December 10, 2004

Treatise on the setting of reasonable goals

Recently I've noticed that I'm not very good at attaining my set goals. Everyday I wake up and think about what I'm supposed to accomplish that day. After making a mental task list, without fail I say to myself, "I am so fucked." Then I look at my calendar and see things like "Finish assignment early to allow for questions," and "Submit rough draft for feedback," or "Write interesting blog entry." These things are clearly all unobtainable, since they require me to stop procrastinating. If you're like me, you may find it discouraging if you set your goals too high, only to find out that they were unrealistic and you are basically useless to society. In that vein, I am laying out a new goal which is attainable: From now on I will set reasonable goals.

There a few really easy things I could lay out that I'm sure I will accomplish. The purpose of these goals is mainly to boost confidence. Some of my first ones include: December 15, 2004: Don't go out on a date with Sasha Cohen. This should be very easy to follow through on. December 31, 2004: Tell someone that I will see them in hell. Again, it's practically guaranteed. January 1, 2005: On rent check, print the year as "2004." Have you ever not done this? Here are three goals that I've basically already achieved. And to think, I once considered myself a procrastinator.

Then there are some higher-tier goals that actually require some positive effort to do, so I will actually have a sense of accomlishment. For instance: January 1, 2005: Watch football for 6 straight hours. I've already committed myself for six hours a whole month ahead of time! Can you believe my dedication? Also on January 1, 2005 I have on my calendar: "(If Time) Eat half a bag of chips." I could probably even do this while I'm watching six hours of football. This kind of multi-tasking is usually only seen in high-powered executives and the Linux kernel. Posted by mill1991 at December 10, 2004 11:03 AM | TrackBack

Comments

Great entry Tim, I guess the main reason is the Sasha Cohen url link. She is soooooooooooooooo good looking. I hope the goal on 12/31 to "Tell someone I will see them in hell" refers to a certain email you received from a one Mr. Joynt. If I put 2 and 2 together, that means you are going to be ringing in the New Year in Milwaukee? You are more than welcome to tell me that we will meet in hell, if that means enjoying the evening's events together. I don't mind, its just that I don't know if I could deal with the heat? Well, maybe if it is a dry heat.

Posted by: #1 DAD at December 10, 2004 01:32 PM
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