Tag Archive for: goals

Measuring Progress

How do you measure your progress?
….It’s just gone 6.50am and I am doing good!
One of my favourite Christmas presents is my water bottle.
It allows me to measure the amount of water I drink, by the hour, throughout the entire day.
No more counting glasses for me…
With this I can see the progress I am making to achieve my daily 2 litre goal.
I love it!!
It is a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Targeted) way of setting a daily goal.
The first step to measure progress is to set a goal…
There is however little point in setting a goal if you will never know whether you were successful or not.
To determine the level of success, you must be able to measure your progress.
When you measure your progress, you see exactly how you are getting along, which in turn can act as a great motivator for you to stick with something.
In my experience, the fact that you are making progress will give you the drive and energy to stick with the goal.
How do you measure your progress with your personal goals?

Goals – do we need a bigger truck?

Another year, and goal setting is back on everyone’s mind again – so are goals really important?
I’ve been setting goals since I was 12 years old – I’m a believer!
Goals are all about organising and planning.
Dallin H. Oaks captures the whole essence of goals setting in this little story….
“Two men formed a partnership. They built a small shed beside a busy road. They obtained a truck and drove it to a farmer’s field, where they purchased a truckload of melons for a dollar a melon.
Then they drove the loaded truck to their shed by the road, where they sold their melons for a dollar a melon. They drove back to the farmer’s field and bought another truckload of melons for a dollar a melon.
Transporting them to the roadside, they again sold them for a dollar a melon. As they drove back toward the farmer’s field to get another load, one partner said to the other, “We’re not making much money on this business, are we?” “No, we’re not,” his partner replied. “Do you think we need a bigger truck?”
“We don’t need a bigger truckload of information, either,” Elder Oaks said. “Our biggest need is a clearer focus on how we should value and use what we already have.”
Goals help us to do that. Goals stretch us and focus our minds on what is really necessary.
My advice – set a few significant specific goals and then concentrate on reaching them. They will help you to grow, develop and succeed.
What is your learning takeaway from the story?

Extremes

For those old enough, you will remember the summer of 1976, it was an absolute scorcher. Record high temperatures and a long period of drought. 😎
All year long our family wouldn’t travel far at all. But with dad being a train driver and free tickets, most summers we went as far away as possible. 1976 was one of those long train journey’s, all the way down to Cornwall and basically, that’s as far as you can go. Holidays together were a priority.
With the record temperatures and glorious sunshine, I have lots of fond memories of being on the beach that summer. I remember getting up to a lot of mischief, but most of all my feet being scorched on the hot sand! 😕
Only a few weeks later in typical UK fashion, the heaven’s opened and the country was hit by massive storms and floods which dominated the remainder of the year. It seemed as if mother nature was re-balancing.
𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬 – Life seems full of them.
Dry/Wet
Hot/Cold
Black/White
Feast/Famine
Doubt/Certainty
Freedom/Subjection
Happiness/Sadness
Like the hot dry summer, then wet autumn of 76, in life we must often chart a course between the two of them.
Finding a balance in life is a matter of setting the right priorities and establishing goals to provide direction.
How do you maintain balance in your life?

Are you FITT?

Are you FITT?

The FITT principle is a smart acronym that gives athletes a workout plan to help them achieve their goals – yet, in a very similar manner it applies to our learning and development habits too.

Ask any athlete and they’ll tell you what FITT stands for – as follows;
F-Frequency: refers to how often you exercise.
I-Intensity: refers to how hard you exercise.
T-Time: refers to how long you exercise for.
T-Type: refers to what kind of exercise you do.

The FITT Principle can help you create your own powerful learning & development plan.

For example – let’s consider studying for a new skill or learning requirement:
Frequency – how often you study
Intensity – how hard you study
Time – how long you study
Type – what type of different study tools you use

If you want to improve your learning & development ‘fitness’ – then apply the FITT principle to your plan and routine. It won’t be long before you witness a difference and your learning will be a winner!

Daily habits

In my quest to refresh my Dutch language skills for an up and coming assignment in the Netherlands, I hit a significant milestone today on Duolingo…a 💯 day streak!

What we do consistently can and does shape our lives.

What makes the difference in our lives is not the speed or rapidity with which we move, but the steady, deliberate progress we make. Developing the habit of consistency isn’t about obtaining quick results, rather it’s about making incremental progress and improvements over an extended period of time.

As I embark every day, to set aside a few minutes to focus on my specific Dutch language goals, it has really helped me to progress, move forward and build some momentum. I love the Duolingo app too, as it really helps me to monitor and measure my progress towards my goal.

Yard by yard, its hard, yet inch by inch, its a cinch!

Building strong consistent daily actions, creates consistent results. How can you be more #consistent?

Starting on my next 💯 today! 😊