Reviewing Goals: One Year Later

Last year I made a list of 15 odd goals, 4 to accomplish in one year, 5 in five years, and 5 in ten years.  It’s been one year now and it is time to review my goals and see how I did for the year.

On July 21, of 2008 I committed myself to accomplishing these four goals:

1. Start a career in civics
2. Get a scuba diving license
3. Be engaged to Diana
4. Submit work(s) for publication

I started working for the Speaker of the Assembly in the Democratic Floor Alert on January 5th of this year, strike out the first one.  I didn’t have the time or the spare money this year to work on getting a scuba diving license.  I asked Diana Burkart-Waco to marry me on June 20th and she said “yes”, strike out #3, and so far I’ve submitted 3 poems for publication (one to a local quarterly chapbook and two more to another chapbook on the East coast.) 

I’ve also accomplished one of my ten year goals as well: to have a retirement.  It was a vague sort of goal, but when I started working for the State Assembly I set up both a 453 and an account with CalPERS.  Before the year is over I’ll also be able to cross off one of my five year goals:  Be married, which I will be on September 4.  I think accomplishing 1/3 of all my goals in just a year isn’t bad at all and while I’m upset that I wasn’t able to get a scuba license this year, I’m sure I’ll rectify it in the coming year. 

The entire point of writing these goals down and posting them in a prominent place was so that I’d be reminded of them and to actively work towards them.  I think doing so has been a great success.  Looking up from my desk day after day for a year and seeing this list with my signature below them was a motivator.  Furthermore, it has me excited about making new goals for this next year and working on accomplishing the five and ten year goals (four and nine, actually.)

Over the next week I’ll be thinking about what I want to do in the next year as well as come up with strategies for reaching the ones I’ve already set.  When I have those I’ll post them here, as a public reminder.

Author: Jonathon

Would rather be out swimming, running, or camping. Works in state government. Spent a youth reading genre-fiction; today, he is making up for it by reading large quantities of non-fiction literature. The fact that truth, in every way, is more fascinating than fiction still tickles him. View all posts by Jonathon