2021 Goals and Ideals: Zooming in and Zooming Out

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Last January, I decided to come up with 20 things I wanted to improve upon in 2020. They ranged from being more mindful and optimistic to decluttering and using less plastic. Then, each month, when I sat down to review and set monthly goals, I'd take a look at the list to see which three I'd done a particularly good job with that month and which ones I wanted to focus on in the month to come. This helped me to keep my list in mind in a low-key sort of way. I could have posted the list prominently, on the bathroom mirror, perhaps (I do have an I need to see it personal style, after all), but I preferred to let it whir away in the back of my mind instead. The idea was that the items were things to improve upon over time, not benchmarks to hit by a certain date. While this flies in the face of SMART goals, it worked for me, allowing me to make progress on a variety of ideas that mattered to me, rather than striving toward measurable, time-based goals.

How'd I do? Pretty well, overall. I made solid improvement on 17 or 18 of the twenty. I deemed one unrealistic (or at least in need of reworking). And the 20th item? I failed miserably. Oddly enough, that one (set a screen time curfew) seemed fairly straightforward pre-COVID but, somewhere between April and October, I stopped caring about doing it. No motivation, no progress.

As I move forward into 2021, I definitely want to do this again. Some of the items will stay on the list because, although I got better, there's still room for improvement. As I write this, I'm tinkering with the number, though, and leaning toward sticking with 20. While 21 things in 2021 doesn't sound too daunting, I'm hoping to be around for 2035 and 35 things in 2035 sounds a bit overwhelming. More important, the goal is baby steps, and making the list longer and longer doesn't seem to be in keeping with the theme. 

What does this have to do with organizing by STYLE, especially since some the things on my list had nothing to do with organizing? Lists like these go to the heart of Take small steps (the T in STYLE). When I write about taking small steps here, it's usually with respect to chipping away at organization-related projects or items on our to-do lists. But taking small steps is also the best way to get to big goals that mean something to us beyond simply restoring order and making day-to-day life run more smoothly.

geralt via Pixabay

The new year is a great time to think about these kinds of things. What kinds of small steps do we want to take toward ideas and ideals that are important to us? 

Maybe, for example, I want to be more spiritual or more mindful or more optimistic, or use less plastic, less paper, or just less in general. If I were crafting a SMART goal, I'd need to quantify these things and set a time frame in which to achieve my goal. But, if I'm developing a habit, I can simply keep these things in mind and look for opportunities to do them. The first (the SMART goal) is a focused way of taking one small step, while the second (more/less focus) is a broader approach that trains me to be open to opportunities I might otherwise miss. I could set a goal to take a reusable bag with me to the supermarket every week, for example, or I could keep in mind that I want to, as a rule, use less plastic. This might lead me to look around for ways to use less plastic, which could include regularly traveling with reusable bags, as well as getting a reusable water bottle and looking for alternatives to plastic sandwich and freezer bags. It might even lead me to consider the makeup of items I buy on a regular basis. 

Let me be clear. Both options have merit. In fact, every step on the way to our goals is a good one. I'm sure, though, that you've already identified the approach you think will work for you -- or maybe you want to do a little of both. It depends on your style, and it probably depends on the end point you have in mind as well.

Organizing by STYLE is based on our understanding of ourselves and what we know works for us. Once we've identified our styles and learned to think of what comes naturally as an asset, there's no limit to where that thinking can take us. So, for 2021, I will once again be making a list and checking it more than twice. 

Care to join me?

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3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys to Setting and Achieving REAL Goals

Photo: Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

On Monday, over at The Porch Swing Chronicles, I wrote about my discovery that there's more than one way to set a goal. While I teach my students to set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound) and I try to do the same, I've discovered that sometimes a less structured goal can work just as well.

Is this just an excuse for laziness? It could be. But I think that, in specific circumstances, a "mushy" goal can work just as well. When the thing we're aiming to do is meaningful (especially if just doing it is rewarding) and we're striving to fit it into our lives in an unstructured kind of way (e.g. to merely do more of something), a REAL goal (yes, I just made that up)* is less likely to backfire.

What's a REAL goal?

Reasonable (we can imagine incorporating this into our lives)
Enticing      (we are motivated to incorporate this into our lives)
Attainable   (we can reasonably carve out a small space of time to make this happen)
Limited       (we can enrich our lives even by doing this only a little at a time)

Here are 3 keys to setting and achieving a REAL goal:

• Make it meaningful. A REAL goal should be something you want to do because it matters to you. It should not be something someone else wants you to do or something you think you should do. REAL goals are just for you.

• Make it accessible. When I made a Lenten resolution to read more, I put my Kindle in my purse so that wherever my purse went, books did, too. At home, I made sure to leave my print books and magazines where I could see them (not all of them at once, of course). In addition to making it easy to grab reading material, even when I had only a few minutes, visibility served as a reminder to make time for my REAL goal.

• Accept the ebb and flow. If you want a structured goal that makes you accountable on a regular basis, set a SMART goal. If you want to gradually integrate something of importance into your life, set a REAL goal. Because REAL goals are not time-bound, it's fine if we spend five minutes on them one day, fifteen minutes the next and, some days, we neglect them entirely. The fact that REAL goals are motivating in and of themselves works in their favor, nudging us to go back to them if we spend too much time away.

REAL goals weave richness into our lives by giving us the opportunity to step back and think about the things that matter to us. When our days seem like endless to-do lists, it's hard to imagine that will ever change, and it can be a daily challenge to find time to do the things that make us uniquely who we are. REAL goals encourage us to do just that.

*I did a quick search to see if REAL goals were already a thing, just not a thing I'd heard of. A couple of people have written about the concept of real goals, but I found nothing that matches my description.