Pathwalking 210
Welcome to the new year!
So, as promised, I have begun to keep a goal log.
What is a goal log? That’s really good question. This is my take on the answer.
I went looking to find if there was some sort of an app for my phone that would handle this task as I foresaw it. Certainly I found a couple options, but nothing quite spoke to me. Also – I didn’t care to pay for an app at this time.
SO – ok, I’m clever. I will start my own log. I begin with the idea of an Excel spreadsheet. But, no, not as portable as I’d like. But a Google sheet – that’ll do the trick.
So begins my goal log. I am working daily to keep a log of three specific things, which are the goals I want to set for myself for this new year. More than just a broad action, I have taken three specific actions.
In the past one of the reasons I have not gone for specifics was because I have discipline issues. I get an idea, and I start out great – but in time I start to let it go, it begins to wear thin and then often it gets dropped.
Sound familiar? This is why resolutions by themselves usually fail. They are lacking action to begin with, so how can you stick to them when they are not even set-up to be acted upon? This is why for a lot of us diets fail, exercise plans fail, and other notions we start with but lack proper discipline for tend to fall by the wayside.
I am determined to work through this. Hence my Goal Log. I put down in my log the three goals I have set for myself this year, and I am writing out what I have done in my efforts to follow them.
As much as I have chosen goals that are more specific than in years past, they are still, relatively speaking, broad. Why? Because I would rather leave wiggle room than be so specific that the odds of success are lowered.
My three goals for this year: Write or edit five days a week. Exercise multiple days of the week. Be mindful of my diet.
There are specific ideas within my goals. For example – I tend to get distracted, and thus I don’t write or do any editing for several days. Not the blog – neither Pathwalking nor Positivity are counted in that definition of writing. I am talking about fiction. I have novels to share with the world. It’s a lot easier to do that when they are presentable.
At the end of 2014 I self-published my first fantasy novel, Seeker. At the close of 2015, I followed it up with its sequel, Finder. Yes, this is in part shameless self-promotion – but they are NOT by any stretch of the imagination the end of writing projects.
The Source Chronicles is planned as a series of 5 books. Seeker and Finder are 1 and 2. The third in the series, Harbinger, is done – but completely unedited. The fourth, Guardians, is underway, but needs to be finished.
I have two other novels, one edited by me the other not yet, that are done. I have another thus-far-stand-alone sci-fi epic I am writing. How will they be done? I need to write or edit five days a week.
SO – one goal. Next goal – exercise multiple days of the week. To start with, I want to do two days a week at the gym, one day a week fencing. In time I want to expand that, and to see what other exercise I might be incorporating in my routine. Am I walking more? Am I doing any other activities that I can count towards my exercise goals?
Last of my goals – Be mindful of my diet. I am not setting out some bold plan here, I am paying attention to what I am putting into my system. Simply jotting down all the food I eat, so I can see if I am being ridiculous, see if there are patterns. I am not counting calories, I am not focusing on any specific denial or portion control, I am being mindful of what I am eating so that I can see on a regular basis what I do.
Do I overindulge? Did I go to town on some specific food? Was my entire diet for the day just carbs? Am I eating balanced meals or am I simply feasting on everything I can find and eat? This is what my goal log will tell me.
The discipline involved to begin with is maintaining my log. I need to write out the food, the exercise, the writing project that got my attention. Then I will share it here, because that makes me accountable to not just myself, but to my fellow Pathwalkers.
I began my goal log on January 2. Since a week has not been completed I will not be sharing the results yet. So far, so good. I have done a day at the gym and fencing practice. I am tracking what I am eating. I have spent two days on writing and editing projects not related to my blog.
Thank you for continuing on this journey with me. I have no doubt adjustments will be necessary, but I believe that I can follow-through and succeed at walking the Path I most desire.
So far, the new year is off to a good start.
How has your new year begun?
This is the two-hundred ninth entry in my series. These weekly posts are ideas and my personal experiences in walking along the path of life. I share this journey as part of my personal desire to make a difference in this world along the way.
Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-blog and share.
The first year of Pathwalking, including some expanded ideas, is available in print and for your Kindle.
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