4 SEP 2014 :: Planning for what matters.

Week 4 is done today.  It seems like such a long time.  :-) 

The weekend offers me a chance to evaluate what I am trying to do and to plan for the next week. I have my efforts in a regular 3-ring notebook that I am trying to organize for my planning moments.

I started my 10-goals a day process some time ago. When I got to the same goals every day, I decided to find a new way to list the things I need to get done. I developed a daily record process that includes a list of the top ten things to get done that day. Now my daily page has space for my food record and other activities. I am working on the income record, too.

I am trying to get it down to the easiest process for me. Something I can keep up with.

It is a challenge to keep track of everything, so I am trying to decide what needs to be recorded so I can look back on that day and find it. It has been a long process and it isn't done.

I think I have mentioned it before, but not sure who has read it or what needs to be repeated.

I use to think of my daily to-do lists as goal lists, but they aren't. Now I am trying to find a way to plan each day with all my goals in mind. I want my 10 things that need to be done that day to have the most important things for as many goals as possible...the 20% items. This is always restricted by your personal limitations, so the challenge is huge for me. I don't have the money to accomplish any goal I want to accomplish, I have to find the goals I can do within my situation.

I decided a 3-ring binder was the best way to reference my goals and create my plans. I can change the pages as my focus changes. New goals can be added easily, and goals that no longer matter can be taken out. I have regular school supplies to help me, and getting them on sale during back-to-school days helps keep costs down. Using section dividers that have an index tab with paper inserts lets me change goal topics easily.

I finally bought some highlighter pens this year and am beginning to use them to easily see priorities on a page. I am beginning to use different colors as a way to identify different levels or categories of importance, like green for income issues, pink for personal goals or something else. yellow for prioritizing what is on the page. It isn't final yet, but I'm heading in the direction of which color will mean what to me.

Part of my goal with this effort is to create something that inmates would be able to use...and notebook pages are something that will work for them.

I have been trying to develop SMART Goals for a long time. They seem too hard for me to put into the word format, but I am trying to put my goals into that format. I have hated the idea of setting a specific date because my goals all seem to be "if I can" goals. I hated the idea of adding another "failure" to my long list of not-able-to-get-done projects. I was released from this burden when I listened again to a Brian Tracy recording where he said that goal dates are guesstimates. You review the challenge and then reset the target date. It helps take away that huge boulder that sits over your head when you set a goal and your entire self-worth is at stake!   :-)

Poverty is a real pit when it comes to things like this.

I hope you are finding a way to sort through the things you want in life and figuring out a way to honestly obtain them. I am listening to the Zig Ziglar recording I discovered yesterday. Will see what they say. I have some old tapes of his, and book/s. I don't want to ruin them by listening too much, so the internet access works out better.

May GOD be with you over the weekend. I pray that He will protect the innocent, the elderly, the young, the helpless, as we all travel through this world together. I hope that everyone I know will be saved through Christ and join me in heaven one day. I hope to see you there, too...make sure you know how salvation is received. I have many places to search for information on my webpage.

Love, in Christ,
Deb