The quest to find one’s identity is the heartbeat of
humanity. The quest for identity can be attributed to many things that lay the
foundation to one’s identity, such as race, culture, sex, or even personal
history. Daniel Keys’ writing of “Flowers for Algernon” is an example of one
man’s journey to find himself. Everyone lives their life as a journey to simply
find their one true self.
Everyone deserves to be treated as though their life has
meaning and value. Incidentally, Charlie Gordon defends his right to be seen as
somebody. “” But I’m not an inanimate object” I argued, “I’m a person.”” (Keys
p 89). This argument of his has the haunting element of the many peoples who
have been trapped in the bonds of slavery over the years, proclaiming their
right to be seen as equals, also that statement can be ingrained in a society
of oppressed people such as the Jews who were horrifically persecuted and
maimed simply because of being Jewish and their desperate cries to be seen as a
real people, who deserved a place and a right in society as much as any other
nation of people.
Another standard by which some choose to use as a form of
personal identity is one’s status. For some people, the more they have, whether
it is friends or possessions, the more popular or revered they will be. Charlie
Gordon believed that if he gained more intelligence, was smarter, everyone
would like him more and he would have more friends. He recorded this theory as
he was writing in his progress reports before he had the surgery to make him
smarter. “If your smart you can have lots of friends to talk to and you never
get lonely by yourself all the time.” (Keys p 15). This is much the same way of
thinking by people who believe that the more nicer things they have, such as,
expensive sports cars, boats, or expensive material things the more status they
will have and therefore people will look up to them and admire them. It also
correlates to the idea that others have, in that, if they “go with the flow”
and do what the “in crowd” does, they will have more friends and not be lonely;
such as, if they go clubbing or to bars and drink and party like everyone does,
they will always have lots of friends around and never worry about being
lonely. However, sadly enough, this way of thinking is shallow and generally
lends itself to reckless actions that leads on to finding themselves in a much
worse place than they were before they tried to use their status to forge
friendships.
Charlie learned after his operation that intelligence is
also an identifying factor in one’s identity. People become categorized by the
level of their education or intelligence and others react to them accordingly.
Often times people of higher intelligence tend to look down or dismiss the
validity of someone else because they are of lesser intelligence. In a
conversation between Charlie and Alice, this idea was addressed as she pointed
out to him that he, in fact, made her feel awkward following the operation
because she could not keep up with him intellectually and stated that next to
Charlie, she felt dull-witted. She went on to say to him that now, most days
that they see each other, after she leaves him, she goes home with a miserable
feeling that she is now slow and dense about everything. She explains that she
reviews things that they have said to each other and thinks of things that she
should have said and thinks of all the bright and witty things that she should
have said, then feels like kicking herself because she did not think to say
them when they were together. This kind of intelligence segregation begins
early in life. One can see it in schools where the smart, or more commonly
referred to as, “preppy” kids demean or simply ignore the lesser aptitude
students. It is also prevalent in the workplace as higher up the management
chain. The more educated and higher salaried employees do not really do any
kind of socializing wither the lower educated and lesser salaried employees. In
many cases, it falls back to the status ideology, but mostly in these
situations, it simply rests on the principle that at different intelligence
levels, they do not have very much in common and do not have the ability to
communicate on the same intellectual levels.
From birth, one’s family, culture, heritage, and
ethnicity begin laying the groundwork to their identity. As one progresses
through life, factors such as education, work experiences, status, friends, and
relationships mold the clay and help to define their one true identity. Each
individual lives out their lives in a way so as to find that quest on one’s
true self. Charlie Gordon gained just enough intelligence to realize that no
matter how much one can alter their life, deep down, there is no changing who a
person truly is. The core value of the idea is that all men are created equal,
but society sets the standards by which all men are perceived.
