Goal-setting - how it works for me

I’ve been thinking a lot about goal-setting and getting things done.

I know that a lot of people wonder how I get a lot done.

It’s a fact that here in Poland, we have more than 24 hours in a day, unlike you in the states! That is first and foremost!

LOL

But in reality, for me to get a lot done, I do set goals.

How?

Well, depending on how I am feeling, I set goals - sometimes lofty and sometimes a bit less “big”. I do try to not set goals too big as it is discouraging to not be able to reach them.

So, I often divide up the big goals into very small ones - ones I can do without too much stress, Then, if I can reach that small goal, I go ahead and reach for the second one. Sometimes as I get closer to reaching a goal, I just really push and finish things up. Obviously if things come up, I can back away from the big push, however.

Here’s my summary advice about goals and goal-setting:

1. Make the goals do-able.

2. Make your goals measurable so you know if you have reached them.

3. If you have a big goal - divvy up the big steps into small ones until the project can be done. For example, there was a project - I had a whole pile of plastic bins of things to go through - I needed to get done in FL while I was there. It was NECESSARY for me to finish. I decided that I needed to be all done by a certain date. Then I worked backwards as to how many plastic bins I had to go through each day in order to meet that goal. By making the goal specific - (a certain number of bins or a complete stack each day) and small enough, I was able to finish up the project by the date we were leaving. However, if I had just told myself, “Go through all these tubs of stuff”, it is likely I would not have finished as it was a task that could have been overwhelming.

4. Take time to enjoy reaching the goal! If all you do is push, push, push, and never take time to enjoy making it - even if but for a few minutes - you will discourage yourself. Maybe it is just sitting back and looking at what you did. Do it. Sounds crazy, but it works!

5. Set more goals. Don’t think that reaching one goal is it. I like to have various goals set about different things, so I can go from one project to another, depending on what I am actually “feeling like” doing. Working with my natural body rhythms and desires, I try to do what I’m in the mood for. I find I get more done that way.

6. When a project is simply “terrible” but I really have to do it, I break it down into something as small as “work on this thing for 15 minutes” today. I can usually stomach working on even the worst thing in my life for 15 minutes a day. Often, I find, however, that once I start working on something, the project becomes les onerous. But if it just awful, I do just the 15 minutes that I tell myself I have to do, and go on to the next project. I then “do” my 15 minutes the next day. Eventually, even a large project will get finished - even 15 minutes at a time. I know that this particular goal goes against my “measurable” goal point in number 2, but this will work for a particularly unpleasant task. Some people do this for UFOs. I will say, however, that if you have truly lost interest or HATE a project when it comes to quilting, I am of the opinion that you actually don’t HAVE to finish it - either just get it out of your life by giving it away - or you can get radical and even throw it away - even though that hurts me to say.

And now you know! This is my own philosophy of goal-setting and what I do each day.

Have a great day wherever you are reading this!

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