014: Personal: Goal Preparations

3 minute read

Topics

Evaluate
Choose smart goals in four categories
Be organized to carry through

A philosophy the Mitchells like and want to share about goal setting came from David Seah. His idea is that you take the month of January to really evaluate and plan your goals for the year so they are meaningful and well thought out. Then he says you start them on February 2nd, well after the craze of the new year is over, and evaluate your progress every month after that throughout the year. That means you check your progress towards your goals on March 3rd, April 4th, May 5th and so on till Dec. 12. This system works well because you aren’t rushing into your goals, but you’ve given yourself a couple of weeks to get set up. This plan also has a regular day each month that you follow up on your progress, so these goals aren’t forgotten by mid January.

Evaluate

Do an evaluation to see where you are now and where you want to be down the road. You can do a self evaluation. You can also ask a trusted friend or family member to give you some honest advice, and you can pray to ask God, who knows you best, what you need to do to improve and reach your fullest potential.

When doing your evaluation, don’t forget to remember the things you did accomplish last year and then build off of that for the next year. This could also include accomplishments you weren’t recognized for.

Setting Goals

Set goals in four different areas: mental, physical, spiritual, social.

As you are setting your goals, keep the end in mind.

Dave and Amy went to a funeral last month of a man who was respected by his family and the community. They enjoyed listening to the stories from his children and grandchildren of all the lessons he had taught them. After the funeral Dave and Amy were talking and asking each other what lessons they have tried to teach their kids. Then they wondered what their kids would say today of all the lessons they’ve learned from their parents. Would they be the same answers? So the next day they asked their kids to write down the lessons they’ve learned from Dave on the front and the lessons they’ve learned from Amy on the back. That was very enlightening.

If a dad wants to teach his kids the value of hard work by being gone at work all the time, putting in lots of good, long hours, his child may not learn that lessons because he’s never around. But if a dad is working alongside his child doing service for a neighbor or mowing the lawn, then the child might learn that lesson of hard work that he is trying to teach. Just try to keep the end in mind and the big picture in mind as you work towards your goals.

S.M.A.R.T. Goals

S – specific
M – measurable
A – attainable
R – reasonable
T – timely

Break big goals down into smaller chunks and make them smart.

Organizing Goals

David Shea’s idea has a monthly reminder, so you can put that on your calendar or task reminder so you know that is coming up and not forget to review goals each month. You can also have that reminder each week as you continue to work on the goals.

Goals needs to be in view where they can be reviewed often. Organized people find a system that helps them keep those goals accessible often. Dave puts his goals in an app called Things that reminds him often. Amy likes writing goals down on paper. Find a system that works for you, and use it.

This year, Dave will be using a program called Evernote because he can write down the “why” of each goal with any accompanying articles. Things is more task and project based. Evernote will have details around each goal, and Things will have the day-to-day tasks to reach those goals. He’ll review Evernote either once a week or at least once a month during the [Ground Hog Day review][Dave].

There are a lot task management apps out there, so take some time to look around and find one that fits you best, and get started.

Here are a few Dave has tried over the years.