Goals Night

Long time, no blog. I was out of town on Friday and Saturday. Sunday was mostly a family day, with some work in the afternoon.

Monday evening is generally goals night. I keep a list of goals, updated periodically. The list is generally hierarchical, with very large, complex goals broken down into smaller, more manageable goals. I then focus on a handful of these manageable goals at any one time. This smaller group of goals become my “current goals”.

It’s become clear that I’m struggling with one particular goal. I’m behind schedule.

I try to ensure all of my goals are SMART.

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Timed

And the goal that I’m struggling with, meets all of these tests.

So, I suspect that I am not committed to this goal. That, for whatever, reason, I do not have sufficient desire to achieve this goal.

This goal is not specifically related to Parmasters, or the Kitchener-Waterloo center that we’re building. It’s more related to my personal well being and life.

I do recall reading once that it is vitally important to not only know what your goals are, but to also be clear on exactly why you want to achieve each specific goal. Goals are not simply about “what”. They are also about “why”.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, this goal meets that test also.

On the other side of the proverbial coin, this goal involves changing some long engrained habits. Some very comfortable habits. From this light, my struggles seem natural. And indeed, it’s clear that most of society struggles with goals like this.

I have a new to-do item. I must learn more about setting and achieving specific goals. Is that a new goal?