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Tag Archives: 2011

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Goals 2011 — Seeing how I did…

The PolyBlog
February 9 2012

Just over a year ago, I did my annual personal “goal-setting”. Many of the comments I received on my goals basically suggested I was either (a) trying to do too much or (b) not prioritizing family high enough. I do appreciate the comments, but neither are really applicable to me or my personal situation.

First, the whole point of doing this is to be really ambitious, to use a combination of some of the techniques in the “goal guru / time management” industry. And so I am not trying to do all of them. Maybe not even most of them. Really what I am doing is listing goals and creating the list so that I can use it to remind myself of my goals, to take a greater step than most in actually writing them down as well as to get them out of my head and on paper so I don’t have to try and just remember them. Anytime I want them, they’re there for easy review.

Second, suggesting someone prioritize family “higher” is an easy comment, but is actually quite simplistic in concept. No matter what anyone does for family, someone will always say “make them a priority”. Of course, they’re a priority. But I also don’t want to be the equivalent of the stereotype of a stressed out parent (usually portrayed as a mom) who only lives vicariously through their family, who loses their own identity or subsumes their own life under that that of their children. That might make a “green” personality happy in the short-term, but I’m a primary blue — I’m always going to want some of own analytical time, for instance. Just how I’m wired…and if others want to follow an unconscious script that tells them family is always the “right answer”, that’s their choice. But I know better. I love my family. But I’m useless to them if that’s all I bring to the table or expect them to be my whole life. So I need to make sure some of those other areas are going too. But family is also not a “to do” item, nor will I treat them as such.

goals_2011

How did I do in 2011? Well, let’s see. First and foremost, I am happy with the fact that my approach included a new colour wheel that resonates with me in terms of psychology, personality, etc. However, it wasn’t entirely successful and I have a slightly tweaked approach for 2012 that I’m going to try that thinks in terms of just the four colours (no sub categories), and “themes” + a storyline. Almost like “branding my year” in a way so I can tell myself the story better. More info on that in future posts.

Second, something that wasn’t really on the list is something that sucked time like nobody’s business. My family and I moved homes — not a great distance from where we were, but huge upgrades on quality of life in a bunch of areas. But it pretty much killed three to five months of the year, maybe a bit more.

So let’s see how I did on the various items I had in my posts from last February / March.

Getting organized
Being organizedMaintaining to do lists, etc. — worked well at start of year but by end of year, I was drifting a bit…have now converted over to using Evernote and it seems promising so far.
HouseI was expecting to do a lot of work on the old house and we did — but different work, work designed to help it SELL! And we bought a new house requiring a lot less work. Lots of new stuff to be done, but starting to sort itself out.
FinancesWanted to do better planning and we did, both with strategic financial planner, wills, etc. But still work to be done that should have already been done on moving investments around, better insurance coverage, etc.
ComputersFinished and started using website, reorganized some of the computer backups etc.
GardenWasn’t a priority, nothing happened
CottageWasn’t a priority, nothing happened
Design a houseWasn’t a priority, but buying the new place helped us articulate what we were really looking for in terms of rooms, layout, location, etc.
Relationships
FatherhoodMostly about father vs. husband vs. individual, I didn’t do as well as I would have liked on the “father/husband” front in terms of carrying my share of the load — Andrea still does most of the pre-bedtime prep stuff.
 HusbandPlus we haven’t made the time for “spousal” time, and most of our conversations are still about Jacob…need more date nights. Still supporting Andrea’s educational efforts, which is good.
 IndividualNot doing as much after Jacob goes to bed either, a little too much TV watching of late.
 FamilyHardly saw my family last year, which is not what I hoped for.
Body and Soul
PhysicalMassage time down, Prevacid steady, eyeglasses replaced, got new doctor, but need to find new dentist, I became a greater couch potato, developed blood pressure problems, didn’t get new orthotics, no golfing, didn’t compensate on charitable giving. Plus other new stuff showing up on the health risk front.
Astro PontiacNeed to get more organized for supporting Stephan on this astronomy proposal.
Figure out spiritual beliefsI don’t really know what I believe anymore, and should really figure this out a bit more.
EthicsCreated personal rules / principles but not really sure I’m living them.
WeightNo real change
MeditationDid nothing
Martial ArtsDid nothing
Giving bloodTried to get this organized in late December but coordinator screwed up donation date, need to rebook
Learning
Online coursesDid nothing
Personal interest coursesDid nothing
Further studiesDid nothing
Learning sign languageDid nothing
Use own telescopeDid nothing
Learn photographyDid nothing
Learn to drive a standard transmissionDid nothing
Social
MMMMM outingsDid nothing
Remembrance Day / Corn roastWiped out by moving
Coffee with Amanda / Hockey with Seb / BrunchesPretty much a wash out.
Book reviews28 all up and converted
Movie reviewsDid nothing
Ebook collection, pruning paperNothing
Billboard musicNothing
Learn to knitNothing
Play Pai GowNothing
Movie weekendNothing
List of top booksList compiled
Creativity
Business model for publishingLots of research, looking good
WritingBlog only
Capital CrimeNothing for new year
HR guide (employees)Started posting
HR guide (employers)Preliminary
Gods novel outlineNothing
CookbookNothing
Recipe nightsNothing
Career
Mentoring, coachingSome 1:1, some group
Focused contentNot really, still main stuff
Day job vs. SR / SOROCaught up in SORO, not able to extricate myself
FrenchNothing
PresentationContinued learning series
Leadership 
Teaching roleContinued learning series, some blogging on tech issues (SEO)
Municipal issuesNothing
Local theatreNothing
Windmill to tilt atNothing really, some blogging
Travel – EnglandNothing
Travel – TerritoriesNothing
Travel – Grand CanyonNothing
Travel – GalapagosNothing
Travel – OrtonaNothing
Travel – IcelandNothing
Travel – Scotland, IrelandNothing
Travel – Aust/NZNothing
Travel – FijiNothing
Travel – EgyptNothing
Travel – AntarcticaNothing
Other (Miscellaneous)
Red Tie to webNothing
Garage saleNothing
Porch swingNothing, but moving reprioritized
Basketball hoopNothing, but moving reprioritized
Bicycle setupNothing, but moving reprioritized
Car insurance claimNothing
ETFsNothing, but moving pre-empted it

