Thanks to Darren Hardy's blog post yesterday I was reminded I and I alone am responsible for the results I get in life and that I need to keep myself accountable whether I have a Mastermind Group in place or not. So I decided to revive this blog and start chronicling my journey as I work towards my own goals. I may be the only one to read what I write, but perhaps someone will stumble upon it and it will inspire them to go for their goals, also. If not, it will simply be a measure of how well I hold myself accountable for my goals and actions.
Today, I want to share with you my list of goals and objectives I came up with for this year. What I did was take each category that I suggested in my previous post and came up with three or more goals that I wanted to accomplish this year. What I came up with is this:
2010 Objectives & Goals
- 7-8 hours of sleep each night.
- 175 lb bench press workout weight.
- Run the Cable Bridge Run 10K.
Financial
- Become an ACN Team Coordinator.
- Pay off all credit card debt.
- Develop and maintain a better system for tracking & paying bills and spending.
- Hold Family Home Evening every week.
- Hold a Family Council every Sunday night (Review week, coordinate schedules, set goals, plan menu and shopping needs, etc.).
- Hold P.P.I.s with each family member every Sunday.
- Watch TV less and play more with the kids.
- Be less reactive and chastise when necessary without yelling.
- Work outside the cubicle for at least one hour each day.
- Hone social skills by initiating conversations with complete strangers.
- Strengthen relationships with acquaintances, ward members and neighbors.
- Study the scriptures daily both individually and as a couple.
- Pray and meditate morning and night.
- Attend the temple twice a month.
- Share the gospel with at least two families this year.
- Write in my journal at least once each week.
- Stop procrastinating assignments.
- Improve time management and organization skills.
- Take daily, productive action in ACN (i.e. contact someone, follow-up, assist in a PBR or LGM, etc.).
- Learn to play a minimum of 10 songs on the guitar this year.
- Write a short story or one chapter of a work in progress each week.
- Complete one art project each month.
- Serve voluntarily in at least one community project/activity this year.
- Complete at least one family service project each quarter.
- Vote every time the opportunity rises.
- Finish reading at least one book every other week.
- Complete ACN training modules – particularly the product modules.
- Learn how to create websites.
- Plan and have a date with my wife once a week.
- Take the whole family to Disneyland.
- Buy a good, quality camera and photo-editing software and take up photography.
- Save enough money to plan and take a 2-week trip to Hawaii in 2011.
- Post on each of my blogs once every week.
After I finished this list, I went through and selected my TOP 10! Goals by choosing a goal from each category to focus on. The goals I selected were either those that I felt were the most significant achievements I could have this year or that would encompass several other goals in the process of accomplishment or provide the means for the accomplishment of other goals on the list.
TOP 10! Goals for 2010
Physical - Run the Cable Bridge Run 10K.
Financial - Become an ACN Team Coordinator.
Family - Hold Family Home Evening every week.
Social - Hone social skills by initiating conversations with complete strangers.
Spiritual - Share the gospel with at least two families this year.
Career / Business - Take daily, productive action in ACN (i.e. contact someone, follow-up, assist in a PBR or LGM, etc.).
Artistic / Talent Development - Learn to play a minimum of 10 songs on the guitar this year.
Public Service - Complete at least one family service project each quarter.
Education - Finish reading at least one book every other week.
Hobbies / Recreation - Plan and have a date with my wife once a week.
Some may argue that I have to many goals and that there is no way I will have the focus necessary to accomplish them, but I disagree. I deliberately selected goals that were complimentary to each other (Social compliments Financial and Spiritual, Career / Business compliments Financial), that were weekly or quarterly activities (Family, Public Service and Hobbies / Recreation), that can fit into the cracks of my daily schedule (Social, Spiritual, and Education) or that give me a break from the daily drive to succeed (Physical, Artistic / Talent Development, Hobbies / Recreation).
I started off on my Physical, Family and Education goals because they would be the easiest to start and I wanted to get some action going. I had to take a break from running due to some health concerns, but our family has had Family Home Evening every week so far this year and I have read 11 books over the first 10 1/2 weeks of the year.
Due to where I work and the hours I currently work, I haven't had many opportunities to work on my Social goal so I will have to make a plan as to how I can create more opportunities on my days off and outside of work. This is an important goal because it plays a direct part in my success for my Financial and Spiritual goals. I don't have problems speaking to people, but I do struggle to initiate conversations and to overcome the awkward silences that can come so easily when speaking to people I don't know. Part of it is because I have never been really good at asking questions designed to get others to speak freely.
Poor time management and planning have played a direct part in my not doing better with my Financial, Career / Business, Artistic / Talent Development and Hobbies / Recreation goals. My wife and I have been out more frequently this year, but we haven't made weekly plans. There have been many weeks where we just hang out and watch a movie - not that there is anything wrong with that. I just don't think it is significant enough to call it a date because it isn't something we planned to do. It was just something we did for lack of anything planned.
So I definitely have room for improvement and I need to better plan and manage my time so as to start incorporating the other goals that are not currently in progress into my weekly schedule.
Until next time!
