1/10/05 RM Newsletter: Declaring Your Goals

Today’s Quote: “You get whatever accomplishment you are willing to declare.” Georgia O’Keeffe


It never fails. When I take the time to write down my yearly goals, I’m able to meet them. Not every single one them, to be sure (that interview on the Today Show never materialized!) But it is amazing—year to year—of how many of the written goals, recorded in early January, I wind up meeting by the end of the year.


As in last year’s Newsletter, I am going to share with you my goal-setting techniques. Naturally, my individual goals will be different than yours, so I won’t share my goals per se. Rather, I will share the way in which I think about goals and goal-setting, and the way that I record them. I’m getting a late start this year; perhaps you are, too. I got distracted by the tsunami which has now taken upwards of 150,000 lives in south Asia. (Please see “A Quick Note” below to find out more about relief aid.)


First Things First

You need good tools. I’m convinced that the success of most projects is in direct proportion to the quality of the tools used to perform it. Writing is no exception. Whether you keep your goals saved on your laptop or scribbled on a yellow legal pad makes no difference. What does make a difference is consistency in recording them. So find a system and use it year after year—or until that system breaks and you need a new one. I have been recording my goals into my Filofax since 1996. The beauty of my system is that, since I always have my Filofax with me, a quick review of my yearly goals—as well as the goals of years past—is easy and accessible. Above all, make sure that your tool is, too. I am also a huge believer in color-coding everything. (see http://www.selfhelpcenters.com/family.asp#1 for my recent article “Color-Coding Your World”) As goals for 2004 were written in hot pink ink, goals for 2005 will be written in a different color (I know I know: this is an eccentric artist’s way of looking at the world, but, as an artist, I love using color and I always write in colored ink. Try it. You’ll never write in black again)


The Magic of Seven

Last year’s goal-writing system called for six elements. This year, I have added a seventh. I’ll review three this week and four next week. Let’s get started:

1) FAITH: possessing a hunger and thirst for God is an innately human appetite. We never find that for which we were created until we seek first a relationship with our Creator. God wants to renovate our lives. He wants us to become more saint like. What specific steps do you believe you need to take to become more spiritually mature? Do you need to spend more time in Scripture? In prayer? In reading books on spirituality? Will the simple gesture of extending your hands to fellow brothers and sisters who have been forced into depravity, like those afflicted families in south Asia, move you towards thought and action beyond yourself? Are you keeping a journal? Interestingly, one of my goals from last year was to journal for each one of my children. While I failed miserably at that, I did start a faith journal for Nick as soon as he was diagnosed with leukemia. I’m not sure I would have been as proactive in doing so had I not planted the seed ten months earlier in the form of a written goal. Another goal was to take a mission trip; again, this did not happen—the opportunity came up but the logistics never resolved—yet we were able to send Nick to work in missions in Costa Rica for a week in advance of our family’s vacation there. So while my personal goal was not met, it worked its way into the year through Nick. Given his recent illness, I cannot imagine it working out more perfectly!


2) FAMILY: what is your vision for your family? What steps do you need to be proactively taking to ensure that you develop into the strongest and happiest group of people on your journey of life together? Happy childhoods do not happen by chance. They take a considerable amount of foresight, energy, and planning. Each of those in your charge has unique gifts and talents which need to be brought forward for the benefit of others. What are you doing to nurture these? Specific goals might be enrolling your child in music lessons. Perhaps you want to teach your child very specific lessons about responsibility; maybe you should consider letting that child take horseback riding lessons, and allow her to pay them off by working in the stalls raking up muck. Do you need to take a romantic getaway with your spouse? Or visit colleges with your teenager? Is your family “overdue” a summer vacation?


3) FRIENDS: “There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” If you have three of them, consider yourself blessed. What are you doing to nurture your friendships? Are you taking the time to make phone calls, enjoy coffees, and write notes to your best friends? Perhaps you splurge on birthday and Christmas gifts as a way of saying: “I love you.” Maybe you enjoy shopping excursions together, or are able to go “girl camping” to a remote location. One of my goals for this year is to take a camping trip with two or three fellow hookers (rug hookers. Oh please!) to a notable hooking school in New England. We’ve talked about it for years but it’s never materialized. In my own case, moving four times within five years has added friends from three different states to my world. Cementing these friendships requires commitments of time, energy, and funds to make continual reunions both plausible and realizable.


If you haven’t already begun the process of declaring your goals for 2005, start thinking about and writing down several specific goals for each of these three categories this week. Next week: we’ll round out the “Magic Seven.”


Hugs,


Carolina


A Nick Note

Nick had a great week! He finished the first round of the intensification phase of his protocol on New Year’s Eve and enjoyed a one-week break. No chemo; only finger sticks and IV hydration. If his counts are good, he’ll begin the second round of chemo this morning. Please continue to keep him in your prayers. We pray for his complete healing and feel great peace knowing that you might be interceding with prayer on his behalf. I confess: we need your prayers. I thank you in advance for them, and hope that a canopy of prayer and intercession is raised up for our son.


A Quick Note

I have been in almost daily contact with the folks at World Concern since last week. They asked me to note that you may sell items on ebay to support World Concern’s tsunami efforts. Go to www.worldconcen.org and click on “Sell on ebay.” Additionally, they are accepting donations of saleable items that they can then sell directly to others in support of the tsunami. (They understandably reserve the right to not accept items that they feel are inappropriate.) Items can be mailed to: World Concern: 19802 Highway 99, Lynnwood, WA 98036. Or call: (206) 546-7221.