Goooooooal!

Oh, goals. When you achieve them, it totally feels like this:

Unfortunately, I don't mean this kind of goal. 

I struggle with goal setting. Which I find ironic, since I'm a list maker of the highest caliber. Aren't goals just the culmination of checking off everything on a to-do list?

This is my to do list. It is actually much longer, but you don't need to know that I put things like "water flowers" and "check bank account" on it. .... oops.

Goals are supposed to be specific, measurable, and attainable. I don't remember where I first learned that, but it's true. My problem is that I can't always get all three things into a goal. 

I have a specific fitness goal right now: I want to be able to do an unassisted pull up by my 40th birthday which is only 10 months away (start saving your money for my present). 

I've had a few people cheer me on and a few more tell me not to be disappointed if I don't make it. This goal meets all three goal-setting qualities. My trainer helped me set that goal- she suggested it to me. I did not come up with this goal myself. But when I work out, I can keep this goal in mind. I have worked on some specific exercises to help reach this goal. 

I also have a weight loss goal. It's specific, it's measurable, it's attainable. When I didn't exercise, it was somewhat easy for me to lose weight. I dropped fat and muscle and didn't really know or care. When I started caring about fitness as opposed to weight loss, losing became more difficult. I've dropped 3% body fat in the past 8 months but it has been slow because I have been working on building muscle. It's been hard for me to adjust my thinking about these things. But as I'm writing this, I thought that maybe I should have a body fat goal instead. 

When it comes to work, it's hard to set goals. As a teacher, I'm happy with my job. I don't want to be an administrator. Good lord, no thank you. I like what I do. There is no moving up for me. I love the courses I teach, I love my employer, I am satisfied with the results I get. 

I could try to set a goal such as, "75% of my students will obtain a 3 or better on the AP exam this year." Specific and measurable, but attainable? Only part of it is within my control. I can't force my students to study. I can't control their willingness to complete the coursework. I can't make them focus on this course to the detriment of their other courses. And when 52% of the students taking the test in the entire nation reach that score of a 3, it's pretty hard to say that my students will exceed that by 23%. My students do exceed the national average already. 

I could say, "I'd like to be a better teacher." Specific, attainable, but what is the measurement? Is it those test scores? Also, what exactly goes into being a better teacher? Going back to school? All that would do for me is give me more work that isn't specific to teaching my course. It would take me away from my family which would stress me out and that would not make me a better teacher. 

For goals regarding my home life, I have one: declutter. Specific, not at all measurable, and considering I live with 3 male pack rats, not very attainable. I'm trying to remove one item per day that I don't use or need. Yesterday was the first day and so far I've been successful. I'm also spotting other things to remove. For now I'm sticking with one a day, though. 

What about you? Do you have any goals that you'd like to share? Has goal setting improved your life?