Archive for the ‘Goals’ Tag
We need to complete our search for The Perfect Margarita. It’s pretty clear that with its undefeated record in taste tests so far, Don Celso Reposado Tequila is in. But we still need to tweak the recipe!
This blog began to scratch a creative itch … and to provide a platform to chronicle my search for the perfect margarita.
One year later, I’m not as itchy, but I’m not content, either. I haven’t perfected the margarita yet. Clearly, I’m not yet done!
Moving forward, here’s what I’m going to accomplish in the next year:
1. More Presidential Portraits. Since Velda doesn’t read them, I’ve got an opportunity for unfettered free expression. After 35 years of marriage, that’s a very rare thing I must exploit. (the only problem is I’ve run out of Presidents. Hmmmmmm.)
2. Since I’m out of Presidents, I need to identify more old, dead people to write about so Velda won’t read those posts, either. If you have suggestions of old, dead people that Velda won’t find interesting, please advise.
3. More posts about alcohol. Writers need alcohol to function, apparently. Maybe I can grow up to be Hemmingway if I do a series on rum.
4. Note to self: you need to learn to like rum. Haven’t really sought it out since that Colorado summer filled with Bacardi 151. And that was a long, long, long time ago. Thank goodness.
5. We need more posts with Velda’s recipes. MrsMowry’s too. It’s not that they are particularly popular (see yesterday’s list of the top posts, here). However, when we’re preparing a recipe blog post, that means the ladies are cooking so I can photograph the process. Which means excellent cooking in the home. And when the ladies are cooking, life is good. Usually.
6. In case you’re wondering if I cook, the answer is no, no I don’t. I did cook for a time while Velda was in grad school, but apparently my creations were not up to her standards. She still casts aspersions in my direction eleven years later, as do the kids. So, for the record, I will continue to not cook and I will continue to not blog about not cooking. You’re welcome.
Here’s to year 2!
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It’s a classic problem: how do you set goals that are meaningful? Goals that actually will help you succeed?
According to Wikipedia, the concept of SMART goals first appeared in 1981, and the mnemonic has been re-worked in several directions since then by various writers. Here’s my take. Your goals should be SMART:
S – Specific
It’s not enough to create a general goal … such as “I will increase sales” or “I will make more phone calls.” In the end, those goals aren’t strong enough to stand the test of time. Rather, you need to make goals that state exactly what you intend to do: “I will increase sales 5% this year,” or “I will make 50 calls each day next week.”
M – Measurable
Goals have to be measurable … so you know if you made it or not! “I’m going to work really hard the next month” is not a good goal, because there isn’t a way to reliably evaluate your performance.
A – Attainable
Goals are actually harmful if they are impossible to achieve. If the goal is to increase sales by 5,000% each of the next 3 years … well, in most companies, that’s not possible. Sometimes management wants to saddle a sales team with the goals that they “need” to achieve their department goals. However, if the sales team perceives the goals are impossible, they will quickly ignore the goals … and create different personal goals that they CAN achieve. You know, goals like “find a new job this month.”
R – Relevant
It might be great to have a goal to cut the grass by 8am (especially in the summer heat!), but is it really important to have that goal? We all have daily tasks we need to achieve, from cleaning to laundry to grocery shopping. On the other hand, good goals should propel your life forward either personally or professionally.
T – Timely
Good goals should be time-bound: “I’m going to increase sales 15% in the month of April over prior year sales” is very specific; sales are going to be increased in the month of April.
If you’ve been reading my blog, you know that I believe in big personal goals, like the 15-year 2012 Plan, or the 5-year goal of Creating Family Photo Scrapbooks. Big goals are great, certainly, but note that these goals were actually attained.
The best goals are the ones that you focus on, work on, and achieve. We have all made New Year’s resolutions that don’t survive January before they are forgotten. Next year, make a SMART goal.
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I grew up on a small family farm in rural Missouri. My world was pretty small … a trip to St Joseph, 32 miles away, was a very big deal.
I joined Scouting while in second grade, and loved reading Boy’s Life and dreaming big dreams about what I would do in Scouting. One of my biggest dreams was to go on the ultimate Scouting adventure: backpacking at tbe Philmont Scout Reservation, near Cimarron, New Mexico. Understand, my Troop never went backpacking. Such a trip was way, way beyond the resources of my family, and of my troop. It simply wasn’t going to happen. But the dream … did not die.
1970, after receiving my God & Country award. I was 14 years old, and wouldn’t have lasted on the trails of Philmont, even if I could have gotten there.
It’s important to have goals. Really, really big goals. You need to get big ones.
I wrote in a recent post about “The 2012 Plan.” This plan took 15 years to complete, and the best part was that I didn’t have to do the work! I graduated from Mizzou in 1978. Beginning in 1997, it was up to the wife and 3 kids for them to earn their degrees. 15 years and 5 degrees later, we deserve the family celebration that’s just a few days away.
I’m sure that Velda will say that the worst part of the Plan was that the family had to eat my cooking while she was studying for her Masters in Nursing from UCLA. I never understood what the problem was: not only am I proficient in the kitchen, I prepare dishes that Velda never will. And the kids didn’t complain (too much) about the 3 dishes they said I prepared … not even the Hamburger Helper! Good news: we all survived!
No one will mistake what I do for the artistry that Velda performs in the kitchen. But the choice to miss her cooking for a few meals in order for her to achieve one of her big goals was not a choice at all. She’s been happy as a nurse practitioner ever since.
But, back to Philmont. I did not reach that goal until I was 46. But that’s really not the story.
Climbing the Tooth of Time is a part of the Philmont experience that no backpacker should miss!
The problem for me was that Boy Scouts are serious about backpacking, and, thank goodness, they expect the boys and leaders to be in shape. You have to make a goal weight based on your height … or you don’t go on the trail. Once I understood that my boys wanted to go to Philmont, I had to prepare myself. And lose about 60 pounds.
I’ve never been a gym rat. Velda had achieved great success with Weight Watchers, but that didn’t seem like my thing, either. I started doing what I had not done since high school: I decided to run.
The problem, though, was that I wasn’t able to run any distance at all. I started walking in my cross trainer Reeboks, wearing sweats … and worked myself up from there. Eventually, I could run 2 miles without walking. That was a very big day, let me assure you! But I was not nearly done.
I fixed my diet (a calorie-counting shake from Costco in the morning, a banana and an apple for snacks, Subway for lunch, and a sensible dinner from Velda. I kept pushing. And the weight fell off. Running became a daily obsession, and I eventually got up to 7-mile runs on the weekends. I faithfully kept a running log every day, and used a GPS system to track my times for each segment of the runs I did.
By the time I went to Philmont with my boys, I was in the best shape of my life. I had lost 70 pounds. Hitting the trail with 50+ pounds on my back for a 10-day, 52-mile trek was still nothing to sneeze at, but I was ready. I was 46, but keeping up with 17-year old boys was not a problem. We sat on the Tooth of Time at sunrise, and we proudly proclaimed “Go Big or Go Home” while we reveled in the burro races, the trail food, and a feeling of self reliance that’s very difficult to discover if you’re sitting on your sofa.
It was the most personally fulfilling thing I have done in Scouting. And I got there because I had a goal. A big one.
We made it: Michael Mowry, Christopher Mowry, myself, and Lyle “The Destroyer” Wohlfarth with the map he was in charge of for all 52 miles. 2003.
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