new books (2 a month).
I want to restart and finish the diabetes365 photo a day project.
I want to see a new movie each month.
I want to be able to let go of my diabetes, feel free from it, forgive the hate and anger I have towards God for letting me get it.
Evaluation of Current Goals
Ok, meeting a d-blogger in every city I visit this year. I failed that goal miserably in January when I was in Orlando for my Marathon. It was all my fault because I didn’t make any attempt to connect with peeps I could’ve connected with. This goal is currently on hiatus because any trips I was going to take this year have been cropped. It’s a sad thing…more on this later.
Riding in 6 new Tour de Cures. This goal could’ve been met, but since all trips I was going to take this year have been cropped, it’s no longer a realistic goal and so it’s going on hiatus. I will say this though, I have hope for doing 1 new Tour de Cure, the Raleigh, NC one. It’s in June. I will make it a goal to train for it beginning in March because that’s when the doctor says I can start training again.
Wanting my A1c to drop below 6.5. Well, no progress on this one. I have an appointment with the endo on the 9th and I’ll know where to go from there. For now, this goal sticks.
The 3 triathlons are long terms goals I guess. The first one isn’t until May or June (I can’t remember). Training for anything is on hold for 2 more weeks. The long term goal sticks but shorter term goals will have to be developed when training commences.
2 new books a month with the goal of having read 24 by the end of the year. In January I read The Shack (which I recommend, it was a good book) and I almost made it through Inkheart. This goal will continue to stick.
The diabetes365 project. I did restart it. And I’ve uploaded pictures for each day in January. I have completed one month. I will continue forward with this goal.
See a new movie each month. In January, I saw “Marley and Me” and “Madagascar 2″. I think I met that goal for January and it will move forward with me to February.
The whole let go of my anger and bitterness towards God thing and my diabetes thing…well, progress was made, and I’m not sure how to measure it. But during my marathon, there were some AH-HA moments that I’m still trying to deconstruct. Some progress has been made, it’s just difficult to quantify it. The goal will stick because I need to continue working towards it…not sure how to make it SMART, so it will remain as is.
Updated Goals:
Big Goal: I will work towards my A1c dropping below 6.5%.
February Benchmark: I will work towards my A1c dropping below 6.5% by finding out what it currently is and I will work towards lowering it from it’s current state by doing 4 sessions of basal testing (1 per week for each week in Feb).
Big Goal: I will do 3 triathlons as an individual -> Jay Benson (May 10, 2009), Bottomless Lakes (July 11, 2009) and Socorro (August 1, 2009).
February Benchmark: Continuing to let my foot heal until Feb 13 and then doing 2, 1 mile walks a day 5 days a week, cycling 1 day a week, and taking a long walk on the weekend.
I will read a minimum of 24 new books (2 a month).
February Benchmark: 2 new books will be read.
I will take a picture each day that represents diabetes in my life for the diabetes365 photo a day project.
February Benchmark: 28 pictures, 1 picture a day
I will see a new movie each month.
February Benchmark: Inkheart is out, and I’d like to see it, but really, all I need to see is 1 new movie, doesn’t matter what it is.
I want to be able to let go of my diabetes, feel free from it, forgive the hate and anger I have towards God for letting me get it.
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