Goal Setting is the process of identifying something that you want to accomplish and establishing measurable goals and timeframes. The dreaded question in every job interview is usually - What are your one, five or even ten year goals? And trust me, I've had my own experience with scrambling to explain that I struggle to plan one day ahead, let alone one year. Why is goal setting important? Simply, if we don't make changes, take risks and plan our time out properly, 2019 will feel as stale, rushed and unaccomplished. If you want to save money for a trip, you can't wait until the day before to try and get the money together. It takes careful planning to achieve the things we want in life. 2018 had given me the opportunity to start fresh and begin real life goal setting, so I wouldn't say the 2019 me is a pro, but I've found a couple ways to make goal setting an easier and rewarding task. So whether you've never goal set before or are looking for new ways to make 2019 full of accomplishments, you've come to the right place! 1. Write them down First, it is important to write down your goals. Seeing your goals on a regular basis is important in keeping on track with your goal setting plan. Whether this is on a whiteboard, in a notebook or on your phone, writing them down makes them real and you accountable for taking steps towards achieving them. This brings us to the second tip. 2. Map Out the Steps The whole Buy a guitar -> Be a Rockstar way of goal setting rarely works out. It's important to create steps that you can take to reach your goal (and if you're super into scheduling like me, adding deadlines for those steps). In this process, you make your goals more realistic and look something more like Buy a guitar -> Take Guitar Lessons -> Get first gig -> Get a Manager -> Record first Album -> Play Sold Out Show -> Be a Rockstar. 3. Start with a couple achievable goals. Getting a few out of the way will motivate you! This is where tip number three comes in, make some of your goals easy and achievable to start out. If you overload yourself with large goals, you'll never feel like you're making any progress on your goal list. It's okay, and suggested to add goals like read a book or organize bookshelf, to give yourself those first check marks (or strikethroughs, depending on how you operate). 4. Make all goals within an achievable timeframe Don't write "go to the moon" as a one year goal, because even astronauts rarely go to the moon that quickly. If you start by mapping out the steps, this can help you plan time as well. For example, if you need to take classes to gain a skill, you can map out the time it would take to finish the course. If you say you're going to learn to be a graphic designer and you need to enrol in a 2 year diploma program just to get started, you wouldn't say that a one year goal is to become a graphic designer. 5. Now, aim big. Go to the moon. Who have you always wanted to be? It's time to become that person. Set some of your top tier goals as if you could achieve anything, this is where going to the moon is plausible and if you add your steps to achieving it and are reasonable with time frames this is a good way to set the stakes for yourself. I hope these tips help you be as productive as you can (or want) to be. I'll end this blog post with an important reminder to all that you are more than your accomplishments. Though achievements look and feel good, your health and sanity deserve rest and realistic goals. Maybe make some of your goals relaxation based or reaffirmation based. Honestly, I always like to add "watch the entirety of the Rocky series" to my list every once and a while.
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What a title. Why did I type that? Is it because I've finally reached the point where my birthday feels less important than the accumulation of things I've spent that year doing? Yes. Am I here to brag about those things? No. Welcome to my Annual Birthday Panic AttackTM in blog post form. My birthday has just passed with what I would call a small hurrah, which for some reason is the way I want it to be. This is the first year in a long time where my birthday hasn’t felt like a huge moment that I need to make a weekend out of and I don’t know if that’s a sign of my maturity or a sign that I’ve absorbed myself too much into my work. This week’s blog post won’t be as relatable or based around lifestyle, so I have to apologize for that. This week is about personal growth and the process goal setting. In the grand scheme of things, I am a child. I sit in a board meeting and the people around me see me as the young social media savant that had never experienced 8-track and has only ever held a small floppy disk. And though I know what a VHS is, I still find myself having to work harder to not be pointed at the chair with the booster seat.