Resources
Keys, Daniel. Flowers for Algernon. Orlando: Harcourt,
2004. Print.
Life throws a lot of things our way. Life will send the storms; the flood, the fire, and the rain. But I believe the most important thing to consider is, when the water recedes, what does your character say about you? I have literally been through some of life’s storms. My son and I were trapped in our severely damaged home after the Palm Sunday tornadoes in 1994, and most recently my family survived a devastating flood. Having to jump from a window because we were in danger and getting to higher ground to watch our life literally floating away before our very eyes. They say, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” but I like to take that a step further and say that I believe what doesn’t kill you can make you kinder.
One who learns to value
how fragile life is can in turn learn to appreciate even the smallest gestures
of kindness. Since the flood, I have seen my sixteen year old daughter really
grow in her maturity. She has ministered to friends at school, and even to
those in school whom she does not consider very friendly. She makes posts on
Facebook and Twitter that get hundreds of likes and retweets. She has become
quite the inspiration to many, and she is without doubt the most uplifting
person I know. Her character speaks volumes of the wonderful person she is, and
people are naturally drawn to her because they feel better just being around
her.
Since the flood, I have become more aware of people, as in their actions and reactions. I recently took my car in for service at the dealership, and while I was there I planned to catch up on some of my reading. I found myself getting sidelined by people watching instead. Mostly I was watching and listening to the employees of the service department. Many of the “grunt” workers of the department were coming into the main area and mingling a bit. As I watched them and caught bits and pieces of their side conversations, I gathered it was lunch time and the service department manager had lunch catered in to them every day. I was highly impressed by this. Not by the fact they were enjoying BBQ sandwiches as much, but rather in how they responded to him and him with them. He was more than a boss to the men in his employ, he was a leader. Many places would think nothing of the employees clocking out, fighting traffic to get to a place of choice, and waiting to get their meal before finally eating only to fight traffic getting back. But there was no “every man for himself” attitude in that service department. I could easily see the employees not only respected him, but admired him, and they followed his example. I was so impressed by witnessing of the service manager’s character, that I called my daughter right there in the lounge and bragged emphatically over the place.
I’ve also taken notice of
people’s reactions to you in checkout lines. Of course employees are taught to
say the generic “have a nice day” as part of their customer service training.
But how many people going through those lines, actually appreciate or take time
to reciprocate their “have a nice day?” I have started a habit, sadly I do not
remember to do it every time while in checkout lines- I’m far from perfect, but
when the cashier says for me to have a nice day, I reply with “thank you, and
you have a blessed day as well.” I have
had quite a response to this. I’ve had many people take a double take, light
up, and say, “Thank you so much!” with gleaming smiles.
We all have bad days, bad
weeks, and bad years, but the trick is, not to let the storm make you bitter.
Besides, we never know when someone else’s day is worse. Are they still in
their time of flood season? Maybe just a simple gesture of kindness can make a
difference in someone’s storm. So when life throws her perils your way, and the
waters recede from the flood, what will your character say about you? Anyone
can learn the mundane task of repeating “have a nice day” as part of your
routine. But I believe people should be sincere in their delivering and
receiving of even the simplest acts of kindness. I believe that once the dust
settles and when the water recedes, people have the ability to learn valuable
lessons from the story, and even greater, the ability to grow from the
experience. Just like glass is put into the fire to refine it and make it
something beautiful, I believe we can use our trials by fire to refine us and
build the kind of character that legacies are made of.
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Being a strong, independent woman is not necessarily a bad thing. Yet, it does not always serve one well in the grand scheme of life. Never, will I ever, say that being strong or independent are characteristics that are not admirable or desired. However, there are times in life where we find ourselves at a crossroads in which it is best to just sit back and allow fate to control our paths. It has been said that some of the best things in life are either free or unplanned. The greatest things in life are both.
