MYST 67 Trevitorial: Are Your Goals Dumb?

What's Your Goal?
What’s Your Goal?

Photo courtesy of Unsplash.com, by Abigail Keenan

A SMART goal is defined as one that is specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time-dependent. Below is a definition of each of the SMART goal criteria.

  • Specific: Goals should be simply written and clearly define what you are going to do.
    This is the “What, Why, and How” of the SMART model.
  • Measurable: Goals should be measurable so that you have tangible evidence that you have accomplished the
    goal. You can create a single long term goal, or a series of shorter goal. Choosing to create a series of goal may be preferable as each goal completion brings greater confidence and strength to achieve the next goal.
  • Achievable: Goals should be realistic, yet require some effort. You must possess the appropriate knowledge, skills,
    and abilities (or be able to obtain those characteristics) needed to achieve the goal.
  • Results-focused: Goals should measure discrete outcomes, not activities that result in the outcomes.
  • Time-bound: Goals should be linked to a timeframe (deadline). This creates a practical sense of urgency. However, in weight loss goals, using this feature will not enhance success.

As mentioned in this episode, LoseIt is my recommended weight loss method. Get Lose It! Premium because it works.Get Lose It!

Music composed and performed by Jason Shaw, courtesy of Audionautix.com

Voiceover courtesy of Matt Young. Matt is a professional voiceover artist. If you have any need of voiceover work, for your podcast, radio spot, or whatever, you can reach Matt by a variety of methods. He is on LinkedIn. On Twitter. And Google+. And you can read his really nice, contemplative blog. Matt was also my guest on MYST 54. Give his story a listen!

Some links (but not all) within these show notes may be Affiliate Links, meaning that I may receive a small commission when readers click on them and then purchase something. This does not increase your cost at all, but it does help me cover some of the cost associated with this podcast. Thanks!

 

MYST 66 Trevitorial: The Wasted Resolution

Spam edited

 

Resolutions are like Spam. When you first see the can (or say the resolution) it sounds great, but later, when you really get into it….it’s not as appealing.*

A resolution is a statement, usually made without a lot of thought, which almost inevitably get thrown away quickly after the holiday. A goal, on the other hand, is a plan that grows with you, and enables you to reach more than you thought possible.

We will talk more about goal-setting in upcoming episodes, but in this show, I share one of my goals for 2015. I haven’t mentioned this in detail before, and this is a large and someone intimidating goal.

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Music composed and performed by Jason Shaw, courtesy of Audionautix.com

Voiceover courtesy of Matt Young. Matt is a professional voiceover artist. If you have any need of voiceover work, for your podcast, radio spot, or whatever, you can reach Matt by a variety of methods. He is on LinkedIn. On Twitter. And Google+. And you can read his really nice, contemplative blog. Matt was also my guest on MYST 54. Give his story a listen!

Some links (but not all) within these show notes may be Affiliate Links, meaning that I may receive a small commission when readers click on them and then purchase something. This does not increase your cost at all, but it does help me cover some of the cost associated with this podcast. Thanks!

* The truth is, I really enjoy Spam. But it is the food that is easy to belittle, and it fit the situation perfectly here.

MYST 64 Trevitorial: Using Positive Peer Pressure

–Peer pressure and social norms are powerful influences on behaviour, and they are classic excuses. Andrew Lansley, British politician

–The conscience of children is formed by the influences that surround them; their notions of good and evil are the result of the moral atmosphere they breathe. Jean Paul, German author, 1763-1825

–My father taught me you have to believe in yourself and run on your own track. Jennifer Grey, Actress

–Be what you are. This is the first step toward becoming better than you are. Julius Charles Hare, English theologian, 1795-1855

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Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer, by Novella Carpenter. A fun read about running a small farm in downtown Oakland, California. Since I am so obsessed with eventually raising chickens, I like reading books like this.

Meron Bareket’s “Inspiring Innovation” podcast can be found here.  He also has a free Podcast Tutorial Starter kit. You can also hear his story as my first guest on MYST 3.

Kary Oberbrunner’s podcast “Igniting Souls” can be found here. His book, “Day Job to Dream Job: Practical Steps for Turning Your Passion Into a Full Time Gig” is on Amazon. I bought it and it is a great book!

I used LoseIt! to lose my weight. Get Lose It! Premium because it works.Get Lose It!

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Music composed and performed by Jason Shaw, courtesy of Audionautix.com

Voiceover courtesy of Matt Young. Matt is a professional voiceover artist. If you have any need of voiceover work, for your podcast, radio spot, or whatever, you can reach Matt by a variety of methods. He is on LinkedIn. On Twitter. And Google+. And you can read his really nice, contemplative blog. Matt was also my guest on MYST 54. Give his story a listen!

Some links (but not all) within these show notes may be Affiliate Links, meaning that I may receive a small commission when readers click on them and then purchase something. This does not increase your cost at all, but it does help me cover some of the cost associated with this podcast. Thanks!

