I’m supposed to be writing out my goals for next week to send to my accountability partner right now. Trying to figure out what I should be doing next week makes me think that no matter how much I write about setting goals and sticking to them, I still suck at doing it.

My personal goals are cool. They’re the ones I really want to achieve this year and are where I put a lot of my energy every week. It’s the business goals that need a little more work and I know that the reason for it is because I’m not nearly as focused on them as I should be. So rather than bore you with a post tonight that reflects my current lack of focus, I’m going offline to do some serious rethinking of the direction I want to take things in this year.

So, it’s time for changes again. And yeah, I’m probably starting to sound like a broken record on this but I am so determined to have a better 2009 and to make some serious changes in my own life.

One of the reasons that I’ve never had a lot of success in making changes stick is the way I prepared for them. I was always in the new year’s resolution mindset of I’ll try this, start on New Year’s Day, and if it works fine, and if not there’s always next year. This year I already have a written plan, and goals set out for both the personal and business sides of my life. And I’m not waiting until Thursday to start.

Tomorrow we’ll be starting a major purge and declutter session here. One of my main goals for 2009 is to complete a cross-country move. And there’s no way I’m carting everything I’ve got hoarded up here 2000 miles. We went to Home Depot yesterday and grabbed some big plastic packing bins to put the stuff in that we’ll take with us, but that isn’t absolutely necessary for living right now. We’re stocked up on recycling bags and trash bags for the stuff that’s getting thrown out, and I’ve got boxes here to store stuff in that’s going up on E-bay over the next few days. I’m prepared for change this year, and prepared to take action to make sure it all happens.

Once our cleaning and decluttering is done, all the desks are getting rearranged. My big 3-sided office station is getting broken down into two parts. One for my son’s room, and one for mine. I find trying to write out here with the tv and other distractions really hard to do. I’ve wanted a desk in my bedroom for the actual pen and paper portion of my writing process for ages, and am finally going to have it by the end of this week. Another of my goals is this year is to write a novel, and by moving these desks around I’ll have a place to write where I can actually go and shut the door.

I’m really excited by the prospect of a new year and a new life… Bet ya couldn’t tell, could ya?

What about you? Are you making any changes in the new year, and are you prepared for them?

In my last post I talked about the need for taking baby steps toward achieving your goals. Today I want to look at why baby-step goals will give you a greater advantage when it comes to getting what you want out of life.

There is a school of thought that says that goals are not really necessary. And that people only set goals, or make new years resolutions because they feel like they’re supposed to. It’s the whole idea of a fresh start that draws people in, and has them setting goals they have no intentions of keeping.

Personally, I think that setting goals is one of the most important things you can do to make sure that you’re living life on your own terms. We need a reason to get up in the morning. We need to feel like we’re accomplishing something with our lives. There has to be some result that you are wanting to achieve. It doesn’t matter if it’s a complex goal like making a million dollars, or as simple as finishing that book you’ve been dying to read.

I would argue that it’s not that people set goals they have no intention of keeping, but more a case of they set goals that they have no idea how to go about achieving! They want to take these huge giant drastic leaps toward a better life and get frustrated when the results aren’t big enough or fast enough.

Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t make big goals. Heck I have goals for the coming year that I have no idea yet how I’m going to get accomplished. But that doesn’t stop me from trying to get there bit by bit. What it does mean is that I’m breaking them down into little baby-step goals, and that by accomplishing small things my chances of getting the big thing done are that much greater.

Here’s the thing that it’s taken me forever to figure out… If you focus on getting that one little thing done, it fuels your excitement and builds momentum toward the completion of your ultimate goal. This way even if it takes longer to reach the finish line, you will still have a sense of accomplishment to build on. And I don’t know about you, but for myself, I’d much rather have a small success to reflect on, than to give up in total frustration.

What about you? Do you think goals are necessary? Or are they a waste of time? I’d love to hear your thoughts.