I was doing pretty well for myself. I had a good job and made
a decent living. I had a cute little “hipster” house for myself and my then eighteen-year-old
daughter. I was taking college courses to complete my next-level degree. And, I
had a pretty rad car, a brand new 2013 Camaro, that I felt like a total bad ass
driving around. I belonged to a Camaro car club and went to car shows and races
when I wanted to and did not go when I did not want to. I had a friend who had
introduced me to gold prospecting, and when I was not off on some car club
event or writing six page essays, I was knee deep in some North Georgia creek shoveling
out pans of pay dirt to sift through and add to my vial of shimmering flakes of
promise and prosperity. Ah, there was something very intoxicating indeed about
holding up that glass container full of nuggets and flakes that had not been before
touched by human hands. I had a good life. I had it all together. My life was
utterly perfect, right?
Enter, stage right. It seemed simple enough, a friend request from a Facebook car group was not an uncommon occurrence. Then, he showed up in my direct message inbox. Also, not altogether an unheard-of occurrence. I checked out his profile. I mean, we can all say we are not, and we can try to pretend and even convince ourselves we are not in the least bit materialistic and reactive to people based on their physical appearance. But all of the pretending in the world does not change the fact that we are human, and we are reactive to people based on their physical appearance and how they can be perceived by the world. He was surely cute, and very small-town country, which lent an air of charming about him that made him all the more appealing. But then there it was. His birthdate. How could this be? I had a child of my very own that was older than him. I mean, sure, it was very flattering to be flirted with by a younger man. But, was this too far? Was he too young? I let reason and logic get the better of me and fought back his flirtatious advances by calling him “small fry” continually reminding him that I had “given birth to people older than him.” It seemed the more I resisted, the harder he pursued. That boy definitely had no quit in him. Eventually, I had given in and gave him my cell phone number so that we could chat with each other on just more than the Facebook app. His voice was so deeply rich in southern twang. I am, myself, from North Georgia and have for the better part of my life been made fun of for my southern accent. But this small-town North Carolina boy even impressed me with how country is twang was. He was charming and opinionated. Over time, getting to talk to him and listen to his infectious laughter became one of my most anticipated highlights of my day. Eventually, we reached that critical point in every online relationship, he wanted to meet offline. Deep down, I wanted to meet him too. Just to be near him both excited me and scared the hell out of me simultaneously. I mean, there was still that giant elephant in the room, and I was not sure how that would play out if we did meet and discovered that we did, in fact, have a real romantic connection. My daughter and her best friend, who, after reading every single text between us and convincing me to put him on speaker for some of our conversations to listen in on us, encouraged us to meet. My daughter’s friend struck the final blow when she told me that, “if he is willing to make that much of an effort, he deserves a chance.” To this day, I still give Lauren full credit for everything that has happened since then.
So, with nervous anticipation, I packed a small weekend bag, and headed out after work for the longest and most nerve-wrecking five-hour drive of my life. What was I doing? Was I really driving two states away to meet a boy half my junior, and for what? What did I really expect to come of this? Did I really think this was going to be some romantic fairy tale? I experienced every emotion imaginable during that drive. When I arrived and I saw him in person for the first time, my hands were shaking. He immediately calmed me as he wrapped his arms around me in a tight embrace. The kind of hug that says, I have waited for this for such a long time. Suddenly, all of the playful banter and flirting became very real. We spent the next two days barely out of each other’s sight. It was magical, and surreal all at once. We went out in public, and I was aware of the questioning and condescending stares from strangers. He did not care, or he was completely oblivious; either way, he had no reaction to anyone and their judgments. He was enthralled in our spending time together. That Sunday morning as I drove him back to his house, it was the most somber and sad drive. He all but begged me not to leave, and admittedly, there was a part of me that never wanted to leave his side. But my life and my job and my family were back in Georgia, and Georgia was where I had to be. I left the radio turned off in the car and just reflected about the weekend and what it meant as I drove south. Once I crossed the South Carolina state line, I was overcome with such sadness, already missing him. I cried.
