I take my goals seriously.
If January is a rehearsal, October is a reckoning. We are about to settle an account with 2023. How did we do? The goals we set in January can still be reached. At this point in the game, I'm practicing two things: analysis and adjustment.
Analyzing my goals starts with finding the Google Doc where I house them. To fair with my love for pen and paper, I wrote my goals when I was recovering from an illness after Christmas. The pipes also burst that day. Focusing on my goals allowed me to stay positive and think beyond my poor condition.
Every now and then, I would look at my goals and decide how I was going to achieve them.
My categories are faith, family, fitness, professional, and other.
At this point, I don't want to look at my goals with regret. 90 days is plenty to change one's life and make progress. It is fair to take notes on how to improve the goal-setting process in 2024.
The second thing I am doing is Adjusting. If you think about your year, you can see what type of things you need to manage. A loved one chronic condition can highly influence the way a year unfolds. Grief and loss can also be variants. When everything is okay and you get derailed from your goals, it shows. October is the month to offer self-compassion and adjust the approach to your goals.
One of my goals in the "other" category was to publish 4 books. I have no excuse to give you other than this project did not go as planned. I worked on the book that's closest to completion. I also decided to take a Screen Writing for Film class and I learned practices that will help the book I thought I had become the book I need to write. So I'm literally back to the storyboard. No words were wasted. Education compelled me to adjust to a new way of accomplishing a goal.
I used to be the person who blindly would press publish just to say I reached a goal. Not anymore. I want to adjust as wisdom leads me the right way.
My professional goal was daring. Well, 11 months into my position, I realized what it would take to reach that goal. It may not be the best thing for me right now. My priority is my family. If a goal can potentially take me away from my family, I do not need to pursue it. I refuse to be in a growth-less state. I adjust by seeking training that will enhance my skills and current knowledge. I am determined to be the best professional I can be. Adjusting to my current goals was the wise choice to make.
The day I discovered I reached a major fitness goal was last Friday. I showed up to the gym as I normally would. We finished our class (which was not easy) and we have a tradition of having "pull-up Friday" right before we go home. Why would you have a whole CrossFit class and then do pull-ups? I invited my friends to learn about this goal of mine. I thought it would be difficult and inconvenient. A friend said, "You can do it right now! Don't come back later on to do it." So the pull-up club was born. Each week we cheer each other on. Friday I proceeded to the bar as usual. I jumped with a firm grip. A friend was close by watching me. I started with one, two, three, and four pull-ups. I heard my friends saying, "Don't stop now." So I went for a 5th consecutive. I did it. I was flabbergasted. I reached my goal of performing 5 strict pull-ups!
The accomplishment transformed my day. I saw that small, consecutive steps add up to great feats.
The miracle is that the same thing can happen to you and your goals.
Analyze your goals. Adapt some of them. You will be glad you did when the new year arrives.
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