2012 is almost a month underway which means that New Year's resolutions are just starting to fizzle out. My sister Jana recently posted on her 2012 goals and I thought I'd follow suit.
I am a goal setter. My father is a goal setter. His father was a goal setter. If I had a dog, it wouldn't be an english or irish setter, but a goal setter. On top of that, I grew up playing sports that instilled a competitive drive to achieve hard things. I served a mission for my church in which everything you do seems to revolve around a a little planner with monthly, weekly and daily goals.
Sometimes I enjoy planning more than carrying out my plans. I imagine all that can be, and then casually go about my way. In the past I have carefully categorized the different areas of my life—family, personal, physical, professional, spiritual, etc.—and then set ambitious goals for each one. However, this has often led to conflicts between goals and misuse of my time for those things that are most important.
I have often been critical of how one goes about setting goals, insisting that they must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-based goals. I would draw from motivational self-help books like The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and How to Win Friends and Influence People and use vision and mission statements and other success principles to guide my goal setting.
While I have found these to be valuable, I took a different approach this year. I still thought about the new year and all the possibilities it holds, but I went with my gut and took an approach that was foreign to even me. I only set goals for my daily and weekly routine. I'm still not sure if it is a valid method, but it's done. Here it is:
Monday - Fridays
6-7am: Gospel Study. A combination of scripture study, prayer, reading gospel books, taking notes and writing.
7-8am: Exercise. Right now I do about a half an hour of P90X, go for a run, or ride the stationary bike.
9am-6pm: School, work and whatever else related to my professional life.
6:30-8:30pm: Family Time. I try to leave the day behind me at this point and turn my focus on my wife and kids, including helping out around the house, playing with and reading to kids, etc.
Saturdays are flexible
Sundays are focused on activities that help "keep [my]self unspotted from the world...rest from [my] labors...pay [my] devotions" to God.
Three weeks into the new year I am glad that I have chosen to do it this way. It has really helped me to avoid making goals that push me too hard and end up taking time from more important things, especially time with my family.
However, this only works, I believe, because I already have a general idea of what my long and short term goals are. Additionally, as I go along I am setting goals that are appropriate, instead of doing them all at the beginning of the year. This is definitely not a recommendation for how everyone should go about goal setting, but it is working well for me.
