Back in February in a post titled “Don’t Just Go Through the Motions”, I shared my goals for 2018. My goals are recorded on 3 notes on my Google Keep Page under the titles Health Goals, Wealth Goals and Happiness Goals. My Google Keep Page come up automatically every time I turn on my computer. This way, my goals are always accessible for me to review. My Google Keep Page contains 2 other notes related to my goals. One is where I record the next steps I need to take to reach my goals and the other contains reminders to prioritize my goals.
One note is titled “Sculpt My Life – Next Steps”. This is where I write down the next steps I need to take toward reaching my goals. Periodically, I review my goals and figure out the next step for each and jot that down on this list. The second note is titled “My Strategic Life Reminders”. This is where I jot down helpful advice I have read about or heard about that I think will help me in my pursuit of health, wealth and happiness goals. They are reminders to prioritize what I say is important to me. Currently, this list contains the following 3 bullet points:
- What 1 thing do I want to get better at today? What opportunities will I have to practice it? Do it every day…
- You are never going to feel like it
- Act on ideas within 5 seconds or you will pull the emergency brake
Do you know why I like these? They are simple and easy to remember. I learn new things by doing them. Not by hearing about them or reading about them but by doing them. I benefit from doing them every day, even when it is the last thing I feel like doing. If I can just jump up and do something the minute it registers in my brain; it will actually get done. Otherwise the emergency brake gets engaged and nothing happens. Looking at these 3 simple bullet points helps me to remember to kick my butt in gear in regards to my goals.
I had last Tuesday and Wednesday off and I remembered to sculpt my day. I got a bit accomplished including the basics of vacuuming, cashing a check and icing my knee. I also finally took the time to order a part for the lawn mower that I damaged last fall and vacuuming the car so I could lay out the new rubber floor mats that I purchased to protect the fancy carpeted mats.
I managed to take it one step further by reviewing my Sculpt My Life – Next Step List and taking a few steps in the right direction. I have been saving money to get Fenway’s teeth cleaned and contacted the Vet to schedule it. Don’t laugh, I had to set aside $1000 for this dreaded event. Hopefully it won’t cost that much but that will depend on if she needs one or more teeth pulled. Then I completed my research on where to stay when we go to Acadia National Park in the fall. I reviewed it with my honey and reserved the house for 4 nights in October.
I also managed to put aside $600 towards the purchase of a car rack so I can transport my kayak for some weekend getaways! Next step – do my research on which rack to order.
I have been procrastinating scheduling with the vet and making reservations for about a month. I don’t know why I didn’t get them done sooner. Completing both of these takes me one step closer to knocking 2 off 2 of my 2018 goals. I do like meeting my goals!
I have never thought of myself as a procrastinator but there are certain tasks that don’t seem to get done. A few years ago, I started to make “Procrastination Lists” so I could get everything I needed to do in one place. I don’t do this often but when I do it helps me prioritize some items on the list.
One item on my current procrastination list is to get an eye exam scheduled. The good thing about writing it down is that spurs me to take another minute to figure out which doctor I want to see and to write down his/her phone number. Baby steps… When I get really motivated I give myself due dates but that hasn’t happened to my current list. Sometimes I realize I am procrastinating things I actually say I enjoy. That is just crazy – Don’t procrastinate joy!
Overall, I am making good gains toward my 2018 Goals. In the blink of an eye it will be June and the year will be 1/2 over and it will be time for a Goal Update Post.
Think I will go review them right now so I can figure out the next steps, transfer that information to my “Sculpt My day – Next Steps List” and hopefully complete them before they end up on my “Procrastination List”. My system sound more complicated than it is!
Hope you are making good progress on your 2018 Goals!
Lake Girl