picture of the Twin-Cities 5K - running up to the St. Paul Cathedral. The mass of runners (including Memphis and me) are on the right side of the road.Motivation:
"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead."
~Louisa May Alcott
Diary:~Louisa May Alcott
Today is "Fasting and Prayer Day" at church, and I started the day at church in prayer. I am at home now, but am still thinking about fasting and prayer the whole day, while raking leaves, laundry, cleaning, organizing, and this blog.. Tonight I will be attending a "Traditional Lutheran Polka Service" at a church across town. I have no idea what this means, but I am expecting lots of accordion music.
Another random fun story: I was running on Thursday at noon, because I desperately needed some air and wasn't motivated to run on the treadmills in the office fitness room. It was cool outside, but not so cold that a quick run would be difficult. So, I started down Flying Cloud Drive and ran the usual 3-mile loop that I used for 5K training. around one corner, there were police cars parked on the designated running path, lights on, so I had to jump out of the path and onto the road - which was clear one second, then the next second I was face to face with a giant red firetruck! It was barreling down my path, and I had to jump back to a grassy/muddy area. I kept running and passed another fire engine, a hazardous materials truck, several more cop cars, trucks, and then I saw 4 huge transit buses streaming into the area and two ambulances! All the vehicles had lights on, hazards on, sirens going.
What am I running into? I thought perhaps a dangerous animal or mass murder or some "heavens gate" mass suicide camp was found? Did a bomb go off, or perhaps there was a bomb threat? My brain was just going in circles and was dreaming up all sorts of really awful things that might happen to result in such a gathering of officers and officials. Something has gone terribly wrong here.
Meanwhile, I did a quick check of my running pace, and found that I was really going fast and this commotion was getting my system revved up. This entire episode really started my fight or flight hormone systems because my run seemed to fly by.
So, what happened? Any guesses? Click here for the answer.
It seems rather anticlimactic, doesn't it. It bothers me slightly, becuase I (or someone else) could have been run over by all of these emergency vehicles. Was the event really something that required so many vehicles that they didn't have space to park them all and had to park on a running path? I guess - "its for the children". Why would anyone be running in October anyway?
Notes:
I wrote about the importance of goal setting last week, and want to spend at least one more week planning and preparing for the next set of goals. You may think, at least I do at times, that I obsess TOO MUCH with these plans, lists, goals. I know that it does take time to plan, but it is worth it.
In a previous job, we the workers were ALWAYS being scolded for not getting all of the work done and throwing the project off the time line. I don't think it ever occurred to management, nor were they willing to listen, to the fact that the project goals were unrealistic and since the planning never happened, there was no way that the project would be completed on time from the first step. This ongoing circle of blame caused the job to be a drag for everyone. If better planning and realistic goals were defined in the beginning, that would give every worker a chance to succeed at their jobs, and take pride in the completion. This Victory could have profound affects on the next project, and then the next task, and the next job, and so on. Managers of the world, my message to you is - allow your team to win! Don't setup projects that are doomed to fail in the beginning by poor planning, too large of scope, or an outrageous timeline for the resources you have to do the tasks.
This week, I have spent a good amount of time finishing up the Goal Spreadsheet and filling in the details. I want to point out one of the goals as an example of the next steps - what to do after you have decided what goals you want to achieve.
While the Goal Spreadsheet can found in updated and enhanced form at this link:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pd_MzRMQiFVTY8vIzZWnNTQ&hl=en,
I am going to discuss a random choice from this list.
Let's take "Play the Accordion well" goal and dissect it to see how it is going to happen. Looking at the spreadsheet, the following are the columns and my answers for each:
Desired Goal
I want to Play the Accordion well, so that I am comfortable playing and am not embarrassed when asked to play something.
Specific Goal - WHAT are you going to do?
Perform 5 or 6 solos on the accordion for a critical audience
Measurable Criteria - How much? How many?
Learn 6 songs found in "Palmer Hughes Accordion Instruction Series" books and videos
Attainable Results - HOW are you going to do it?
Have a live performance in front of peers where I have to show my results.
Realistic Objectives - Are there requirements / resources that you need to complete the goal?
"Palmer Hughes Accordion Instruction Series" books and videos. Must practice every week - have to commit to reserve both space and time to learn.
Have to commit to not get frustrated with mistakes that I make during the learning process - this is a marathon and not a sprint
Timely Commitments - WHEN is goal to be completed?
by July 2008, should learn and master 6 new songs
We have now answered the SMART Goal Setting questions. Note that my answers are realistic, honest, but challenging. I like to add a "gamesmanship" to these goals and have some kind of fun activity that is part of it.
So now I know the details, but there are more columns to fill out on the Goals list. These are the "Kaizen" part of the plan. I will explain more about Kaizen in later weeks, but for this moment, please think "inch by inch". The objective here is to take the goal and divide into easy steps that can help move toward the goal. Here is how I do it:
3 month milestone
learn 3 songs
1 month milestone
learn 1 song
1 week milestone
practice for 1 hour on Tues and Thurs
Daily Tasks
Get other tasks done each day so I have time to focus 1 hour of time for this goal. Set aside a space and time for completing this goal
3 months is about as far as my mind can think. Honestly, it is hard for me to imagine what life will be like 1 year from now, but I can imagine what needs to be accomplished in the next 3 months to achieve my goals. I still have the 1year plan in the back of my head, but my focus is on the smaller timeline. What needs to be done Today to get the weekly goals finished successfully? What needs to be done this Week? this Month? this Quarter?