 

MYST 62 Trevitorial: Choose to Change

Today’s quote comes from Kara Counard, our guest from Episode 30. (Kara’s story is a powerful example of making tough choices, and finding greater success! If you haven’t listened to the episode, check it out.) Kara suggests that we need to change our minds about ourselves. What is she talking about?

We have control over very few things in our lives. We can’t control the weather.

We can train our pets (sometimes) but we really don’t control them.

Our kids? Please.

We can control the vehicles we drive…unless you hit a patch of ice here in Wisconsin, in which case you are being controlled by momentum.

We might have control over where we work, but my guess is that everyone who is listening right now has to answer to someone else for some part of your job. Even if you are a self-employed entrepreneur, you still need to be responsive to your audience so that you give them the answer to their problems.

About the only thing we can control with absolute certainty is our reactions to stimuli around us. That’s it.

I’ll cover this in greater detail in an upcoming show, but I recently had a student ask me why I don’t get upset when things go wrong. Sometimes a student will make a mistake. Or our assigned meeting room at the clinical site will be arbitrarily changed. Or weather forces a cancelation of class—after I’ve already driving 40 miles through a snow storm.

I don’t get upset because a) that won’t change anything, and b) how I react is my choice.  Why bother getting upset over a snowstorm? That won’t change anything except to make me angry, frustrated and disturbed. The snow will remain, unfazed by my emotional outburst. And I choose to not lose my temper over things that I cannot alter.

It, like so much else, is a choice. And we can choose to look at things in any way we want.

Let me give you an example:

Last April, very early in spring, the ground still snow-covered, I was driving home on an interstate highway, with a posted speed limit of 65mph / 105Kph. As I drove, with no other traffic around me, the left front ball joint of my wheel snapped. One minute, I was driving carefree and then suddenly BANG! I was sliding. I steered to the right to get off the highway, and in doing so, slid about 20 feet down an embankment and crashed through two stout fence posts before coming to a stop.

from a distance

The offending wheel!  close up, resized and highlighted

It was the most exciting 3-4 seconds of my life. It was 3-4 seconds that lasted about 18 lifetimes while it was happening.

When I came to a stop, my first reaction was laughter. I could not believe what happened and that I was completely unhurt. The car? Totaled. Then I called my auto insurance agent, and a local tow-truck service. I was dialing the local Sherriff’s line when I saw one of the deputies carefully walk down the embankment.

I got out, and we talked. He determined based on skid marks on the highway that I was not driving recklessly, and he also did not smell alcohol on my breath. So we waited for the tow truck and then he drove me to a restaurant to call for my son to pick me up.

That was scary. And I was sad, because I really liked that car, and I knew that the insurance company would declare it a total loss. But I was sooooo happy.

My wife wasn’t driving the car. Nor were my sons. That would have made me so worried. When it happened, there was no traffic around me. Suppose a car had been tailgating me? Or one had been driving in the lane to my right? If this had happened 5 seconds earlier or 10 seconds later (I later timed it), in both cases I would have not slid down an embankment, but rather been pitched off the roadway, down to another road 20 feet below. What if I had taken my alternate route home (which I do about half the times)? It is a lonely county highway, little traveled, with steeper embankments going down to small rivers?  Or, most likely, if this had been a normal year, the snow cover would have been gone and the ground soft and soggy. Instead of sliding, my wheels probably would have dug in, and made my car roll. And at 65mph (ish), it would roll many times.

So many worse things could have happened. Instead of being upset at breaking my car, I was happy and overjoyed that nothing truly bad happened.

When was the last time something bad happened to you? Something unexpected? Did you react with anger, frustration? If you did react like that, did it make anything better?

What does that have to do with changing our minds about ourselves?

How we feel about ourselves, about others within our life, about our situation in life, all of those feelings are a choice. And if our current choice is not working for us, we need to change.

We need to change our reactions, our thoughts, our feelings. No one can change that for you. Do you dislike your manager? Maybe so. Does having those feelings result in any positive change? Probably not.

So what can you do? You have two options. No, three. You can change your reactions to you manager, you can change your thoughts about your current job and look for work elsewhere, or you can stay where you are and keep thinking your current thoughts and remain miserable.  (Oh, and in case you don’t know, everyone around you knows that you are miserable. Including your manager.)

You need to make a choice about making a change. And all changes begin mentally. When I am having a bad day, I ask one question (and it is a simple one): “Is there something that I can do to directly change my situation?” In my broken car, there was nothing I could do to change the outcome. So I didn’t worry about it. When my wife told me that her car was handling poorly on the snowy roads, I could do something. I first checked the treads, and then I ordered the best snow tires I could get for her car. Expensive? Yes. But would I rather pay that, or always worry when the roads are snowy and slippery (about 4 months a year in this part of Wisconsin)?

“Can you do something that will change your situation?” If yes, then do it!

If no, then accept your situation. In blunt language, “Suck it up, Buttercup” and live with it. Whining won’t change it, and no one wants to hear that! Having a tantrum won’t change it. Accept it. Deal with it. Learn from it to (hopefully) prevent it from happening again.

Choose to change.

