On goals

We can set new goals any time we want, but at the new year, it seems especially appropriate.  My unscientific guess pegs the number of articles about how to set good goals at about ten gazillion million.  I will offer only two suggestions.

First, make a process goal.  Process goals are the kind where we decide to show up.  We make it a goal to do cardio every day, or to lift weights twice a week, or to floss our teeth on Tuesdays (got to start small, right?).  Maybe the thing we want is better endurance, or more shapely muscles, or gingivitis avoidance, but our goal is to do the activity that will produce the result, not the result itself.  Process goals have the advantage of being concrete and incremental.  It is easy to tell whether we have done them or not.  And, if it turns out that the process goal does not move us toward our desired outcome, we have at least built our ability to accomplish things.

Second, make a big goal.  A big goal in conjunction with a process goal can create great things.  If, for example, we set a process goal of riding our bike every week, we can set a big goal of doing a century ride.  (Guess what I want to do this year!)

We will, God willing, all experience this next year together, whether we set goals or not.  Let’s try to make it the best year ever.