Goals

We all have them...lose weight, spend more time with family, be a better friend, become a better steward of time and money, etc.

At this time of year, we might still be calling them"resolutions." I think that's where the problem comes in. Resolutions have a bad reputation. We call them "New Year's Resolutions", implying that we can only resolve to change at the beginning of the year. So when we don't follow through with them (which is expected of us anyway, right?), we merely shrug our shoulders and say "There's always next year."

Wrong.

I'm not one to make New Year's Resolutions. I do, however, set goals for myself. Or at least, I always thought I did. My goals have always lacked a foundation. I'll just call them generalized goals. I had an idea of what I wanted, but I never set up a plan for action. Denis Waitley said, “The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don't define them, learn about them, or even seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them." I've never done that. I've never defined my goals or mapped out what it would take to achieve that goal. In her book Reshaping It All ( just a warning, I'll probably talk about this book a lot because it is what has inspired me to start this blog to begin with), Candace Cameron Bure says, "Both planning our goals and the means of getting there gives us a greater chance at success than living impulsively would. When things are organized and on schedule, the likelihood of success is increased." She also offers up three questions to answer when considering your goals:

1 . What is the goal you hope to attain? Be specific.
2. What do you hope to gain by reaching this goal?
3. What is it going to take to make this change?

Just as the military maps out a plan of action or a pilot maps out his best route, we must also map out our goals.

With that being said, I have created new goals for myself and I have carefully planned out what I must do to get there. I know what that plan will require of me, and my success depends on sticking to that plan. But it is nice to know that if I fall off track, I don't have to wait until next year--- I only need to reroute :-)