Dreaming & Scheming 2012, Part 4: The Goals

Finally, we've reached the main attraction for all this dreaming, scheming and reflecting-- the goals! But I really think there's so much value in the steps that have preceded this point. A main reason that we often abandon our New Year's resolutions mid-year is because they don't come from our own heart and values. We won't be able to lose those 10 pounds if we're only doing it because we're comparing ourselves to the airbrushed models in fitness magazines, and we won't stick with a fitness routine if we're chaining ourselves to the treadmill when all your body wants to do is dance with abandon.

As I sat down to set my 2012 goals, I armed myself with my list of values and reflections on last year, my One Little Word (Ignite), and my personal mission statement. My goals format for the year is from Nicole Is Better, and I followed her steps pretty closely from Step 3 onward. I also chose to utilize her template, as shown in my photos, but I created my own version in InDesign so I could customize it a bit {mainly because I hate Microsoft Word with a passion, and will do anything to avoid using it}.

While I think you should go read about the specifics of the process on Nicole's blog, I'll give you my nutshell version: Pick the nine "life buckets" or "slices of life" that are most important to you {and, big surprise, I used my values list to help me select these areas and added a little excitement with my One Little Word}. In my case, I have Friendship, Family, Health, Marriage, Creativity, Border-Pushing, Adventure, Service, and Self Care.

Next, come up with three goals for each area that you'd like to achieve by the end of 2012. You might notice that a few of my goals are in bold text; I did that to draw attention to the areas that might require more frequent attention or more involved steps. For example, "Attend bookclub for a year" is a fairly easy and reactive goal, but "Expand my blog philosophy into an ebook" is much larger and ambitious. I want to call out those larger goals so that they can't get lost among my easier-to-achieve goals as they have in the past.

Then-- and this is a huge mega-important point-- you return to this document on the first of *every* month to create an action step for achieving each of the goals in each category. I really feel that this was the deciding factor in selecting this method of goal-setting this year. It requires regular check-ins and attention to the steps along the way. I believe it will help me keep my head out of the clouds while also making each goal much less daunting because it's broken down into one small step per month.

On Tuesday, I took myself to breakfast at a cafe and sat down to create the 27 micro-actions. I created a spreadsheet that lists the 9 categories, 27 goals and my January action step for each goal. Despite my brain racing ahead, I stopped myself from planning any farther ahead than January's step, because I'm not looking to micromanage my life down to the minute. Over-planning can be just as harmful as under-planning because it can make my yearly goals seem too much like chores and take away the sense of flow, progress and serendipity. 

I really enjoyed my first action-step planning session, and I plan to keep it a special date with myself each month. I can already see the benefits-- it feels really good to scratch of those action steps. I have a nice mix of tasks; some of steps are really small and easy {i.e. Sign up for Kayak deal emails again to help with my goal to "Take an international trip or long road trip"} and have been completed already, while others will require some time {i.e. Wake up 10 minutes earlier each week to help with my goal to "Establish an at home yoga/Barre3 routine"}.

And there we have it! I will probably perform quarterly check-ins or assessments using the wheel technique I mentioned in Part 1 to make sure that I'm feeling good about the direction I'm moving in. But I'm loving the possibilities of this method-- my mission gives me purpose, my One Little Word represents the attitude I'd like to bring to my efforts, and my goals let me put my money where my mouth is.

What do you think, friends? Is this entirely too anal-retentive for you? Or do you see the value in setting regular, progressive steps towards your goals?