I Think I'm Beginning to "Get It"

In my search for productivity, self-fulfillment, joy and all that other good stuff I want to develop in my life, I have been setting goals. And I felt like they were good goals, and they are...as far as they go. But I'm starting to realize that my goal-setting skills themselves have been inadequate. They are specific goals in five distinct categories, but geared only toward the end of the year...end game. I haven't broken each goal down at all, so that I have something to strive for quarterly, monthly, weekly, daily. No wonder I've been floundering in the execution of these goals. (I would normally do some self-flagellation here, but I'm trying to stop that....I won't call myself an idiot, I'll just be happy that I figured out something new so early in the year and have lots of time to improve!) I have been waaaaay vague in my expectations, so I've been getting almost NOTHING accomplished. Time to change that!

Take, for example, my painting/drawing. This is my YEAR OF UNFINISHED BUSINESS, which I thought of because of all the started or at least thought-of projects that have been just hanging around on a list, and in my head, for a couple of years (well that, and the weight I planned on losing for seven years). So I was thinking about that the other day and decided to break that goal down into projects with projected timelines. Excluding the two or three things on the list that I no longer even want to pursue at the moment (hey, I can do that, it's my list), and separating the writing projects into their own category (because I want to try working on "art" and writing projects simultaneously, so to speak, that leaves 9 creative projects. And what do you know, 9 months in which to work through the list! I know that some projects will take much more time devoted to them than others (e.g. a drawing that I've already started that should reasonably take less than two weeks if I work on it a little daily and a children's book that I want to write that would have at least a dozen watercolors in it, each one taking at least a week to complete). You get the idea.

Anyway, I won't bore you with all the planning out that must be done, but I wanted to share my excitement at figuring out how to make some concrete and realistic goals (thanks, in part, to my friend and fellow "self-improver" Debbie, who graciously shared her Passion Planner with me...we may have to have several more of these discussions!). Now, to keep reading Split Second Choice so I can keep my excitement phase going!