Open Loops 4/14/2009: Articles I Thought Worth Passing Along: Goals Edition

Posted on April 14, 2009 by LJ Earnest
Categories: Open Loops

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Tuesdays are open loop at SimpleProductivity blog.

This week a lot of my reading, both past and present, centered around goals. Here are some of the articles I found most useful:

“The Simple Dollar » A Step-By-Step Guide to Making Big Goals Achievable” breaks down the basics of the goal process:

1. Define That Goal Clearly
2. Figure Out the Big Steps
3. Figure Out the First Step
4. Make Microgoals (or Milestones)
5. Set Aside the Time

It’s the last one that bears repeating. Observing other people and myself, I can honestly say that the actual doing often gets left behind. All goals will take time, and an unwillingness to spend the time will doom the goal to failure.

“Goal Setting from the Inside Out – Stepcase Lifehack” takes a different tack: what is most important to me and how can I get there? I guess these would be the 50,000 foot level that David Allen talks about, but they are questions that should be considered. For if we don’t have some idea of bigger things in life, we will spend our days mired in triviality.

So you’ve got your goal planned. Now how do you make yourself DO it? Leo has a great list at “The Ultimate Guide to Motivation – How to Achieve Any Goal | Zen Habits“. Not only does he look at beginning motivation, but how to keep yourself going.

The last article, “The Simple Dollar » Teaching a Three Year Old How to Save” may not seem at first glance like it has much to do with goal setting, but I took away a powerful lesson: his son can see the progress he is making toward the goal. It is important to have some way to gauge how far you have come when working on a goal.

Photo by digital cat

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