Goals

This week, I've learned a few lessons on goals that I thought I'd share. I know you are all probably much better goal makers and keepers than I am, but some lessons bear repeating.

1. Don't make goals so unattainable that you are discouraged before you even begin. For example, if you write 500 words a day and you make a goal to try to write 5,000 words a day, that might be a discouraging goal--one you might want to give up on before you even tried. For me, I made a goal to give up chocolate for a week. This might not sound hard to a lot of people, but an hour after I made the goal I was trying to find a way around it. For me, chocolate is one of my food groups. A better goal would have been to limit my chocolate intake.

2. When making a goal also plan a way achieve it. For example, one of my goals is to have a cleaner house, but I never set aside a time to make that happen. I falsely assume that just by making the goal, my brain power alone will clean the house. So what I need to do is schedule in a time when I can accomplish this goal. I have discovered that ignoring it, waiting for it to clean itself, or waiting for the faeries to do it, do not work.

3. Tell someone or many someones your goal. By telling people you are holding yourself accountable for it.

4. Praise yourself when you accomplish your goal.

5. Don't be too hard on yourself when you have setbacks.

Now I will proceed to do number 4. I just finished a book. It really is a feeling of accomplishment. I know that I am not quite done, I still have editing to do, but I am proud of myself. :) Now, if only I can get my house clean.