A week later, there was a huge car show event in Atlanta, and
then a big race that every car enthusiast around planned to attend. We had
talked about it several times. I had already made plans to go, and we had hoped
for him to get to go with me. He decided to. Since he lived a solid five and a
half hours away, the plan was for him to stay with me for two weeks and we
would enjoy the two car events. I was excited during that week to get to see him
again. I had confided in a few of my coworkers about our meeting, and there
was, as expected, mixed reactions, given the great white elephant. But, at the
end of the day, they loved me and wanted me to be happy, they just also wanted
me to be smart about what I chose to pursue that happiness. The week passed and
we were back together. It was glorious! We enjoyed both car events, and just
spending the evenings after I got home from work being together. I showed him
some of my favorite and most special places around town. We talked, and
laughed, and held hands, and fell in love during those two weeks. The weeks passed
and he continued to stay at my place. At first, I did not mention it, because I
was really enjoying having him there with me. One night, we drove to the mountain
overlook, one of the most sacred and special places for me. I brought up the
subject, given that he had came to stay with me for an intended two weeks with nothing
more than a duffle bag full of clothes. As we sat overlooking the city down
below us and the stars above, shining incredibly bright against the black sky backdrop,
we talked, and we cried. We talked of what we wanted out of life, what made
sense, what seemed irrational, and what felt right. We both cried a little as he
talked about how torn he was between going back home and staying with me
forever. I said little, because deep down, I had come to love him, and I wanted
him to stay. But I could not be selfish, so I simply said that it had to be his
choice. As if on cue, the Perseid meteor shower began all around the sky
overhead. He pulled me in close to him, pressed his face to mine, and I could
feel his tears as they washed down my cheek. A great silence filled the air,
and I knew no matter what he decided, I had to accept it and simply be grateful
for the moment we shared. He pulled back and looked at me. The light from the
stars and the meteor shower reflecting in those big beautiful eyes of his as he
smiled down at me. He did not have to tell me that he had made his choice, or
what he had decided, I felt it in every fiber of my being. We sat for several
hours under the spectacular light show the universe had put on for us that
night and we talked about our future. Being in a real relationship would not be
an easy feat, given the white elephant. There would be many people, even family
and friends, who would not accept it or support it. We talked out every
scenario and defeated any doubt lingering. Everyone would not agree with it,
but we had reached a point where that no longer mattered. We were in love, and
we were going to do this.
As expected, a lot of people were not very excited about our relationship. Many questioned it, others doubted it would last past being more than a summer fling. But, over time, everyone changed their opinions of us. My daughter has always been very supportive of our relationship, as she had said once that she has never seen me this happy. It is not about me being unhappy prior to meeting him; remember I had a good life going and had my shit together. I had a good family support system, I had friends both at and outside of work, and I had hobbies and did things that I enjoyed. But she knew, as human beings, it is in our nature to desire being in relationships. Whether they are platonic, family, or romantic, we are ingrained to have relationships. I was not looking to find someone to date when I met him, yet our relationship has provided me so much in ways that I had never imagined. She saw that and has always been our biggest cheerleader. I always said that I never wanted someone to complete me; that I wanted to be complete and whole as a person on my own, then to find someone who would simply add to the quality of my life. I have stuck by that idea. He did not bring anything material to the table, as I had a good job, a nice car, and already lived on my own fully self-sustaining. But what he has added to my life has been companionship, friendship, romance, love, and joy. Things that I would not have otherwise. Our life was shaping up to be something great. One night, over a half a bottle of Everclear and Orange Juice, we talked about making this permanent. We joked about it after the fact, but I believe mainly that was because each of us thought the alcohol was talking for the other and we were nervous to ask each other if we really meant everything, we said that night. Yet, with Brianna’s help, he set up the most incredible scene at the million-dollar view on Christmas Eve, and slipped a ring on my finger. A promise of forever was made under an overcast rain-drizzled night.
