goals

Mindful Goal Setting

/ Sloan / 2 Comments

Let’s talk about goals and goal setting. Well. Let’s first define GOAL.

 

goal
ɡōl/
noun
1. (in football, soccer, rugby, hockey, and some other games) a pair of posts linked by a crossbar and often with a net attached behind it, forming a space into or over which the ball has to be sent in order to score.

2. the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.
“going to law school has become the most important goal in his life”

We’re going to focus on the second definition. And why not, let’s use google’s example too. And I’m going to call our future law student “Jerry”.  Jerry decided he wanted to be a lawyer in high school, he had great mentors and teachers. His uncle is a successful lawyer and has given Jerry advice and insight on what the profession is actually like. At age 17 he’s convinced that justice is his life’s path.

Do you think that Jerry all of the sudden just BECAME  a lawyer? No. Absolutely not! Who would hire a lawyer who just one day decided to be a lawyer! I imagine, to become a lawyer, one has to set smaller, more manageable goals and tasks before signing up for the bar exam. Right?

Okay. Enough about Jerry. Why am I talking about a fake high school kid who has dreams to be a lawyer? Because I want to show you that in order to reach a BIG goal (such as a career change, a fitness goal, a lifestyle change) we have to take steps to get there. Setting goals (no matter the size) takes thought and mindfulness.

SMART:
S: Specific
M:Measurable
A: Achievable
R: Relevant
T: Timely

What does this mean!!??

It means we need to break it down after we identify the big goal. Then, we need to chop that big goal up into a few little goals.

SPECIFIC: Be a kick ass lawyer.
MEASURABLE: Did Jerry get into college? Take the LSATs? Which law schools did he apply for?
ACHIEVABLE: Does Jerry actually have the skills to be an amazing lawyer? Or is he chasing a dream that would have his time better spent being a plummer? Get real, is this going to happen for him?
RELEVANT: Is Jerry the right man for the job? Does the world need more lawyers or is the market saturated?
TIMELY: This isn’t going to happen in a day. Jerry has to study and make sure he learns the skills necessary to be the best lawyer–what does that time frame look like: daily? weekly? monthly? YEARLY?

So, in order to become an amazing lawyer Jerry needs to:
–apply and get into law school (assuming he has an undergrad…etc etc.)
–He needs to look inside him self and see if this is truly something he can do and is capable of, (to put this in a ‘fitness’ perspective–if you’re goal is to have a thigh gap you need to see if your hips and pelvis actually are capable of this. NOT ALL BODIES CAN HAVE A THIGH GAP–so it’s a lost cause for most women to make this their goal.)
–Jerry also needs to look around at the market, does the world need more lawyers? He needs to do his research and decide if after all is said and done, will he be successful?
–What is the time frame for this goal? How many years does he need to anticipate it to take to achieve this goal and what needs to happen in that time. BREAK.IT.DOWN.

Okay. Enough about Jerry–yeesh, what’s with that guy? Let’s talk about you. What are you goals? How can I help you break them down into a SMART goals?

Step one: Subscribe to my blog and I can help you be a resource to be motivated! (You can do that over there…——->
Step two: Email me, right now. Send me your big goal and I will get back to you within 24 hours and we can chat about it. We can work together to break it down and get you geared up to achieve your goal. Whatever that goal may be: fitness, wellness, writing a book or getting a job. Let’s start here together.
Step three: I guess I don’t have a step three. Follow me on instagram, mostly because I think I’m pretty funny and inspirational…and quite humble too.

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Get Moving!

/ Sloan / Leave a comment

My mornings have changed. The warm weather. The sun up with the crows. People outside my window shouting at each other at 5:30, ya know, things that just make it easier to get up at 6 am. I like it, I enjoy the mornings alone, with my computer or a book but more recently I’ve been talking the time to walk. More or less coming off a running injury I walk/run but I enjoy both equally and try really hard to get a couple miles in before I hop on my bike and head to school.

I have always stated that morning time is my most productive time. Right now it’s 6:49 am and I have cooked breakfast, made coffee, cleaned the kitchen, read up on a few articles and will head out for a walk as soon as I finish typing this though. Some wouldn’t consider ‘a walk’ productive. But for me it’s my morning meditation, it gives me a head start on my goal of 10,000 steps for the day (though when I walk or run I tend to get closer to 14,000!) I kick my metabolism up right away. I clear my mind and set an intention. Sometimes I listen to a podcast to get ideas to be more productive through out the ENTIRE day–I tend to hit a slump around 3:30 and just want to lounge around after that.

So I walk. And I think. And I shut the brain off. And I observe–lord knows there’s a lot to observe in Humboldt Park at 7 in the morning.

How do you start your day? What can you do before life gets to busy to get moving and get yourself closer to those 10,000 steps? It’s recommended that each adult gets at least 30 minutes of activity a day, which is easy for some of us and a challenge for other–how can we get closer to achieving that minimum and maybe going beyond it? (Some people post on social media to get some motivation.. hence this blog post, I was feeling lazy but now I feel motivated!)

I’ll post a picture from my walk this morning, check it out on InstaGram @sloanderr and let me know what you think. #thesolesearch #goodmorning

I’m a Capricorn, Hear Me ROAR

/ Sloan / Leave a comment

I have a horoscope app on my phone and I generally read about my sign, the Strong and Stubborn Capricorn, everyday. I don’t know if I necessarily believe what it tells me but I do know that I like to read it to look at my life in a different light. It has a way of turning what I was processing into something else, or shedding light on a situation that I may not have paid attention to otherwise–it’s generally positive and encouraging so I figure “why not” read it!

The other day it said something about goal setting, not listening to what other people were telling me, realizing what I want and not thinking it was silly etc. I didn’t think much of it, it didn’t really sink in or resonate with my life for most of the day until I picked up my journal and started writing. I wasn’t writing about anything in particular, just normal life-obsessing-over-things-I-can’t-control stuff. and then it hit me. I realized I have a goal that is important to me and I wasn’t pursuing it because some other people didn’t seem to think it was that important. It’s something that virtually everyone my age has to deal with. Well–I don’t want to deal with it. It’s my new focus. This goal is something I wasn’t to start and finish and be done with for the rest of my life. So that’s what I’m working towards.

Capricorns are supposedly Goal-Setters and follow through-ers and Stubborn and Strong. So whether or not the date of my birth and the place of the sun versus the moon and if Mercury was in retrograde or not–I’m going to utilize these innate skills I’m supposed to have and push-on, carry-on and move the hell forward, because what else IS there to do?