GOALS GOALS GOALS vs. TASKS
If you are one of those who write their resolutions for the New Year or a certain season congratulations.
As I started 2016 I refused to write goals and have any expectation of the year and walk into it with faith. I had become weary of the New Year. I had only one TASK I needed to complete and achieve and it required discipline and commitment of which I did not do very well. I discovered that as I read through my journals there were things that I was still dealing with and never in my opinion never made any progress.
After scratching my head, I realised whenever I heard the words “Goals” I got overwhelmed and felt a pressure to perform. I had mitigating circumstances with Fibromyalgia and I had to work around the illness. I am yet to get a handle on it, but I decided to change the word Goals to TASKS that way it was not that daunting for me. I realise some people are very organised, but I discovered that certain words triggered almost emotional response in me. I have learnt to change words to help me live life, e.g. whenever I heard the word “conflict” I always visualised people shouting and not listening to the other and hurting other people’s feelings. I subsequently failed to address issues with people and silently stewed which was bad for my health and also was not congruent. I chose the word “address” using softer words to help you reach your intended aim, has helped me a lot. So what is TASKS?
When I was working I used task lists and colour coded them, red was for urgent tasks in one column; orange were those that were not very stressful and green was the non-urgent tasks. The green tasks I did to distract myself when I needed to take a break from work. I have enough notebooks and I hand wrote them. If things were achieved I ticked them off and during the week I would revise the list in the event another task needed urgent attention. I worked on 7 task point per day; 2 reds, 3 orange and 2 non urgent.
The TASKS system is also one used with people who suffer from chronic illness. Due to the effects like chronic pain or chronic fatigue, one has to manage life through tasks rather than overstretch themselves managing the peaks and lows and to avoid the crashes of energy.
When taking on a project to improve your life you have to count the cost. Many times we have grand ideas and we don’t count the cost and in the end things are left undone when we hit a snag or other life events affect the journey.
Time – Identifying thow much time is needed to carry out the Task
Action – What do I need to do to achieve this task before me?
Skill – Assessing do I have the skill and what do I need acquire?l
Knowledge – Assessing do I have the knowledge, what do I invest in to achieve this task?
Sacrifice – What am I willing to give up to be a success?
What does success look like to you?
I found this easier for me and learnt that people need to interpret information to their benefit. The constant need for performance and success, can be stifling for those caught up in the lingo of success but don’t achieve their dreams.
Write a Task List, get your markers out, highlight, draw pictures and see your tick box work for you. Remember Tasks lists should be flexible. Find your inner child.