So believe it or not, I am big on to do lists and having goals. Anyone who is serious about goals or done any reading into goal achievement knows that writing them down increases your likelihood of achieving said goal. In the past I have always written my goals and usually in my trusty moleskins, sooo many moleskins. It is only in the past year or two that I have taken to Evernote. Okay, here is my plug for Evernote - I LOVE Evernote! Seriously. It may be the single most useful tool I use on a daily basis. In fact, I am using it right now. I have a whole notebook dedicated strictly to blog posts. I compose and edit 90% of anything I write in Evernote! Okay, okay, I’m not going to say anything more about it other than if you are not using it you should. Plus… its free ninety-nine.
So despite my shelf of moleskins and notebooks in Evernote dedicated to every category of goals, namely family, personal growth, spiritual growth, career, and physical health, I have never seemed to be able to keep track of it all. I find myself forgetting about and not accomplishing goals because I get fixated on one or two and forget the rest.
Well I believe I have found the solution! Recently I came across an article on Lifehacker about giving yourself a “Life Audit". It references an article fast company did about Ximena Vengoechea and how she came up with her “life audit” process. Which, having done this myself, I would highly recommend. Says captain obvious, why the hell else would I be taking the time and energy to writing this if I wouldn’t recommend it? So the basic process is to start by removing all distractions. Turn off your phone, lock yourself in a room, wait for the family to be gone, you get the idea. Next get some post-its and start writing your goals. Here are the five keys to success in the life audit.
“1. Write freely, and without judgment: don’t think about what kinds of things are “right” to write about.
2. Give yourself space (physical and mental): Choose a quiet space without distractions. Make sure it’s a room with ample wall space, and don’t take any calls. Set aside some Me time, and honor it fully.
3. Be honest with yourself: No one is watching or judging. If you can’t be honest alone by yourself, who can you be honest with? Remember that wherever you land (in your assessment and alignment of interests and priorities) is ok—sometimes you need a reset.
4. Share what you learn: If you don’t share your goals out loud, it’s hard for people to help you. You don’t have to share everything, but if there’s a great big goal on there you’d like to focus on, share it.
5. Bring a water bottle: Thinking about the future makes you thirsty.”
I will add just a couple of things to that:
1. Buy Post It brand or you'll be like this guy I know who stormed out of the house mid free write session in a rage from falling post-it's to buy real post its ....
2. Have a back scratcher... I have this constant itch on my shoulder blade and the worst is when you are in the middle of your free write and have to do what my wife calls the “Baloo” (yes, as in the the bear from the Jungle Book) back scratch on the door frame. (Pick up at local dollar store for, guess how much, a dollar.) Okay so what do I mean? I mean know yourself well enough to know your ticks and which ones if you don't address immediately will ruin you focus... Like the bottle of water but different ...
So after all of that, you can follow Ximena’s example and analyze in-depth your wishes and aspirations. I do highly recommend assigning, as she does one of the three time lines to each Post It. Like she states in her original article "My priorities had naturally surfaced, and I could see my instinct for when to focus on what.” And its absolutely true. I now have a board full of goals and dreams that I can look at and see if I am truly spending my time where I aspire to spend it. I was watching the Office just 15 minutes ago and had to say, nope see ya netflix, time to finish that blog post while the kid is still asleep! This is how I am decreasing my "pointless to purposeful” ratio.
I won’t re-write what others have far more eloquently than I could, I would simply encourage you to give this a go. I know it is already helping me. One thing that has been the biggest help so far, is that I have a board I can walk over to (get my lazy butt out of my chair) and do a quick check in with my goals. Maybe even pick something to put on today’s to-do list. Such as “blog consistently". That's all for now, if anyone has anything to share about their experience I would love to hear about it!
parting note:
As I am finishing up this post, I walked into my wife's office and this is what I found… it's life audits all around Casa Chavez!
https://medium.com/@xsvengoechea/how-and-why-to-do-a-life-audit-1d8bfbe1798
http://www.fastcompany.com/3040387/how-i-get-it-done/how-a-life-audit-helps-you-do-what-you-really-want-to-do
http://lifehacker.com/give-yourself-a-life-audit-to-focus-on-goals-1677806344