Monday, January 14, 2013

SHORT TERM GOALS LEAD TO COMPLETION OF LONG TERM GOALS



The man who moved the mountain began by carrying away small stones. A Chinese proverb
January is the time we all set goals. Sometimes we set lofty goals, but don’t ever get around to matching shorter daily goals to our long term goals. To reach our lofty ideals, we must work toward them every day.
Sometimes I don’t take time to plan. I just make a quick mental list in the morning, and I think that will suffice. But then I don’t get around to everything I’ve thought about.  I can get distracted so easily. To reach my goals, I need to plan, plan, plan.
Our grandson is just home from a two year mission in Argentina. He had a long term goal to improve his piano playing while he was there. Every chance he got, he played for church meetings, and when he had extra time, he practiced.
He came home with several new pieces memorized, and is very happy he accomplished his goal.


ESTABLISH WEEKLY AND DAILY WORK PATTERNS
Keep yourself organized with a list that’s somewhat prioritized. Post it on the bathroom mirror or the fridge where you often look. You may work your plan five days a week, giving yourself the weekend off. At times, you may work at night or on the weekends to complete specific goals you can’t accomplish during the day. I have a young friend, Laran, who has a goal to publish fiction for young people. He stays up late at night to write because of his busy work schedule during the day. He wants to complete his goal so he is willing to do it.
The daily grind of hard work gets a person polished. Unknown
MAKE A REALISTIC SCHEDULE
A busy mother may make a list of ten goals and only accomplish them four or five of them. That’s great because other priorities come into play, like forgotten lunches, soccer games, book reports, or countless other things. She may alter her list of goals to include the lunches and soccer games. She knows her children are the most important priority.
1.      Post a list where you will see it often.
2.      Pair a have-to with a want-to. Finish a short-term goal before you go to the movie.
3.      Be flexible enough to accomplish what you can and allow it to be sufficient.
4.      Let the goals you didn’t accomplish today be first on tomorrow’s agenda.
5.      Be kind to yourself in all this. You are enough just as you are.
Happy Goal Setting, Christy

1 comment:

  1. An awesome post! I am just like you, I get sidetracked so easily. I make a plan; but usually don't follow it. This year I am trying to do better. Just today I wrote down just 5 things I wanted to do and I actually got them done. I think sometimes I over plan.
    Blessings to you for an enlightening post to ponder upon.
    I love the goal your grandson made. I need to make a piano goal. I need to get over my fear of playing the piano in front of others.
    Thanks for this one!

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