I am continually striving to improve myself and have personal integrity. It’s important to me to set personal goals and work on those. I find being successful in these goals I am more prepared and capable to achieve public victories as well. Here is a great quote:
“…there is enormous power in the principle of keeping promises and honoring commitments. It leads to strong self-esteem and personal integrity, the foundation of all true success (Principle-Centered Leadership by Stephen R. Covey – Pg. 73).”
Each month, I typically set three to five goals and then rigorously record my progress. In an effort to be both transparent and real with how I did, this post highlights my personal victories and/or failures in the month of August.
Here are my simple but foundational goals including results:
Exercise 3 times each week
I exercised a total of 12 times which for a 100% success rate which consisted of:
• Distance running 7 times equaling 19.1 miles total distance (average of 2.73 miles each run)
• Trail run
• Kayaking ~ 2 miles in Santa Barbara
• Mountain biking - twice
• Lifted weights at the gym
Read and study scriptures for at least 15 minutes/day
I studied scriptures 27 days of the total 31 days in August. This means I was close but not perfect. I can still celebrate an 87.1% success rate.
Wake up at 6:30 AM every morning
I was successful at getting up at 6:30 or before a total of 5 times. Resulting in a ~16% success rate or around a 25% success rate if you exclude weekends. My average wake up time was around 7:15 AM. Note: I made it to work on time every day....for the record. See graph below:
Go to bed by 10:30 PM every night
I completely failed this goal and did not do this even once all month. Failed with a 0% success rate! I really stuggle with going to bed at a decent hour because I am either reading or focused on doing something else. It's always something productive but it just keeps me engaged to where I don't want to go to bed. (note: I have had this problem since I was a baby. I still hate going to bed.) See graph below:
Spend 30 minutes either studying to take the GMAT, CFA, or writing a blog post every weekday
I failed this goal too however I did spend about 19 total hours over approximately 8 days studying Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) material. This effort probably amounts to a 50% success rate. After this deep dive, I decided not to go down that path and so my goal in September will be to study to take the GMAT. I only posted one blog post at work and one on this blog.
I am really proud of my exercise and scripture reading goals. Next month, I will need to continue those and focus on these other goals until they are mastered. Sharing my goals and progress made holds me accountable and provides small insights into who I am and what I am trying to accomplish in life. Of course, these are just a few smaller goals. I am a goal junkie so this post would be way too long.
What goals are you working towards now? Do you track your goals? If so, how successful were you in August?
2 comments:
I really admire you - have I told you that before? I need to set some goals for myself and stick with them. Today, actually, I thought of a couple and we'll see how they go.
I want to be in bed by 11pm on "work nights" (Sunday-Thursday) and up by 5:30 on "work days" (Monday-Friday). The purpose for going to bed early (is 11 early?) is so I can get up early. The purpose for getting up early is to exercise and read my scriptures.
So, I guess those are my real goals - exercising and scripture reading every "work day".
Good job babe, I'm really proud of you for making your goals, tracking them, and evaluating your progress. My most recent goals:
write every week day
p90x
that's about it.
But two is better than zero, eh? Baby steps, baby steps.
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