What to Do?
Now is the time of the year when the gurus tell us to formulate our New Year’s resolutions or goals. If you are not a goal-setter, I can only say, “In the absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia” (author unknown).
Rather than simply adding my voice to the choir, I want to encourage the prerequisite thinking necessary for effective goal-setting.
Too often, we leap before we look, and our goals are inaccurate. We also invest much more time thinking about how to accomplish our goals than selecting them. A great process behind the wrong goal takes you to the wrong place.
Solution?
In a statement of the obvious, we should formulate goals to accomplish our objectives, but a frequent knee-jerk reaction is declaring we will run a marathon to get rid of our beer belly. We focus on our flabby midsection rather than the purpose of eliminating it, which is greater wellness.
Since you can (i) train for a marathon without losing a pound or (ii) cross the finish line and return to the recliner with your belly regaining everything lost since New Year’s Day, the finisher’s medal is not the ultimate indicator of wellness.
Running a marathon requires physical improvement, but it is only a tool for accomplishing the objective, not the objective. With wellness as the goal, you will adopt more effective plans, such as reasonable consumption and a well-rounded fitness routine.
You may also run a marathon to garner the praise of others who compliment your shapely legs and prowess for running 26 miles. If the goal is improving your self-image, examining why and where you place your self-worth better serves that goal.
Leading Indicators
In another statement of the obvious, our values and desires should inspire our goal selection, but we frequently fail to connect with them accurately.
You can find the connection by asking which activities give you energy and which ones drain it. Some leap out of bed on Monday morning to go to work; others become nauseous on Sunday night. The latter reaction reveals a need to change the job or what the job does to you.
Some effortlessly spend countless hours quilting or woodworking to produce items that may remain in their bedroom unseen by anyone else (even resisting the temptation to post on social media). Energy-producing activities may not be the ones that pay your bills, but you gladly make room for them.
Another indicator is your ability to live without “it.”
One evening, I discovered two of my writings had vanished from my computer. I became more panic-stricken than when I lost my children at the grocery store 25 years ago. Despite the late hour, I contacted my cousin, hoping he had saved them. He assured me he would find and send the missing messages to me in the morning. After a fitful night of sleep, they arrived in my inbox, and I was more relieved than when the grocery store manager came around the corner with my toddlers in tow.
The experts tell us to focus on the most important, but determining it may require a retroactive perspective.
At the beginning of the year, I set my mind on conquering many mountains and only achieved some. However, I accomplished that one thing1 that justified the allocation of my efforts and virtually erased any disappointment over the unfulfilled goals. Completing the first draft of my book allowed me to accept less than desired progress on my side hustle and less than outstanding board service.
______________________________________________________
What are you REALLY trying to accomplish?
What would you do energetically even if no one else saw it or applauded you for doing it?
What would drive you crazy if you could or did not do it?
What is the thing that, if accomplished, you would not care about what you did not accomplish?
_____________________________________________________
1Subordinate to living a faithful life and being a loving family member.