It’s a good idea to write goals for our lives. Goals are an excellent way to outline our growth and help ourselves measure our accomplishments. Without them we are like a ship sailing without a plotted course, without a destination. We float around aimlessly hoping for a pleasant journey and wonder why we find our selves shipped wrecked on life’s rocks carried violently by life’s storms.
There isn’t any special mandate or regulation that states when life goals should be made. There isn’t any one day that is better than any other. But since the last day of December coincides with the last day of the calendar it does lend itself to establishing what we expect of ourselves for the coming calendar year. (Birthday’s lend themselves very well for the same reason.)
For a good goal it is important to make it clear and precise. It must be obtainable but not so simple that it fails to challenge us. It quantifiable, so that we can watch and measure progress. It should be checked periodically to review our progress so that during the year we can modify our efforts to achieve it throughout the year, and we aren’t faced with the entire list to accomplish on the last month of the year.
Finally, it is important to share your goals with others. Granted there may be items on your list that you would rather no one knew. For instance you may not want anyone to know that your goal is to “make your bed every day and take a bath at least once a week.” But by making your goals known to others you are empowering those people to hold you accountable for them. (You can still have a secret list but you must realize that secret lists are harder to accomplish.)
What I have done is divide my goals for the next year into 4 categories. I could divide them into daily goals and monthly goals and over all goals but I will do that later. For now I will divide them into life categories.
Categories for New Year’s Resolutions
- Spiritual
- Personal
- Family
- Work
These are my goals for the coming year 2012.
Spiritual
- Read The Word Every Day
- Read a chapter from Proverbs Daily
- Pray in tongues 20 minutes daily
- Live close to God
- Love Him with all my Heart, Soul and Mind
- Seek Him first (Above all things)
- Give (Go the extra mile)
Personal
- Let things go
- Laugh (Remember, that a merry heart does good like a medicine.)
- Read a book weekly (write a report on each)
- Write a journal daily
- Write a novel
- Write a book of what I would tell my Children about Life
- Understand why I am fascinated with the number “5” (Hmmm should I put this in my secret list… it sounds kind of crazy.)
- Let my praise far outweigh my criticism
- Reduce my weight to 185 by May 2012
- Maintain it until December 2012
- Reduce my body fat to 13-15% WebSite by May
- Maintain it until December 2012
- Don’t throw anyone under the bus (Find a way to explain failures or short comings in such a way that it builds up and encourages instead of pointing out someone’s fault.)
- Give (Go the extra mile)
Family
- Take my wife out every week
- Give her a gift every month (this is to show her how much I love her and is above and beyond daily affections and affirmations.)
- Highlight the great things my children do and praise them (write these things down and remember them.)
- Go on a Daughter/Father date once a month. (Even if it’s to have an ice cream cone)
- Do an activity with my son once a month.
- Contact my Mom and Dad, brother and my sister once a week
- Give (Go the extra mile)
Work
- Complete all reports 3 days in advance of the deadline
- Foresee what my supervisor wants before he asks
- Make my supervisor look good
- Get to know all the Regional Managers of the Americas. (Have lunch with each one)
- Help someone advance in their career within the company
- Develop a relationship with a VP in the executive suite
- Give (Go the extra mile)
As a final thought, it is important to conduct spot evaluations, or check points on your goals. Establish them now at the beginning and work towards a serious analysis of where you are in achieving the yearly goals and what may not be working. At the beginning of a project we all seem to be very optimistic and reality seems to bend it’s will to our view of the next 365 days. If you find this to be the case then modify the goals the next time you sit down for a check point. Write these modifications down and add them to your written goals, take them to the end of the year so that you might be more realistic in defining the following years goals. Maybe next year you won’t write down “Usher in World Peace” but perhaps “Have a peaceful and pleasant family Thanksgiving dinner.”
Happy New Year
Gabriel