Since that night, we have made things official and were married on a sunny September afternoon. We also made another huge leap of faith when we decided to follow my son and daughter in law to Southwest Florida to live. Ironically, my dream for the past ten years has been to live in a condo in the Gulf of Mexico, and the first trip we had taken together for our birthday was to St Augustine Florida, not exactly the Gulf, I know, but it somehow made Florida special for us. Sadly, Ryan and Teresa decided not to stay, and they elected to move the babies back to north Georgia. It was very hard for us, but at the end of the day, we had to respect their choice. For various reasons, we have stayed in Florida. There are days when we hate it and days when we love it. He is more than my best friend; he is my rock. He holds me and lets my cry when I miss my family or want an ice cream date with my granddaughter. He risks an almost guaranteed sunburn to brave the beach with me, because he knows, “that’s what you move to Florida for.” Our relationship has not been without it share of storms, but we have managed to weather them, thus far. Will our age difference defy the odds and our relationship stand the test of time and last forever? Who is to say, really? Only time can tell. But I am not planning to waste any precious time right now trying to worry over whether it will last or for how long. Right now, it is, and that is all that matters. I told him once that regardless of whether we make it or not, and there will always be a chance that we will not, no matter what happens, I will always be grateful for the time that we have had, for the things that we have shared, and for the love created, and for the life that we have enjoyed. I have also told him that we are going to have a great life, and we do have a great life. No matter how long it lasts, if it lasts forever or if it only lasts a few years, I have a great life with Henry, and a life that I will always be grateful for.
First on the list is Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis. While Girl, Wash Your Face is not specifically a productivity book, per say, I felt it deserved to make the top of the list. Rachel Hollis explains in this book we can tend to allow the lies and limitations thrust upon us by society to prevent us from having the courage to pursue our own dreams, ambitions, and goals. And, that is counterproductive. Rachel is so charming, and adorable. She is so raw and authentic in telling her own story as she progresses through the book, that she immediately becomes your friend. In fact, she is the one friend you want there when you suffer a bad break up or you do not get into nursing school. She will comfort you, much like a half-melted pint of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia and she will cry tears with you, real tears. Then she will wipe your messy misty hair away from your face and bring you back into the reality that those people and those things do not get to define who you are. It is impossible to be productive in the pursuit of your dreams and ambitions and the achievement of your goals, let alone just getting through your daily to-do lists when you are weighted down with the ideology that you are not good enough, or pretty enough, or smart enough, or even, lucky enough to accomplish them. Let Rachel hold your hand through the journey of peeling off the layers of self-doubt, insecurity, and blaming and shaming yourself, so that you can have a clean slate to being the foundation of gaining confidence to productively build the life you want- the life you deserve.
Second on the list is Get Your Sh*t Together by Sarah Knight . Sarah is witty and funny in her straight-forward approach to becoming more productive. She uses the concept of mental decluttering. Whereby, you will purge from your mind all the unnecessary things that take up too much of your time and energy and hinder you from getting the real important stuff done. Unlike “Girl, Wash Your Face,” which focuses on a form of mental decluttering the negative thoughts that pervade our beliefs and our faith in ourselves, this book is more about a mental decluttering of the things that can rob us of our productivity by sucking up so much of our time. Things like constantly checking emails, or stopping whatever you are doing far too many times throughout the day to scroll on social media, or with a nervous half-smile reluctantly agreeing to volunteer to help with the company bake sale this Saturday, even though you know you have a paper to write for school or you had planned to go THIS Saturday to get those tires changed that are wearing thin. The focus of this book emphasizes the need to learn how to prioritize. By taking an accurate inventory of everything you have on your plate, aka schedule, and weeding out the things that are not a high priority and concentrating on the ones that have the highest priority, you set yourself up to be more productive throughout the day and week. Her principle is based on the notion that if you have something come up that you feel obligated to do, but you have to give up something that you really wanted to do or something you really need to do, then this new thing is a low priority and you should not feel obligated. Just because you are asked by a dear friend, coworker, or family member, does not mean that yes should always be the answer.