In the end, some progress, some slippage. My only real concern for the future is where there are whole categories essentially that I did nothing on, indicating that there is a sub-area that I am relatively ignoring. Part of that is the way I set my priorities, and some of it is the way I remind myself what to focus on. I think the new approach for 2012 (themes, storyline) will help counteract that…at least, I hope it will! Stay tuned!

Posted in Goals | Tagged 2011, goals, personal, progress, tracking | Leave a reply

Goals 2011 — Leadership

The PolyBlog
March 3 2011

The last category of goals — leadership! I intended this one to combine some areas of red leadership where I was going to shine, expand my horizons both in terms of my personal “role” and in terms of travelling. But, now that I’ve got the other 7 categories done, there isn’t much left in this one except travel.

Continue reading →
Posted in Goals | Tagged 2011, goals, leadership, personal, planning | Leave a reply

Goals 2011 — Career

The PolyBlog
March 2 2011

Back in 2005, my goal was to regularize my level — I was regularly acting in higher positions, but was still “languishing” in a lower position. So I passed a couple of competitions, and became a manager, one level below executive. And I thought, at the time, that I would spend a few years consolidating my skill set, trying out some different challenges and opportunities, and then moving up. A couple of those challenges weren’t a lot of fun, and I bounced around twice before ending up in my current job. The previous jobs weren’t horrible, they were actually both quite good for awhile. But situations change, and I moved on. Now, with the arrival of my son and having gotten married, my priorities have shifted, as have my willingness to put in extra hours. In short, I’m not willing anymore, and I don’t want the extra responsibility right now of the executive level. So I’m parking myself for now, and I’ll focus on other issues to bolster my resume so that a few years from now I’ll be well-positioned to start moving up again. I wouldn’t say no to a in-category bump to a EC-08 position, but I’m fine where I am for now.

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Posted in Goals | Tagged 2011, career, goals, personal, planning | Leave a reply

Goals 2011 — Creativity

The PolyBlog
March 2 2011

Ah, the sweet smell of creativity. Personal expression … the interpretative dance of the soul! How do I express myself, the real me, the inner child bursting with yellow energy to get out of the blue shackles of an analytical mind? With words and food, of course! 🙂

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Posted in Goals | Tagged 2011, creativity, goals, personal, planning | Leave a reply

Goals 2011 — Social

The PolyBlog
March 2 2011

I’m over the difficult “hump” of goal-setting, as the last four categories are much easier to plan than the first four. This one is a fun category in many ways — “expressing myself” through socializing with friends, cultural outings, and enjoying music, books and movies. Of course, I’ll find ways to make some of it look like “work”, partly cuz I’m inherently a blue, but even bluish yellow activities are fun for me!

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Posted in Goals | Tagged 2011, goals, personal, planning, social | Leave a reply

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