Abstract Capital: Setting Goals

Abstract Capital

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Setting Goals

Goals are better than resolutions because they are more flexible. Mentally, there is a feeling of failure associated with infringing on a stringent pledge or a New Year's resolution. In my life this has been best illustrated by the times in college and high school after New Year's when my local gym filled in January with people attempting to shed the pounds, followed by the subsequent ritual emptying of the treadmills in February and March. Resolutions and pledges are ill-fitting for real-world living purposes, they create an air of commandment that generates unreasonable feelings of letdown which hinder self confidence, prevent establishing short term goals, and really shouldn't even be there in the first place.

Goals, on the other hand, are more supple and elastic, much like the to-do lists of daily life, and more compliant with inevitable scheduling conflicts and exceptions. By establishing goals, you give yourself more of a chance to complete what you want to do and what you want out of life without punishing yourself because you had an off day or couldn't get around to everything you wanted to. While resolutions and pledges are strict and unyielding, goals are organizable and receptive. For example, with goals, you can categorize them as short-term & long-term. You can also itemize their importance as reminders about which are most important to you and which are low-priority.

In my experience it's most helpful to keep your list of goals as concise as possible. Be as brief as possible, there's no reason to make your goals unreasonably extensive, or to pore over them and intimidate yourself with what you want to do. A short list of goals is efficient, flexible, and best of all receptive to understanding any changes you want to make. Also don't burden yourself by over-concentrating on your long-term objectives; these are actually the opposite of concrete. Long-term goals are mostly conceptual and not concrete; long-term goals are really just an abstract representation of a series of small steps, your very short-term goals. Most importantly, a long-term goal shouldn't hang on you like an albatross; a long-term goal is like the conclusory paragraph on a college paper, it's just a simple summation without much real content. Having a long-term goal is important, but it's easy to lose the forest from the trees with them. At most review your progress at a max of a once per week basis, don't constantly remind yourself of the distance between yourself and your long-term objectives; a long-term accomplishment is achieved by taking it one day at a time, and living on a series of short term success. The fabric of your long-term goal rests with taking it one step at a time, accomplishing your short term goals, and patting yourself on the back for most of all trying your best.

And keep it fun, and remember to reward yourself for your short-term goals. The most deserving person to feel good about accomplishing the day's chores or the week's goals is you, and you owe it to yourself to feel good about yourself for doing so. Here is a brief personal list as an example, share and be creative or traditional if you like. Good luck!

posted by Flaco @ 11:05 PM

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