In this blog entry, I'll talk about setting and achieving goals. I'll also inaugurate an online goals club so that we can check in with each other as we move toward our goals for 2008. What I'm writing about here are techniques that have worked for me, and I believe they'll work for you if you commit to using them. I'll start with the basics, and in future blogs, I'll talk specifically about goals like finding work or moving into your own apartment.
Goal setting can be as simple as you want it to be, starting with the premise that you'll succeed at getting results if you write down your goals and commit to re-reading them. The simplest form of "goal setting" is a to-do list you write down before you go to bed and review in the morning before heading out. For a lot of us new to recovery, it will do just fine to plan to do one or two new things each day that bring us closer to our dream.
Denis Waitley, a motivational author who wrote the New Dynamics of Goal Setting, tells us, "Very often an idea becomes a goal when we realize it meets a need in our lives." To guarantee results, a goal has to be S.M.A.R.T.-specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and tangible. It all starts with you. How do you define recovery? What changes would you like to make to boost your self-confidence or take your recovery to the next level?
I have a suggestion as to how to begin: First, use a to-do list, and as you feel the pride of crossing off each item, you'll graduate to short, intermediate and long-term goals geared to a year, three-to-five years, and ten years or more, respectively.
To show you how I do this, I keep a "goals binder" where I've included my typed-up objectives. For this year, one of my short-term goals was to travel to Boston. My medium-term goal is to publish my memoir, and for the long-term I want to retire from full-time work at the age of 65.
Specifically, on one sheet, I listed my "Goals for 2007" for self, home and career. Some of them I achieved; others I didn't-like "wear makeup on the weekends." For home, I wanted to "buy new curtains"-I'll do that in the fall. Note well: some goals are for self-improvement, others satisfy an external desire. The way to stay motivated is to keep it simple and not cram in 10 or 20 goals because you think you're "supposed" to constantly achieve things, be they material or from your inner core.
Good suggestions for yearly goal categories are self, home, career, relationships, finances, and health. Remember, you don't need to use all six, you can choose among them or create your own headings, and feel free to list just one or two goals if that's what suits you now.
As for goals being S.M.A.R.T., I'll give you one of my own: "Publish my memoir on or near fall 2008." To do that, I have sub-goals: for 2007, in the summer, I'll work with the editor to revise and re-write my manuscript, and in the fall, I'll query 15 literary agents. For 2008, I'll sign on with an agent in the winter, in the spring I'll make the final revisions to the book, and in the summer I'll get ready to publish the book. In the fall 2008, Left of the Dial will hit the bookstores.