Next, we find The 5 Second Rule written by Mel Robbins. Mel uses wit and logic to delve into the story of how the 5 Second Rule came to be. It started out as a tool to help “launch” her out of bed in the mornings and stop hitting the snooze button until she had wasted the better part of every morning avoiding getting up and facing her life. The principle of this book is how we can reset our thoughts and actions by triggering our prefrontal cortex simply by counting down from 5. The key to the rule is that you have to count down from 5, 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Liftoff! Mel uses the science backed idea that if you count forward from 1, your brain will, by nature keep counting with no stopping point. The 5 Second Rule is based on the idea that within as little as five seconds, we can allow fear and doubt to take over our thoughts and prevent us from taking action to do the things we very much want to do. Some of the examples used in the book include a man sitting at a bar and wanting to speak to a woman he sees across the room or a woman who decides to take her sister’s children to raise following her untimely death, or anyone sitting in a work meeting with a great idea but afraid to speak up for fear of no one else in the meeting agreeing that it is a good idea. Within as little as five crucial seconds, either of them could have made the decision to act on their choices, or have allowed fear and doubt hinder their judgement and cause them to miss out on some pretty incredible opportunities. Opportunities can be lost forever, in as little as five seconds. This book is about switching those negative thoughts of fear and doubt before they have a chance to take a hold and change the outcome from what you initially intended. This book is about restructuring the way you think in a way to give you more confidence and courage to act on the things you want to. To become fearless and believe in yourself. The book also has an accompanying journal and workbook, although neither are necessary to read the book or gain an invaluable plan from it, they are, in essence, additional tools to help reinforce the concept of the 5 Second Rule.
Once we break the habit of hitting our snooze button, we then find The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. The importance of a good morning routine is paramount to having a productive day. You can pick up any of one dozen or more books about productivity or success and they will all tell you that the most productive and successful people all practice the ritual of a regular morning routine. The size of the Miracle Morning community is phenomenal; all you have to do is search miracle morning on YouTube and you will find hundreds of videos by people who have adopted this morning ritual and swear by the positive impact that is has had on their lives. The Miracle Morning is about building an enriching morning routine around what Hal has termed the Life S.A.V.E.R.S. Each of the letters of the savers acronym represents a specific area for self growth and life enrichment. S- represents silence. Whether it is meditation, prayer, reflection, or just simply sitting in silence, Hal stresses the importance of beginning your morning ritual by clearing out the lingering thoughts. To get your head clear and focused to tackle the day without a myriad of things running around through your mind all day. A- represents affirmations. Hal points out that chanting in the mirror, “I am pretty.” “I am smart.” will not really have any lasting benefit if you are just mindlessly repeating words for the sake of repeating words. He emphasizes getting real and personal with the affirmations. Speaking to yourself positively about something personal and important to you will stand a greater chance of having lasting effects. V- represents visualization. Creating a vision board is the top suggestion. By placing the things you want to achieve onto something tangible that you can physically look at will help you gain the needed momentum for working toward those goals. Hal suggest sitting and actually visioning yourself not only once achieving the goal, but also, to visualize yourself working toward that goal, such as driving yourself to the gym every morning. E- represents exercise. It is no guarded secret of the benefits exercise has on us, both physically and mentally. One would be hard pressed to be productive throughout their day if they are suffering from ailments or just generally in physical pain from simply moving. Whether it is ten minutes or an hour, exercise is one part of morning routine that is bound to have the most immediate effects on how you feel. R- represents reading. Hal encourages daily reading, but puts more emphasis on reading for personal development. There are countless online options for courses or classes in personal growth and development. S- represents scribing. Journaling is suggested as one of the best means for your daily scribe. After meditating to purge all those thoughts out of your head and then reading for personal development, journaling would be a great way to write down how you feel about the things your learned that morning. Also, taking notes and writing out a plan for the things that your read about in your personal development reading would be a great means for daily scribing. Hal encourages his reader to begin with a 30-day challenge for trying the Miracle Morning, and then decide for yourself if you see a noticeable difference or not.
