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"A goal is a wish with a deadline." If you simply resolve to clean off your desk and do not create a deadline, you are less likely to accomplish your goal. You will not fail to keep your resolution because you technically never set a deadline, but your desk will stay a mess all the same. I recommend that we set reasonable deadlines for whatever tasks we choose.
Is it just me, or is the desire to do things perfectly an ADD trait? Regardless, I think it is a common enough problem and deserves some corrective thinking.
We will always be disappointed if we require perfection of ourselves. So this year, instead of setting impossibly perfect goals, I am resolving to make incremental progress toward my goals every day. The perfect has always been the enemy of the good. My desire to do things just so leaves me feeling frustrated and mad at myself. As a result, I often wind up giving up. But, by choosing to make incremental progress instead of striving for perfection, I find an enormous weight lifted from my shoulders - if not yet my hips and abdomen. I may blanche at the impossibiilty of losing 40 pounds, but I can choose to walk everyday, to cut out the second margarita at my favorite Mexican restaurant, and . . . I'm sure many of you will relate to this one . . . and remember to take my ADD meds every day. :-)
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Eileen,
I loved your post and this part really hit home: "Goals, without a plan and focus are simply wishes."
That sentence alone is motivating me to move forward with some goals of my own. An action plan certainly is needed and that, as you said, is what differentiates the wish from the goal.
Thanks, as always, for your wisdom.
Terry
Terry,
So can you share what your New Year's Resolution will be?
Eileen