A couple weeks ago we had a wonderful lesson in Relief Society about goal setting. My brain started going crazy with ideas and I wanted to comment but realized I would completely high jack the lesson and should take some time to organize my thoughts because otherwise they come out in this crazy jumble of words and then I have to jump back and forth between ideas and if you haven't figured it out yet I tend to just write how I talk and that is mostly stream of consciousness, do you follow? Sometimes I get excited about a new idea that has popped into my head and interrupt myself. It's difficult living inside my head sometimes, but I digress.
Back to goal setting- yes that was what I was talking about. I recently tried a biggest loser challenge, and lost, as is in didn't win because I didn't lose. I really had a great goal, and for the most part I have tried really hard, but did not see the fruits of my labors (although I did eat a lot of fruit). I've been struggling with feelings of hopelessness and bitterness over it, sometimes crying, sometimes just giving up, and sometimes trying to be too extreme. Mostly I have felt very dejected that I set a goal and though I tried hard, I failed. And as much as people try to make me feel better, and as much as it has been a good thing because at least I tried, it doesn't help that I had a goal and failed.
A little more background on me, I teach special education for an online charter school. Most of my days are spent tracking data on students, pin pointing weaknesses, writing goals for them, providing services to assist with those goals, and then tracking their progress on the goal. Ideally they make adequate progress on the goal and I find something new for them to focus on the following year. If they don't then we either continue the goal or re-work it to better suit their individualized needs. These goals must be observable and measurable and explain how and when they will be tracked. Here's an example of a common goal I write for a student:
Given grade level text, Sally will answer comprehension questions with at least 80% accuracy as measured by class assessments with data collected monthly.
I had a professor who told us not to write goals with the phrase "will be able to" because while a student might be able to do something that doesn't mean they DO it. It's not about what they can do, it's about what they DO do (tee hee.....doodoo)!
So now back to that Relief Society lesson...we were discussing how so many people make New Year's resolutions and then by the end of January they are forgotten. I'm 100% guilty of this as well. So I started thinking about how I could break that cycle for myself. And then it hit me, der...you know how to set and track goals for other people you just need to take those principles and apply them to yourself. So I decided I should write myself IEP style goals, and progress monitor myself. Even come up with rewards as I meet my goals. This blog will be part of my goal tracking. I also asked for a dry-erase calendar for Christmas (hopefully someone got that for me ;) if not I'll get it with Christmas money) so that I can keep my data on that.
FYI- IEP in the SpEd world stands for Individualized Education Plan. As mine will be all encompassing as far as self improvement in all areas I am calling mine an Individualized Exaltation Plan. In LDS doctrine the term exaltation is used to describe the highest glory that God can give, to become like him. God is perfect, we fall dismally short of this. We believe it is only through Christ that the difference can be made up, but we also feel that we have personal responsibility to try our best, to repent, and to continuously try harder- this is one way I am trying to show myself and the Lord what I am willing to do for that. Let me make it very clear that my plan here is a personal thing, and not recommended or established by the church, and that if I fall short on the goals I set for myself I don't think that I will be "cast out".
So I've got some ideas for goals. I haven't finalized them yet, but here's a goal:
By Dec 31, Stephanie will post a blog post containing measurable goals as measured by blog post content.
Also to be tackled in the next blog post. A continuation of a side conversation started with a friend during the Relief Society lesson that triggered this regarding turning attributes into goals.
