Okay so yesterday I put out the thought that I should probably set an actual target goal for number of blogs this year. And after much back and forth and complex mathematical calculations that number is...165. There are some of you that think I'm kidding about the complex math and some of you who are laughing knowing that I really did do calculations. Anyway... 165 is the goal. It's more than I've done in years previously, almost twice last year, so challenging, but not so much that I have no hope of reaching it so that's good as well.
That's the deal with goals, you have to be able to reach them. You see it a lot this time of year. People set out these completely out of touch goals for themselves. You've probably done it yourself, I know I have. I'm going to lose 100 pounds, quit smoking, quit drinking, quit caffeine and become an all around nicer person. By March. Because of this my standing joke about Lent has always been "For Lent I'm giving up my New Year's Resolutions" because you do. You drop them just as soon as you realize you are never going to reach them.
For this reason I've become a huge fan of stretch goals and small goals over the years. Stretch goals are the ones you set that are just a space beyond where you really want to be. When I did the 50K word challenge in November my real goal was November 30, my stretch goal was November 22. I ended up hitting my goal on November 25 so I didn't make the stretch goal but I was ahead of the last date possible as well.
There are also small goals to celebrate. Weight Watchers taught me this one. You get recognition for every 5 pounds. As well as 5% and 10% loss. It breaks down that 100 pounds, or 50 or even 10 in to manageable milestones. You don't really have a chance to get down and think you are never going to make it because you are always just a few pounds away from your next celebration. Now, as you all know, this stopped working for me once I hit my goal and then just kept right on going...BUT while I was losing the weight I really needed to it was great. And using the same sort of small goal mindset I learned to give myself a range for my weight, and there is a normal and a holiday range.
And because I'm constantly doing this, setting little goals for myself, I don't really do New Year's Resolutions but I do have things I am working on right now so close enough.
We have the blog, first goal is a blog a day for January. Next goal is 165 for 2014. I don't really have a solid stretch goal in mind yet, but I'm leaning toward 200 as the stretch. It would be a BIG stretch but sometimes stretch goals are just that.
Pull-ups. This one is already a stretch goal (or at least it feels like it) at three. But it's personal so I can't imagine not completing it. There has been much talk about the Marine requirement that everyone, male and female, be able to do the minimum 3 pull-ups. Even with Congressmen weighing in that women just can't do it at all. And then the Marines quietly backing down "temporarily" and going back to the girl pull-up requirement of a 15 second bent arm hang. It bugs me. Three pull ups (hands facing either way, narrow or wide grip) just doesn't seem out of reach. Especially for a Marine! So after bitching about it for a week I finally bought the bar and am trying to see if I can do it. And if I can do it then a recruit can certainly do it! Let me say right now...holy crap this is hard!
And then there are things I wanted to do last year but just didn't. Spanish is the top of the list. I made it a few weeks in to my lessons and just....stopped. I don't know why I stopped. I just did. And first it was like, oh I'm a week behind, I can make that up easily. Then it was two. Then it was a month. And then I just stopped even thinking about it. So next Monday I will start that again. And try to figure out how to make it stick. Because that also happens sometimes. Sometimes it's just not the right time for a new project or new interest. But that doesn't mean you can't go back and try again. Re-goaling.
And I think that's really it for goals right now. I have a few projects, I need to organize the kitchen to fit all of my cool new cooking things. We need to really settle on if we are remodeling or moving but that one has so many moving pieces it's hard to make a decision. I need to work on the story I wrote in November and decide what to do with it. Projects, goals and decisions and since I'm writing more you will hear all about them, so my suggestion to you is set one of your goals as "be a good listener."
Have a great second day of the New Year!
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