The "Daily Task" for this goal is rather vague, however if this doesn't happen the weekly milestone won't happen. If I fail to have a space and time reserved for this project, I will blow the task off every Tuesday and Thursday.
If you want a second opinion on the need for "Daily Habits", lets refer to productivity advice from Jerry Seinfeld.
I highly encourage you to think about your goals, and take a sheet of paper and document what you are doing, where you want to go, and how you plan on getting there. Break down the tasks into smaller timeframes, some may be monthly, weekly or daily. You may find that by doing these daily tasks, the goal becomes habit and part of your "discipline" to do every day.
October Fitness Measurements
So it is time again to check in with my fat loss and fitness goals. I have updated the sidebar and the chart below, and I have made it past another goal by reaching 243lbs! I am now over 50% of the size (in lbs) that I was in 2004-2005. I am still losing weight, so I will continue my fat cutting diet for more weeks until I am within my final goal range.
The next goal is to lose another 9+ lbs. The goals are getting smaller, as the fat loss is getting slower as my body is adjusting. That is a good thing, but difficult to gauge. I may need to get some professional help in measuring my true body fat %, becuase I am seeing that the mathematical equation based on body size and weight aren't accurate, never were accurate. The problem is, I don't know who the expert on this subject would be. Anyone got a clue?
Gooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllsssssssss! Full Spreadsheet is found here:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pd_MzRMQiFVTY8vIzZWnNTQ&hl=en
| Geek / Professional Goals | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Learn Adobe Dreamweaver | Have bought the DreamWeaver SC3 book, and have installed DreamWeaver on my computer. I need to designate a day of the week to spend 1 hour reading and working on this project. |
| 2. | Study for computer-based certification | No progress this week. I need to decide what certification I want to do. (A+, MOS, MCSE, Adobe FrameMaker, other Adobe product?) |
| 3. | Get involved in Professional Peer Networking | Attended STC Meeting in Minneapolis and talked to a couple people there about getting involved in Judging Contests - (Judging Technical Documentation) |
| Health / Fitness Goals | ||
| 4. | Lose the last of my fat - Turn "love pillows" into "love handles" | Followed my Eating Diary all week Fitness Plan on M, T, W, Th, Bed by 11pm Lost 1.5lbs this week |
| 5. | Be a lean muscle-bound stud | Lifted weights on M, W Researched Circuit Training plans and understand what muscles to train Created a workout log in Excel that I can print out and track my progress Created a chart for lifting the Statue of Liberty (share this later) |
| 6. | Beat my own time in 5K | Ran 3 miles (or equiv) on Tue, Thurs Researched 5K events and may plan on participating in the Reindeer Run in Minneapolis. Created a chart for running from Denver to Chicago (share this later) |
| Social / Creative Goals | ||
| 7. | Transfer Old Home Movies to DVD | No progress this week. I have a space reserved, need to reserve a time to spend 1 hour working on this. I *think* I have all the hardware required to finish this project - 8mm films, film projector, Video Camera + tripod, Firewire port on computer, and recording software. I haven't tested the setup, so I don't know if this will work. IF it doesn't, I have a backup idea that requires more $$, but less time - could be a wash in the end. |
| 8. | Interview and record my heroes for netcasts | No progress this week. I found my interview with Kendall and have saved it to my computer. I need to setup time with Karl to finish our interview and start to put this together. I did learn through a meeting I attended this week that |
| 9. | Get involved in church, family, and social network | No progress this week. I need to clean up what this goal's purpose is. Am helping with the church "Octoberfest - Fall Festival" on Sunday, and have attended a few other church services in the area. Seeking a place that I feel comfortable. I need to find a way to be in communication with family/friends more often and more regularly. I need to work on a plan for this. |
| Emotional / Personal Goals | ||
| 10. | Play the Accordion well | No progress this week. I have the books and videos, and a place to practice. I just need to commit to the time - 1 hour sessions twice weekly. |
| Home / Financial Goals | ||
| 11. | Pay off credit card and personal debt | Saved $80 this week into my holding account -> slowly moving forward on the financial debt goals. |
| 12. | Have an uncluttered home, car, book bag and mind. | Am organizing my work bag to make it lighter - it is a slow process. I also need to find 1 hour per week to designate as a "Decluttering Hour" that is above and beyond just regular chores and housecleaning. Decluttering would be deliberate to look at what I have and don't need, use, and need to purge from my sight so I don't have to have unnecessary stuff. I need to go through clothes closet later this month and take another trunkload of clothes to Goodwill or other collection agency. |
Next week - let's discuss the virtual road run from Denver to Chicago. Sounds like fun? I will tell you how you can do it. It will be a good introduction to Kaizen - maybe this is a good time to rename the blog and redo the design a little. (I am ready to shed the "Fat 2 FiveK" and get set for the new challenge.)
more later,
Chazz
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