Goal Setting

I know most people think about goal setting at the end of the year as they begin to think of the new year. Who thinks about it at the end of February?  If you only think about goals at the beginning of a new year, how successful will you be.

I have a list of big goals for the year but have broken it down into smaller goals for shorter periods of time. One of my goals for 2017 is to read 52 books that is more than last year. Included in that goal are some specific categories of books that I want to read. One category was classics. I wanted to read six classics this year. I have already read 5 so I might adjust that goal.

Goals require planning. Both planning in what the goal is but also how you will complete that goal. So going back to my book goal, I picked 52 because it is a book a week and is more than last year. I have time in my schedule to read. I take a book with me when I have to wait for school pick up. That is part of the plan to reach that goal.

Meeting goals requires keeping track of information. I have a page in my planner where I track the books that I have read. It helps me to see how I working toward the goal. I enjoy tracking monthly what I have done.

I recently read the messies manual by Sandra Felton. I decided that while at one time in my life I was a messy (I am admitting that for my mother who remembers my bedroom as a child. ) I am no longer a messy. There was a chapter in there about goal setting and she had three C's to reach your goals --  change, commitment, and control. Here are some of my thoughts as I think about these three C's.

Goals require you to change. It might be how you use your time or it time be what you do. My goal of losing weight will only happen when I change what I am currently doing. While it is simple, it really can change the way you act. Are you willing to put in what is required in order to change and reach the goal you have.

Goals require commitment. Some goals take time. In the instant age we don't always want to put in the time that is needed to reach the goal.

Control is what you do to reach that goal. Control deciding saying yes to some things that will help me reach that goal and saying no to things that don't help me reach that goal.

So here at almost the end of February it might be a good time to think about goals and what is being done to achieve those goals this year. What are your goals? Which of the C's is the hardest for you?

Beth