Lifestyle Overhaul

Let’s make some goals together!! But really let’s make some lifestyle changes that are going to last and not just disappear after a week.  I am actually really good at making goals; sticking to them, well that’s a different story. But if you are all hear reading and keeping me accountable then maybe, just maybe my goals will stick.  I’m looking to overhaul my lifestyle, I’m looking to focus on what’s important to me this year and to really make these goals a reality.  I’ve picked out three areas that I want to focus my energy and time on this year, these are three areas that I feel will bring me the most fulfillment that I haven’t already focused on.  I’m going to set goals for my writing,  the Seawheeze and to save money.

First, let’s figure out the best way to set goals.  There are many ways a person can do it; you can say it in your head, write it down, collage it, put it on a vision board, really the ways to do it are countless.  I prefer vision boards and to write my goals down. When I write a goal I use the SMART philosophy.  The goals must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time sensitive.  So when I write a goal for anything I try to be as specific as possible (some are easier than others), I look for ways to measure that goal (again some are easier than others), I ask myself if this is really something I can do (no lying), Does the goal matter to me or am I doing it for someone else(?) and when am I going to have this goal completed.  Once I have the goals written I can then find and image that will go on my vision board to help me see my goal daily. 

Now let’s write my three goals for the year and see if they measure up to my SMART philosophy.

1) I will schedule time each day to do my writing.
2) I will run the Seawheeze ½ marathon on August 15, 2015.
3) I will save $100 a month for our family trip.

Ok so as I evaluate these goals and I’m really doing this as I write this to help illustrate the process.  It’s not easy and many times when you sit down to write a goal you may have to rewrite them to be more specific to really reflect the true meaning of the goal.  Let’s put the SMART test to these goals now.

1) I will schedule time each day to do my writing.
            Is this Specific?  Not really because for me the goal needs to indicate when I’m going to do this.  I would prefer in the morning but I know my family and this won’t always work, it will on  weekends but not on the weekdays, and how much time can I really give to my writing?  What writing am I focusing on here?  So this goal needs to get more specific. 
            Is this measurable?  Nope I can’t measure anything here, there is no output measuring in this goal, what am I going to see by writing each day?  More blogs, more pages in my novel?
            Is this Attainable? Yes it is because writing is something I really enjoy doing so to write each day shouldn’t be too hard.
            Is it relevant? Of course this is relevant, I want to be a published author and the only way that is going to happen is if I write and write and write.
            Is this Time sensitive? Sort of, I mean I say I’ll do it each day but there’s no end in sight so I need to have a time frame when am I going to say this goal is complete. 

Let’s rework goal 1.
1) I will schedule an hour time each day, in the evenings during the week and in the mornings on the weekend, to do my writing.  to write I will then have 5 blogs a week and 6 pages in my novel completed each week so that by the end of January I have a full month of blogs and have completed the first draft of my novel.

Goal number 2 is specific, and relevant, time sensitive and attainable and measurable but it really doesn’t tell me what I need to do in order to reach that goal.  It’s a good long term goal but I think I need a couple sub goals to help me reach my ½ marathon goal.
2) I will run the Seawheeze ½ marathon on August 15, 2015
            -I will workout 4 days a week, doing 3 days of cross training and one long run (5km) a week from Jan to March, I will end each workout with 20 minutes of yoga.
Adding this little bit in to the larger goals gives me something more specific to work with in working towards running 21 km in August.  I’ve got a long way to go and I know I can do it!!

Goal number three works, it’s specific (I know how much money I want to save each month), it’s measurable ($100) it’s attainable (bye bye Starbucks and Tim Hortons), it’s relevant (I want to have spending cash on the trip), and it’s time sensitive (I can’t post the time because sometimes my eldest will read my blog and it’s a surprise!!)

So sometimes goals can be quick and easy (number 3), sometimes they need a little clarification  (number 2) and sometimes they need a complete overhaul (number 1).  Now it’s just a matter of how you can keep track of these goals.  I have some goal tracking sheets that I will share so you can see what I do and if it works for you then you can use them, if not please share with me what works for you!!


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