Goals and Reality

by Kathy
(Michigan)

I have a horrible habit of getting sidetracked, so I tend to start with lists. For me, this starts with a daydream. I actually sit and think about what I want to do in a spacy kind of way, then I bring myself back to reality. Then I make a list of my options. It's ok if this is a little farfetched because I then narrow it down with a few reality checks.

I refuse to stay at a job I hate because I plan to enjoy life. That being said, I still have to survive and that means planning for the future. it's only natural that it would start with a dream.

Once I've narrowed down what I want to do, then I start at the top and work my way down to the simplest measurable level. I'll give an example. A few years back, i was having a horrible time with babysitters. I was a waitress, but knew that was only temporary. Someone mentioned I should open a daycare. Now, I had been daydreaming about working with children, but thought I could not meet the requirements. Therein lied the problem. I didn't even know what the requirements were! so, I took my dream, narrowed it down and researched what was required. Then I had to research how to meet the requirements!

It sounds exhausting, which is where my lists come in.

I make measurable goals on lists and cross them off as I go. I start with a huge list that is totally overwhelming, but only because I need to see progress on the large goal, not just the small ones!

From the huge list, I break down similar tasks into days and cross them off as I go. So my lists may have headings like this "Main Goal", "Requirements of Goal" (that's the one where I do my research), "Assessing Met Requirements" (this is when I figure out how far I am from my goal as ground zero)and so on. I set a day to make all my phone calls. Then, I set a day for actually leaving the house to accomplish tasks. If I do things that are similar on the same day, it's like eating the dinner before desert! I get all the stuff I don't want to do out of the way and then I move on!