Keeping Goals Real
Quiet and solitude are essential
Since becoming acquainted with the ideas behind GTD and personal productivity, New Year’s has changed slightly for me. I’ve never been one to make a list of resolutions, but after I read GTD in December of 2006, each holiday season since has been a time of reflection and planning what projects I wanted to complete in the next year.
As I’ve improved my skills in the area of productivity, I learned the importance of ensuring your goals for the coming year are realistic and achievable. The goals I set for myself in that first year (2007) were simply too many and too large. And most were never accomplished.
This is still a struggle for me. For example, in December I set the following goal for myself: learn to program with Ruby on Rails. That was a big goal. Too big. My programming knowledge is minimal, so not only would I have to learn the ins and outs of a new language/syntax, but I would also be trying to learn overall programming concepts at the same time.
I realized that I was better off increasing a skill that I already have some knowledge and comfort in and so modified my goal to this: increase my knowledge in web development and design. This is simply a more attainable goal, given my work and busy home life. When you only have a couple of spare hours a week, you necessarily have to limit yourself1.
But this is still a somewhat vague goal. How can a person take a goal like this and ensure that the desired outcome is met? Here’s my take on doing so.
Categorize Your Goals
First off, I break my goals down into two categories: project/skill related goals and habit related goals.
Project/skill related: Goals like the one above, can be met simply by completing some projects. How can I increase my web design and developments skills? Well, by creating some web sites of course. Add in some reading and research and over the next year, my skills in this area should naturally be increased.
Habit related: In this category, I list goals that are focused on who I am, not what I know. These are improvements I want to make in myself and how I behave day to day. An example for this year: to be a more positive, joy filled person2.
In the end, goals in both category have similar characteristics: each year I want to learn, move forward and improve myself. All my goals are driven by this. But some are simply accomplished by doing things, and that is where I create projects to ensure that happens. The others are a little harder and that’s why I focus on them as habits. They require more thinking and reflection as opposed to doing.
Here’s how I attempt to achieve these goals.
Review
Regular review: Yes, review. That’s it. You could map out detailed steps to be a happier person and call it a project … but that seems, well, silly to me. Rather, I make sure I’m reviewing my goals regularly and often. I ensure my goals for the year are documented in my system and a part of my review each week. But changes in habit require more than the productivity, GTD-ish weekly review treatment. They take serious contemplation. And that requires …
Quiet, solitary reflection time: In our information laden, overstimulated society, this type of activity is becoming scarce. People are afraid of silence and solitude these days, but that is the exact type of environment that influential people throughout human history sought after.
I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.
– Henry David Thoreau
As a Christian, I take my example from Christ. Despite having the one of the busiest, stress-filled, sunup to sundown schedules you could ever imagine, He made sure He had time each day alone. Often before dawn, He got away from the crowds, away from His disciples, and spent time alone prayer, aligning His will with His Father’s. We can all learn from that.
Whatever you believe, periods of quiet are extremely beneficial. It accords you the opportunity to think. things. through. We all know how hard it can be to break a habit, but creating a new one is not usually so difficult. It simply takes some awareness.
Whether learning new skills, increasing skills you already have or changing your behaviour by creating new habits, my experience over the past few years has shown me that this approach above is the best way to make sure that each Christmas and New Years is not a time filled with regret. There’s nothing worse than looking back on the year and feeling like I’ve not grown at all.
This is how I make sure that doesn’t happen.
(Photo courtesy of AgniMax)