I’ve drank the elusive “drink me” and have made the world around me shrink. Instead of feeling so insignificant, I’m starting to feel too big and very aware of the things I destroy with my oversized adult feet. Change: intransitive verb 1: to become different 2: to undergo transformation, transition, or substitution I can make a change now, we all can and I feel like there's enough time to think about the change you want to see and never enough time to make the change tangible. I want to hold the change in my hand, I want to open the world for new voices and I want to be the person that I wanted to be growing up. Even if I always imagined that person to be a nurse. Goals: the object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result. So this year instead of setting personal goals, I’m setting personal change and community change to my roster of to-dos. I’m going to use my power and my privilege to touch the lives of people around me and thank them for every ounce of support and creativity they produce to our world. If I had a million dollars, I want the world around me to be rich and the soil to produce the next years harvest without fear of draught. It’s strange that I don’t feel like I’ve accomplished much because this year has probably been the biggest yet. This year I got into the job market, maintained three jobs while going to school full time, made Dean’s list, got to film in the premieres office, got to celebrate my mothers 60th birthday, got three tattoos, grew my hair out to my natural colour, learned how to use liquid eyeliner, got a new vehicle, gained lasting friendships, a longterm boyfriend, professional relationships, understood my gender identity, participated in the world! BIG BREATH. I’m also graduating this year. I have a fear that this feels minimal to me, when will a year feel substantial enough. My plans for the next month, as the year ends is to set goals for myself and for change, plan the trips I will go on in the next year, finish some writing submissions and make meetings with industry leaders to better myself and, cliche enough, create a mood board. I don't want to create a list of my goals on this blog because this year they feel very private, and I feel like if I put them in the universe, I'll lose them somehow.
If you clicked on this I’m sure that you struggle with balance. And when I say balance I don’t mean how well you can stand on one leg, I mean the internal balance that we must maintain to feel fulfilled, happy and normal. Balance comes fundamentally from understanding the world around you and where you fit into it. Essentially: what elements do you need from the world and what things do you need to give back in order to keep the scales stable. Correct me if I'm wrong, but as people I believe that we are generally reactionary, meaning that we only try to get balance in our life when we're 10 feet deep in chaos. The key is to become better at maintenance and in turn better at knowing who we are as individuals. All these struggles you face with feeling out of control and unable to find balance is within everyone. We all feel this loss of control. Recently, because of my frantic need to regain the regins in my life, I’ve internally found a new way to help visualize personal balance. This is what this blog post is about! First, it’s important to know and acknowledge that no one has the same balance to maintain. Every person has a different centre of gravity and equilibrium, everyone emphasizes different values that need to be fulfilled. And that’s what balance is: making sure all your values are met. Values: a person's principles or standards of behaviour; one's judgment of what is important in life. On the road to balance and inevitably happiness it’s important to sit down and mentally take note of your values, or even write them down. "What things make me the happiest?" "What things do I not want?" "What do I not have enough time for but am better off doing?" After you answer these questions I find that its easiest to start by writing down your values and working to narrow it down to four important values that are measurable. This can help the whole procedure to feel less overwhelming. If you're struggling to do this, it's important to look at what makes you unique and what fuels you. Does exercising make you happier? Does writing poetry? Do you need to spend a certain amount of time traveling? Use your values to assess and find your gasoline. Let me give an example, the best way to think about it is this strange alignment chart. When the happy face (you) is in the center is when you’re values are at 100% but when one takes over the other you’ll see that you lose your balance and some fundamental element of what is makes you happy.
So I made a change to restore my balance, (1) connected my friends and family (2) made plans and made sure it wasn’t the last ones for a while and (3) introspectively set more time aside for the people in my life. This may be the A type in me but I find this to be the best way to evaluate and make an effort to rebalance myself. If you find yourself drained, or you haven’t posted on your personal blog in almost six months, it may be time to reassess. In my opinion, you can’t keep whipping around and expecting the balance to come naturally. So set some time aside for you and bring balance back to your life, reader! Set the scales right and do some introspection! (I've left a blank introspection chart at here for your to try out for yourself!)
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