Someone on Facebook posted the other day that we had 22 working days left in the year and by golly he was close. I had 24 left. Where had the year gone? Turn around and you suddenly find yourself wrapping Christmas gifts again and still doing a terrible job of it.
One of the things I had to do was to review my set of goals for the year. Last year on my vacation I began setting down a series of goals, deadlines, and downright impossible challenges for myself. Over the past year I’ve been checking myself off on them and I’ve done remarkably well on some and came to the realization on others that they weren’t really feasible at all.
I write these down in a notebook. Other folks that I know have elaborate spreadsheets and computer files but I like the tactile feel of writing these things down on paper. Makes them feel real, you know? Plus it feels good to put a check mark next to or scratch out an objective. Much better than guiding a mouse over a box and clicking it.
So what’s the difference between this and those inebriated yahoos on New Year’s eve that promise to stop smoking or lose 20 pounds? I don’t know. Intent? I think most people understand that promises made on or around New Years are just drunken boasts and carry about as much legal and personal force as a pinkie swear. Putting these things down on paper after long and considered thought just makes these things feel real and serious to me.
So how to start? Well not at the last-minute. That’s where most people get in trouble and make ridiculous goals. Start ahead of time. Last year I started at the end of October. This year I am starting now.
Firstly by reviewing my goals for the past year and seeing how I’ve done so far. I will probably post my results in late December on this blog but I did get some significant things done. I don’t have to go back and redo them next year so hey, progress!
Next I start considering “Hey that was ridiculously easy! Why not try some more of that?” or “That was way tougher than I thought. Better scale that down for next year.” It’s an interactive process. Lots of scratching out, erasing, reworking, even tearing out and balling up papers.
Next some refining. “I have 5 things for that month and nothing for this month. Move 2 things over” More refining. “Can’t do that in Winter, need to move it to Summer” A lot of checking calendars, checking websites, maybe even checking with other people.
By this time I’m spread out between 6 or 7 sheets of papers, on a couple of post it notes, maybe a napkin or two.
Time to collate and make my first “final draft”. Put it all down in one place and look it over in its entirety. Maybe then I get a sense of how ridiculous it sounds and start over but most of the time I will stick to it. Maybe a few fixes here and there and go for my next and hopefully last “final draft”, the one that goes in the notebook.
So there it sits in the notebook in my satchel. Lying next to all my work and other notes, next to my laptop and pens. An ever-present reminder.
Do I check it all the time? No. I probably refer to it more at the beginning of the year and slack off as things get checked off or the year gets short. But I do check and I do try to live up to it. I don’t beat myself up if I miss a mark but I do keep it in mind.
That’s really the whole essence of these resolutions, promises, goals, or whatever you choose to call them. They are guidelines to live by, here to help. They are not slave masters set over you made to oppress you.
If they ever start to hurt or hinder you more than help you then you know that something is wrong.
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