Have you written down personal goals?
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Have you written down personal goals?
| Wed, 05-14-2008 - 5:27pm |
I hear that only a fraction of people write down there personal goals, and wondered how many on the board have done such a thing. I hear it is a key to success in life.
I am encouraged by my boss to do mine every year, and it seems to work. I just updated mine since last year and have included personal and professional goals.
I also wondered after having watched and read 'The Secret' if I should keep posting on the Single Life board. Am I inviting a single life?
Your thoughts are always most interesting.
Beach

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I have done this from time to time. It's been awhile - it might be time to write them down again, because they always morph a bit over the years.
I don't know about writing down my goals making them come true, but I do know it helps me get really clear on what I want and where I want to invest my energy. If I'm spending too much energy on something that doesn't fit my overall goal for my future, it helps me re-evaluate and eliminate some of those things.
AJ, enjoying life with C.
OK, here comes another book recommendation: "Write it Down, Make It Happen." It's chock-full of different ways you can write things down, and full of stories of people who did just that. She tells the story of Jim Carey who wrote a check to himself for $10 million early in his career.
I was fascinated with this book a few years ago. I immediately wrote down goals and put them in a special container. One of them was how much money I wanted to make (I was newly self-employed). When I exceeded that number, I got really excited. Every year I wrote down what I wanted to make, and every year I exceeded the number. But...none of my other goals came true (you know, like the one about a wonderful man coming into my life).
I find "The Secret" fascinating too. However, I find the idea of bringing bad into your life because you've just thought about it is really just too idealistic. OK, I totally get the idea of "that to which we pay attention to in our lives grows stronger." You can get farther in life with positive thoughts than you can with negative thoughts. A therapist said she wasn't too keen on the Secret because if bad things came into your life, then it was like it was your fault.
I also did visualization with a Kathy Freston CD "Expect a Miracle." She has you visualize meeting someone and how great your relationship is going to be. Did that for six months: no boyfriend. Not even one date. I felt kind of silly, day after day doing this meditation, ya know?
So, no I don't write down goals anymore. Although ironically, I just started reading a book "This Year I Will..." which I read about in the NY Times two weeks ago. It just sounded so interesting. It's all about setting goals and why you give up (and what you can do so as not to give up).
I agree it's important to have goals, clearly defined, and write them down.
Z
I used to always have these general goals in my head, but as of last year I started to write them down and it keeps me focused on what I am trying to achieve personally and professionally. It was so much looser before.
This year was easier than last year to write them, as I was going through a bad relationship then and it made it hard to see past all the bad things that were happening with that.
They say to start with how you want your life to look someday and then keep breaking it down to smaller segments of time so that you see what actions you will need to take in order to reach your future goals. I did reach some of my goals sooner than I imagined and I can see the things I didn't focus on and need to.
I just plonked down that in 3 years I want to be married with a child - why not! I also exceeded the sales goal I had written down, and I carry in my pocket on my business card how much I am making this year. I have really started to believe in positive thought. I also ran a half marathon sooner than I thought - s now I can actually look at the time I want to run it in.
I even went so far as to get a big piece of card and put pictures and words of the things I want in the future. I am allowing myself to dream. Has anyone ever done that also?
I am always thinking I like younger men and that's also what I keep ending up with!
I am going to have to see if my library carres the book Florida Girl mentioned. It sounds like o good read. I can also see why The Secret can be seen as people asking for bad things in life, and maybe that not being such a good thing. I just like the idea of positive thought. I had been waking up every day with this dark cloud over me and just recently I have been waking up in a good mood and enjoying my life.
If I have inspired anyone to look at their goals again - I'm glad!
Beach
AJ, enjoying life with C.
>>...it will happen 'magically'. It takes ACTION to make things happen. <<
The last time I wrote down goals, it was spurred by reading a magazine article that recommended not only writing down the goal, but then three ACTIONS that will help you reach that goal. It also recommended setting goals and action items for several timeframes. In the next month, I will... In the next year, I will... In the next five years, I will...
For example.
In the next month, I will improve my social life.
To achieve that goal, I will...
1) Ask friends to join me for happy hour next Friday night
2) Host a party at my house
3) Sign up for a new class
I do think attaching an action item is key. It really helps to feel like you are making an effort, even if the result isn't exactly what you hoped.
AJ, enjoying life with C.
I do it. Money related mostly. I always keep 3. One short term under $500. A second mid term goal under $5000.00. And a 3rd long term goal over $10,000. That does it for me, because when I look at them, I ask how I plan to get the cash, and that leads to doing the things I need to get the goals.
Oh, separate savings accounts for each goal by the way, doesn't do much good to have a $500 goal if you just keep starting over there! Put some in each month in each account.
My long term is a Vanguard index fund . . (-: Exciting ehh? (Min 10K buy in) Midterm is a motorcycle. That one is exciting . .looking forward to it. (-; Just cant decide, small and logical bike, or Harley just for fun . .. LoL I have a smaller cruiser picked out that would grab 70 mpg and still be more than enough motor cycle for riding around in Miami traffic. Logic says pick that one.
"Each problem that I solved became a rule which served afterwards to solve other problems."
Beach
I am totally into this right now.
Good for you! I think we all should take the time to do more of this work for ourselves. Truly, it is work - especially at first - but gets easier as you make it a habit.
AJ, enjoying life with C.
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