Goal Setting – March 2010
March 2, 2010 by: Dave Ozment
Introduction
March is here already – amazing how time flies. Yet 2010 is shaping up to be a fantastic year.
I am continuing to lag behind on some of my goals – I’ve again conquered only 3 of my 5 targets for the month but I did bang out one of the overdue items from January. I’ll count that as progress as my overall % completion has increased.
How are you doing and how are you altering your course to ensure a winning path? Let me know by commenting below.
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Context Setting for New Readers – Welcome! On this site, I’ve invested considerable time sharing, exploring, and refining my approach to goal setting. I try to outline goals along 8 unique fronts which together help me – as I accomplish my targets – remain rounded and balanced. My eight fields of focus include:Spiritual, Financial, Career, Personal Development, Physical, Family, Social, and Household.I also layer time horizons across each category to ensure I am able execute in the moment while maintaining an alertness in the end game. For 2010, I am incorporating a new facet into my experiment in self improvement – Public Accountability – and that’s what you’ve stumbled into. Please feel free to check out any of my previous articles on this topic for additional context and exploration. Accomplish Goals by Having Them
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Progress Recap
February Goals
|
Topic |
Objective |
Outcome |
Score |
| Financial | Read “The Richest Man Who Ever Lived” |
F |
0% |
| Career | Cash First Ad-Sense Check |
P |
100% |
| Physical | Drop 3 Pounds |
F |
0% |
| Family | Determine Timing and Destination for Vacation |
P |
100% |
| Social | Listen to Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People |
P |
100% |
|
Total |
|
60% |
2010 Year to Date Results
|
Month |
Objectives |
Accomplishments |
Score |
| January |
5 |
4 |
80% |
| February |
5 |
3 |
60% |
| March |
5 |
0 |
% |
| April |
5 |
0 |
% |
| May |
5 |
0 |
% |
| June |
5 |
0 |
% |
| July |
5 |
0 |
% |
| August |
5 |
0 |
% |
| September |
5 |
0 |
% |
| October |
5 |
0 |
% |
| November |
5 |
0 |
% |
| December |
5 |
0 |
% |
|
Total |
10 |
6 |
70% |
March Goals
|
Topic |
Objective |
Outcome |
Score |
| Financial | Close Credit Report Follow-ups |
P/F |
% |
| Career | Participate in 5 Blog Carnivals |
P/F |
% |
| Personal Development | Advance my Harley riding marketing project |
P/F |
% |
| Physical | Drop 4 pounds |
P/F |
% |
| Household | Organize Garage |
P/F |
% |
|
Total |
|
% |
Feel free to add your goals in the comment fields below. If there’s enough interest and traction, we may dedicate articles to your progress as well.
Also, please comment on your experience with similar goals or even your general reactions to my goals and progress.
Photo By: robep
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Dave
my goals are not as monthly as yours. i have dates in mind as milestones like have $2k in e fund by april. I like how yours are very real and laid out. Have tried to schedule the goals? This way you are not doing all 5 at the last hour. I have to do that for my diy projects. this way i have completed 1 task before starting another. otherwise, I have 5 undone things.
looking at the march goals, those should be a breeze. my advice, start now with the garage cleanup!
So it looks like some of the tasks are more detailed than p/f, how do you handle that?
good luck.
Hey J, good questions. I like the bent towards continual improvement. Tracking, grading, scheduling, and evaluation are all things I do but not with quite the same refinement as the 7 areas of focus with the layered time horizons.
One thing that I am doing, that you can’t see in these monthly reports – at least not yet – is the incremental nature of some goals. For example, you talk about having 2k in an e fund by April. I might then have individual $500 goals in Jan, Feb, Mar, and April. That makes me accountable to the end goal one month at a time.
In that way, I am allocating time each month towards the larger goal. But more to your point, I don’t always carve out time on a literal calender to chase on these items. I need to refine this point as I move forward. Otherwise, as you predict, I’m scrambling against a deadline or just not getting everything done.
As for the detailed goals… I’ll admit that I’m somewhat subjective here. I do have a mental image of what I see each step looking like at its completion, but I’m mostly the lone arbitor at the end of the day. I’m a pretty tough judge most times so it works out, but it does represent a potential hole in the process. I’ll have to give that more thought.
Thanks for the comments and questions… good discussion.
Dave