So … goals for last year were met, unmet, changed, reconsidered, cursed – you name it. I did get all the books on my list read for the year. And am so happy to be back to our regularly random reading. I didn’t get all the quilts on my list done for the year. And am spending some time this year getting that done before moving to a new goal. I did meet my goals for my online business ventures. And am trying to figure out how to expand that to get more out of the same amount of work. I got off to a good start with my November challenge. And took a few things from that I’m trying to institute this year to help me meet other goals.
The big thing I learned with all the goals is that I don’t always consider the why in setting them. Well, I do sometimes, but along the way, discover I might not have laid the path in the right way to accomplish the why. So as I’ve considered my goals for 2012, I have come to a few basic “whys” to help me choose and plan my goals.
- Learn new things
- Improve on current knowledge or skill
- Avoid pushing off to “some day”
From there, I had a long list. A long list. And I started questioning just why I wanted to do those particular things. On the one hand, I love to learn just about anything new, but there can be far better reasoning for choosing something to do than just that it’s new. I should require more motivation than that. So here’s my very specific list of things to accomplish this year.
New things to learn
- Knitting – I need a new hand-work project I can carry places. Goal is to knit one proper, useful thing by the end of the year.
- Quarterly topics – Choose one topic each quarter and read at least three books on it. Two I have in mind right now are stagecraft and physics. My list is far too long, so that’s all I’ve narrowed it down to so far.
Improve skills
- Do a figure 8 on the bike – Worst part of the test for me and I have yet to ever do it within the tiny allotted space. A skill that shows great control over the bike so I plan to master it.
- Adsense/analytics – Have got to get a better grasp on this to help with the money thing. I know I’m leaving money on the table because I can’t make these work for me like I’d like to. This is still a little vague as a goal, really. Need some specifics.
Today, not some day
- Get CHL – Instructor assures me I can pass the test, but I’m anxious. But danged. I can shoot better than those bad guys as the beginning of the new Mission Impossible movie. How do you not hit the guy running in a straight line across the roof? Seriously. Anyway, hard and firm that I will be going for the certification this year.
- Enter a quilt in the state fair – Baby step here as I tend to love my work but see so many flaws in it. Have until the end of July to get an entry in and then send in the quilt. Eventually want to enter a show, but right now, sticking with the fair.
- Add art to my car – So many scratches and dings in poor Fiona. Time to bite the bullet, make some choice on color and get those stickers I’ve always wanted to put on there.
- Paint the bike – I keep dithering on color, investment, blah, blah. It’s got to be painted because it has some lovely chips in the tank paint that can start rusting. Time to just commit already.