Goal Setting

J.C. Penny once said, "Give me a stock clerk with a goal, and I'll give you a man who will make history.  Give me a man with no goals, and I'll give you a stock clerk."  I heard a statistic once that said that 90% of people do not set goals.  About a year ago, I was one of those people who did not set goals.  My life reflected that anxiety of not knowing where I was going nor what I would be doing for that month, year, or five years down the line.  

I remember people telling me that rigidly planning your life locked you into a certain future.  That a person doesn't have the freedom to do whatever they wanted. I used to do the shotgun method of life.  I would take all of the possible outcomes and whatever I would metaphorically hit, I would do.  I am here to tell you that goal setting is so much better.  Goals give you the power to focus all of your energy on a specific task at hand.  

Whenever I want to change course, I take five minutes to write up a new set of goals.  

Below are my written goals for the next nine months unless otherwise noted.  I like to practice a hybrid method.  I want them SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely) and I also put part of my mission statement next to a few of them.

Coming Out: I will live my life with integrity and express my sexuality if asked and appropriate except in situations that will cause physical or emotional harm.

-I will come out to my extended family when I return to my hometown September 2011

Career: Be gainfully employed. Be a leader in my field.
-Obtain an entry level library job.

-With two years of experience, I can go do anything I want.

-networking

-join 2 professional organization (Local / national)

-join a professional sub-group

-job interviewing. Review and practice 100 most common interview questions. June 2011

Family: I will be frequently "there" for support and love.

-Be a parent by age 40

Love Relationships:

- I will be faithful, find a guy to love and care for, and be committed for the long haul.
-To be married by 35

Learning: To be mentally and morally awake.
-Learn Spanish.

• Test February 2011.
• Study five hours daily (fill out chart)
• Final exit Spanish interview August 2011
  

Attitude/ Balance: to free myself from destructive and addictive behaviors.
-gossip: I will keep what others tell me in confidence regardless of the content.

-Excitement about coming home

-Positive attitude about my future and getting a job.

Physical:

-Diet

• Cut out soda from diet
• Eat a local diet
• Weigh 180 and maintain April 2011
• Find ten easy to cook recipes

-yoga

• 3hours a week

-pushups

• 200 daily (fill out chart)

-body weight exercises

• 2 hours a week

Pickup

-Touching

-Blog

• One entry daily. Focus on Storytelling, relationship questions, openers)

-Fashion, clothes shopping

• Buy one nice piece of fashionable clothing a month

- Developing / Conveying Confidence

- Initiating Conversations

- Approaching

-grooming

• Find and buy a cologne
• change hairstyle
• manscape, eyebrows, shave
• whiten teeth
• Brush twice a day and floss

-Buy these Magazines

• Vanity Fair, Esquire, Men's Health, Out, Advocate, Instinct, , GQ

-cocky funny/banter

• copy sayings on note cards and practice

-voice

• Work out with the video

-walk

• practice walk

-Networking

-Talking my head off

-personality development

-touching

-playful

-eye contact

-body language

• practice reading body language

spirituality

• Read the bible in a year (daily email readings with commentary)

travel

• Save a $150 a month ($150 x 12 months = $1,800)
• Research these 3 trips: 1 Camino de Santiago, Spain 2 France 3 Machu Picchu

Financial:

-Debt Free by age 35