Goals

With 4 and 1/2 weeks left in the fiscal year with the company that I work for, I was asked for my goals for the year. Because when I resigned/moved/signed-on-to-stay-temporarily/decided-to-stay-on-permanently-because-it-was-working-well-remotely we didn't think I'd be there long enough for goals so my work goals weren't established. Now as the year is starting to wind down, my boss thought it would be a good time to record goals. I am thankful for this as it's been a good year and this means that I'll be able to reap some of the rewards for the successful year. But at the same time, it's hard to set a "goal" after the fact. It's not realistic to set five new goals to achieve before the end of the year and it's delicate to set goals that I have already achieved, isn't it? But I should be recognized for what I have achieved.

I drift around without goals. Not only in business but in my personal life as well. Whenever I am feeling disconnected and like life is passing me by, it's because I haven't given myself a challenge. I need to do this. This is one of the things that I love about racing. I sign up for something and then work towards it. It makes workouts easier and a little more meaningful than just pursuing "improved health". Not that that isn't probably more important that finishing a race, but the race is a step towards the ultimate goal of improved or maintained health. The next race is my next step. Once I stop taking steps I stop moving. Literally. So, I'm signed up for a couple of biggish races. The next is the Flying Pig on May 6th. This was supposed to be a marathon for me, but just I just applied to step it down to the half marathon. I haven't ran since January and I probably have another 2 weeks before I start up again, if everything goes well with my appointment tomorrow. This only gives me a month to train. I know I can do it. I have Chicago in the fall and I plan on training the heck out of this. I have an ambitious time goal for that race. I am setting a loose goal for the Pig. A little more than "just finishing it", but not much more than that or else I will hurt myself (I am extremely stubborn and can push through almost anything). But I understand (I do!) that I can cause serious damage to myself and could ruin my opportunity to be able to race successfully ever again. So... loose time goal!

I've set myself another personal goal and that is to say thank you to people in my life. I've been starting my mornings once or twice a week with a big cup of coffee and a note card or two and I've been writing simple "thank you for being part of my life... and I am thinking of you" cards. And I've been mailing them! I've sent out a few gifts. For about 12 years I have been buying cards, gifts and making gifts and I just don't take the time to stop what I'm doing, sit down, write and MAIL. It is so easy to do and now that I've established a routine, I look forward to it. And I have received such positive feedback on this from the recipients... it just snowballs for me and reinforces that this is a good practice for me. Email and FB is nice... something in your hand is better.

Goals are kind of like resolutions, but not really. Resolutions seem so final and set in stone and once you mess up you are done. In my mind, a goal is a work in progress. Something to be revisited frequently to check your progress or lack thereof. If you've made progress- great! Do you need to adjust it because it's been easier than you thought or has the pursuit of the goal taken you in a different direction and you need to modify? If you are not making progress is there a roadblock you need help removing or should your goal be something else at this time? You don't fail if you don't hit your goal- think of the goal as a plan of what you want to achieve and how you think you are going to do it. It should be flexible, with small realistic steps and you should be able to quantify and measure it. How will you know when you have achieved it? What does this look like to you? Share your goal with people you trust if you like- they can help you in your pursuit of success. If you don't have supporters, find someone who does. There are a lot of cheerleaders out there... I am one of the biggest!

What are YOUR goals?