Here in Colorado, we have a little over 16 hours until 2011 is history. Many people are, like me, looking back at 2011 and looking ahead to 2012.
Yes, the dreaded “resolutions”. I think they are no better than the holidays created by marketers in that they create another excuse to sell you stuff. But that’s a subject for another post. I stopped making “resolutions” a long time ago because they seldom, if ever, result in positive, lasting change — and end up costing me money after I buy all the stuff I need to implement them!
Nevertheless, the first of the year is as good a time as any to think about what you want to accomplish during the new year, and having at least a general idea of what you want to accomplish during a given time period is a good idea. A year is kind of arbitrary, though, and some of the stuff I’ve been reading this week is making me think differently about the whole process. Yet other factors practically demand that I have at least some idea about what I want to accomplish over the next several months, as I’ll explain in a moment.
Regarding the “no goals” camp: One of my online business colleagues has decided to not set any goals this year. I met Lynn Terry this past summer at a conference here in Colorado Springs, and while the conference only lasted a couple of days (which means I don’t really know her THAT well!), I came away with the impression that there’s congruousness between what you read on her blog and who she really is. And when she mentioned that she isn’t going to set any goals in 2012, it makes sense. For her (and probably many others).
If I understand her background correctly, Lynn has been working on her business for about 15 years. In my opinion, she has reached the point where she can (and should) be a bit picky about what she does. And according to her blog post, her decision was influenced by a blog post over at Zen Habits, where Joshua Fields Milburn talked about why he no longer sets goals. Good post, good points — definitely worth the time it will take to read. And this plan will, I think, serve Lynn well as she moves forward. But I’m not convinced that fully doing things this way would be in my best interests.
I agree with the concept that you should do things because you want to do them (and in some cases, because you have to do them; try going without bathing and brushing your teeth for a few weeks if you don’t agree!). And goals for the sake of having goals isn’t a good idea, either, because the “doing” can interfere with the “being”. Setting goals simply to stay busy isn’t a good idea. You can lose Life and Living in your “busy-ness”.
But I’m going to contrast our situations for a moment. Lynn has been working on her business for 15 years, enjoys (deservedly) a lot of success with it, and really connects with her blog readers / viewers and customers. So perhaps she can afford the luxury of “no goals”? I’m not convinced that I can afford that at the moment. Or can I?
From a professional viewpoint, I’m doing well. I have my computer security certifications and a great job, both of which allow me to do somthing important (protecting the US military’s computer networks). But when I look at the contractor identification card they issued me, there’s a big ol’ expiration date of August 31, 2012. That’s 8 months from today.
What then? It’s not the first ID card they’ve given me that had an expiration date, and in the past, I’ve always gotten a new one. But in this day and age of huge budget cuts, will I get another one come September 1? It’s far from certain, and to act as if an extended contract is a certainty would, in my opinion, not be a wise decision.
So I don’t think that I can afford to live without “goals” of some type. As I’ve stated many times in the past, I love my job, I love my profession, and I have no intention of quitting my job at any time in the near future. But that date is staring me in the face, and while I can rationalize the situation until the cows come home, saying that I’ll still be working come September 1, Reality says that I can’t depend on it. In other words, while I have no plans on quitting my job, my job may quit me! So there will be “goals” — but those goals will be flexible and based on what I’ve been observing over the past few days.
I have the skills and knowledge to make money online but have been sort of “floundering”, for lack of a better word. I float from one idea to another and from one “system” to another. I sit down at my desk, unsure of what I’m going to be doing when I get there. A lot of this is due to the fact that I do have a good job that pays well. I need to change my basic mindset, stop depending on that money, and create a business that will pay for my life. Depending on a job is far too risky.
So I’m going to set goals. Not resolutions; they are the fallacy of American society. Make a resolution, invest in it fully, the abandon it before February gets here. You should see all the email in my Inbox about how to take advantage of the millions of people who are “resolving” to lose weight and get in shape this year — but do it NOW because the market will dry up by February! And if that’s not enough to convince you, just take a walk through your local warehouse club and look at all the diet and fitness books and equipment that’s currently on display…
My goals will be different. I’m going to sit down today with a tablet (the paper kind, not the electronic kind!) and take inventory of the things that I “like” to do. Things that bring me pleasure (like writing). Then I’m going to go through every thing I purchased in 2012 and figure out why I bought it. I most likely purchased those things because I saw a “pleasurable” way to ethically make money with the product (not always; sometimes, if the price is low enough, I’ll buy something because I’m curious. Most of those purchases, however, turn out to be a waste of money). Between the two, I should have plenty of ideas that will lead to “un-goals” for the first 8 months of the year. But they must contribute to my main goal, i.e. get to the point that I don’t have to rely on job income to pay for life.
Even without doing this exercise, I know that I love to write, so writing will be high on my list for 2012. I’ve even considered copywriting in the past; perhaps it’s time to get serious about that? But regardless how this exercise turns out, I will have goals (sorry, Lynn! 
) — but the road I take to reach those goals will be a pleasant one.
If you are thinking about making “resolutions”, I’d like to encourage you to rethink your decision. Hopefully outlining where I am right now, and what’s on my mind, will help you turn inadequate resolutions into something much stronger — something that will improve your life in many ways.
Comments on this entry are closed.