And, finally, last but certainly not least on the list is How To Make Sh*t Happen written by Sean Whalen. Sean takes a no-nonsense in-your-face approach to keeping yourself on track with the things that are most important in life. This book is not for the faint of heart. However, the reality is often times we need a gentle nudge and sometimes we need a swift kick in the rear to snap us back in line. Sean delivers on that swift kick of justice for us when we need it. He uses his principle of the “Core 4” to guide a plan for structuring every day around doing one thing, purposefully, to work on the four core areas of our lives that should be regarded in the highest. The core four areas are: Passion (relationships), Power (body), Purpose (mind), and Production (business). The idea is that every day you set one timed task to work on each of these four areas, and that by working on each of these each and every day, it will move you closer toward your end goal of relationship, health, financial and personal development success. The action steps planned are to be daily, they are better executed when they are timed and scheduled, and they are non-negotiable. Being that almost everyone nowadays has a smart phone within arms reach at any given moment, he stresses that the phone is the perfect planner to set about planning your Core 4 tasks. Some examples he gives is setting a timer on your phone to text a flirty message to your significant other, or find a trainer or workout partner to keep you accountable in your fitness goals. He also stresses the importance of having a morning routine. All too often, we tend to pick up self-help or personal development books and get all fired up over them because they are saturated with great ideas, and resources, and in our hearts, we know they are filled up with truth. Yet, somehow, when we finish reading the book, we put it down and move on to another book without ever looking back. Sean knows this, and he is continually giving commands throughout the book to “do this now.” As he is going through each of the four principles, he asks you to put the book down and take purposeful and deliberate action to work on the things that are important enough to work on every. Single. Day.
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The 7 characteristics of goals: Goals should be self-chosen- which means they should be something that you care about, are passionate about, or just simply something that you want for yourself. They should not be someone else’s goals for you. Goals should be moderately challenging- which means they should be something that you have to work toward. If everything is handed to you on a silver platter, there would be no reason to make any effort. Goals should be realistic- which means that your goals should be something that you can actually do. Getting my degree in human services is a goal that I can actually achieve, while buying a villa in Cabo San Lucas and becoming the president of Mexico is not a very realistic goal for me. Goals should be measurable- which means, you should be able to see them. Saying that I want to “do good” in my course is too vague, whereas, saying I want to get a B on my midterm exam is a more defined measure of my success. Goals should be specific- which means, your goals should be clearly defined. Saying I want a job close to home is rather vague, but if I specify that I would like to get a job working for Bartow County Government narrows the goal into a more specific and attainable goal. Goals should be finite- which means that your goals should have a deadline. Saying that I am working on my degree is broad. It does not imply what type of degree or how long I am working on it. It would be better to state my goals as, I plan to have my bachelor degree in May of 2018. That provides a deadline that I can measure courses completed and final grades to courses needed and required GPA for graduation. Goals need to be positive- which means the goal should be something to work toward that will improve your life. If the goal does not add to the quality of your life or situation, there will be little motivation to complete it.
5 steps to writing effective goals: The steps to writing out effective goals should begin with your goal statement. Secondly, you would list the obstacles or challenges you expect to face in obtaining your goal. Then you would list the available resources you have or plan to have that can help you work through those challenges and put yourself in a better position to obtain the goal stated. You would then list the motivation for the goal. Your motivation can be whatever the driving force is behind achieving this goal for yourself, whether it be your family and making a better life for them by the financial gain of the goal, or personal, such as the sense of accomplishment you feel from achieving your goal after others told you that you could not accomplish it. Then lastly, you would review your goal statement after completing the lists of obstacles and resources in comparison to your motivation, and revise the goal statement.
5 Step Action Plan
Step 1- Tentative goal statement: What is the desired outcome of your goal? What are you hoping to achieve or gain from this goal? Step 2- List of obstacles. List all of the obstacles, including work and family requirements that need to be considered when working to achieve your goals. Step 3- List of resources. Make a list of every resource you have available to help you in working tow Step 4- List your motivation. Your “Why”- list the greatest benefit from realizing your goal. . Step 5- Revised goal statement. I will do the work necessary to -Make this an action statement directly related to achieving your goal. .
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Life, on purpose! 