Saturday, April 18, 2015

Bucket List Journal

I have this household binder, with all kinds of printable factsheets and fillable lists and such. I have a Sabbath binder with "holiday grand plan" printed, so that I just need to follow a ready-made, reasonable and manageable list to get the dream holidays I want.

I think I need a List binder,  with a page (or more) for each entry on the list I want to do, with a reasonable and manageable list of steps to take to reach the goal, and a deadline. A place to record the journey and see my progress.

I want to do it this way, because then I have something tangible, instead of just words on the screen. [I mean, sites are closed, computers break, data is lost - a binder is harder to lose and easier to access at any time, without electricity, even when a site is down for maintenance, and so on. ;-)] Having printed something on paper makes it somehow more important, more real. I think. But I'm a book lover, so I would think so :-D

There's also another thing... if those "The Secret" -people are right, creating a "dream board" creates a force that helps you reach the dream.

Also, there's statistics (the legendary "they" say) that shows that people have better chances of losing weight if they keep a journal. Those same "they" also say that "if you write down your goals you are more apt to complete them. Set a realistic weight loss goal and the date that you want to achieve this goal. Write down everything you need to do to achieve your goal. Then it becomes a plan and not just a goal."

So - let's have a dream journal. Or The List Journal.

Write a page in your Dream Binder for every dream you have, how ever big or small, how ever reasonable and rational, how ever possible.

Then you need to cut it into steps and put a date on it.

A dream written down with a date becomes a goal.
A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan.
A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.

How to create S.M.A.R.T. goals:

SMART goals

To be able to keep a book on your achievements, you need to define your dreams and wishes. Make your wishes, goals SPECIFIC.
Write down
- what do I want to accomplish?
- why do I want to accomplish it?
- where do I want to accomplish it?
- when do I want to accomplish it?
- with whom do I want to accomplish it?
- with which limitations, requirements, equipment etc. do I need to accomplish it?

Make your goals MEASURABLE
- "get fit" is fine, but what does it mean? How do you measure fitness? Perhaps you wish to be able to perform certain fitness goals or get a certain result in a fitness test. Make it measurable, so you'll know when you have reached your goal.

Make your goals ATTAINABLE

Dreaming about impossible things is all nice and so, but feel unattainable and thus you won't even go for it. Sure, you might want to braid a mermaid's hair, but if you mean a real being that is half woman and half fish, that is probably not going to happen. Unless dreams count. So make your goal attainable.
What would be something real, attainable, possible, realistic, existing in this world that's close to this dream? Do you wish to braid Ariel's hair in Disney Land? Or perhaps go to some woman playing a mermaid? Or make a mermaid doll?

Or perhaps you think this isn't such a good idea after all, and decide to pursue something else in stead, something that is more realistic, more useful for your wellbeing and happiness, more useful for you to reach your other goals. But what do I know. One thing is for sure, it's only you who can say how serious your goals are. Something that might seem silly or stupid to me, might be the most important thing to you, and vice versa.

Also, some things are impossible TODAY TO YOU AS YOU ARE NOW, but you can learn, develop, evolve, grow, become more and better and adjust yourself to the requirements of the dream. Map your road in achievable steps. What is it you need to be able to do to be able to do something else?
For example, if I want to learn to drive a car, I get an instructor, sit in the car and drive slowly, slowly, in an area where I can't damage anyone nor the car. I get more and more used to driving, and soon I will be able to start driving among obstacles, then in slow traffic, then in heavy traffic, and while I get used to driving, I'm learning the traffic rules and training to control the car under difficult conditions, like ice on the road or rain or snow, and some basic car maintenance like filling the tank, changing the oil and tyres.
Now, I could start training to become a rally driver. Or start training driving lorries and buses and 18-wheelers and what ever there is.
So start small, take baby steps and take you to your goal step by step. Just like kids learn to run.

Make your goal RELEVANT

Do things that count. Do things that matter.

Bind your goal in TIME. Put a date on it. "Some day" never comes, neither does "tomorrow", "in the future", "one day" or "when I'm ..."
Another thing with TIME is that you can do anything 15 minutes a day. Do it for 15 minutes and then you can forget all about it until the next day and the next 15 minutes.
Or use the NaNoWriMo method and reach any goal working for it just one hour a day.

Some people add E.R. to this list. SMARTER. The E is ENJOYABLE and the R is REWARD or RE-EVALUATE (Practically the same thing. Keep an eye on what you have actually DONE and achieved. That in itself is a reward, it tells you you are not a lazy bum, you DO things, you REACH goals, YOU ARE MAKING YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE!)

This is from TipJunkie

There are free printable project planner pages. I'm not too fond of them, just because they are printable, and full of prewritten text that is not relevant to me. I would like you to take a look at them and write down questions that are important to you, and then write each project page for itself, not fill in some form.

Important things to me are:
- what is it
- due date / schedule
- steps
- necessary equipment, tools, materials
- necessary contacts, people
- ideas, inspiration (sort of dream board)
- notes (things to remember, to consider, to check, to plan)

No comments:

Post a Comment