It is a powerful ability. And not everyone will take this advice. It looks much more passive than some people want, but it is really “active-passivity”. You are not passively accepting your fate, but rather, you are choosing to not fight a useless battle. Save your energies and ammunition for a fight that is possible.

You all know people around who fight everything, every time. They never win. No one takes their actions and words seriously. And then you may know that one person. Quiet. Gets along with everyone. Adapts to changes easily. Oh, he/she might grumble, but they don’t put up fights, and the grumbling is short-lived.

Until something big happens. And then, suddenly, they change. The quiet, peaceful, get-along person becomes vocal, forceful and stands their ground! And they usually win, right?

What will you do? How will you change?

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Music composed and performed by Jason Shaw, courtesy of Audionautix.com

Voiceover courtesy of Matt Young. Matt is a professional voiceover artist. If you have any need of voiceover work, for your podcast, radio spot, or whatever, you can reach Matt by a variety of methods. He is on LinkedIn. On Twitter. And Google+. And you can read his really nice, contemplative blog. Matt was also my guest on MYST 54. Give his story a listen!

Some links (but not all) within these show notes may be Affiliate Links, meaning that I may receive a small commission when readers click on them and then purchase something. This does not increase your cost at all, but it does help me cover some of the cost associated with this podcast. Thanks!

Are You Riding in Back, or Up Front?

Photo by Matthew Clark, via Unsplash.com
In the photo above, the person in the back is on a nice ride, but he has no control over where he is going. He doesn’t even have an oar in his hands. He is passively along for the ride. If he ends up in a good spot, maybe a sunny bank along the lake, then he chose wisely.
But if the front person is over-eager, and aggressively tries to paddle through the rapids of a river, the trip will probably end differently.
What does that have to do with weight loss, or any goal achievement? This idea builds on the concept of being your own person. Take charge. When you passively exist, you only receive what others decide for you. In the USA, we are soon going to have national, state and local elections. Vote! Take a stand. Choose a position. Make your choice. If you don’t vote, and you don’t like the election outcome, you are not in a position to complain.
If you are on a weight loss journey, you really can’t do it passively. It takes action, determination and drive to lose weight. Oh, well, actually you can do it passively, in a fashion. If you are using prepackaged meals, that is a relatively passive method of weight loss. But the problem is that it doesn’t let you learn how to eat healthy for the rest of your life. If you follow their plans, you will lose weight. Will it stay off? That is the real question.
When you are in control of what you eat, you make decisions every day. Hopefully most days are good decisions, but even on those days where you choose unwisely, you are still learning about self-control.
In that picture above, what would be the result if the rider in back were to grab an oar? First he could help steer the canoe. He would be able to exert some influence upon the direction he moves. But he could also help propel the canoe faster, and reach their destination quicker.
But no, he is simply riding. Passive. One could even say “useless.” That is never a descriptor of anything good.
What about getting on a railroad? That is a choice you can make, too, and with that choice, you know the end destination. Depending in the railroad and ticket, you have a reasonable assurance that you will disembark where you are planning. No rapids for the engineer to steer through, and if the train derails, it will have nothing to do with your actions.
But once again, you have no control over how fast you arrive and actually, your potential destination choices are also limited. This is like choosing a very restrictive weight loss plan, strictly limiting certain foods. Might that work? Sure. But will it take you exactly where you want to go, in the comfort that you desire? Maybe not.

Clint Eastwood said “Fate pulls you in different directions.” He’s right. Some things that happen to us are out of our control.

That’s why it is so important to take charge of all those parts of your life which are under your control.

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If you would like to listen to this blogpost, this was the basis for a recent podcast episode.

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Unsplash License:  “All photos published on Unsplash are licensed under Creative Commons Zero which means you can can copy, modify, distribute and use the photos, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.”

MYST 58 Trevitorial: Be Active or Live Passive

Active or Passive?
Active or Passive?

Photo by Matthew Clark, via Unsplash.com

Imagine two people in a canoe. The person up front digging hard with their paddle, propelling the canoe forward. The person in the back is along for the ride, but he has no paddle in his hands. He has no control over where he is going. He is sitting passively enjoying the ride. If he ends up in a good spot, maybe a sunny bank along the lake, then he chose wisely.

But what if the front person is over-eager, and aggressively tries to paddle through the rapids of a river? The trip will probably end differently—at the very least, it will be a much wetter journey.

What does that have to do with weight loss, writing a book, starting a new career, or any goal achievement? This idea builds on the concept of being your own person and finding—more importantly, using—your own voice!

Take charge. When you passively exist, you only receive what others decide for you. In the USA, we are soon going to have national, state and local elections. Vote! Take a stand. Choose a position. Make your choice. If you don’t vote, and you don’t like the election outcome, you are not in a position to complain.

If you are on a weight loss journey, you really can’t do it passively. It takes action, determination and drive to lose weight.

But you know, you actually can do it passively, in a fashion. If you use prepackaged meals, that is a relatively passive method of weight loss. If you try those special “fat burning, metabolism-boosting” pills, that is pretty passive.

But the problem is that it doesn’t let you learn how to eat healthy the rest of your life. If you follow their plans, you will lose weight. Will it stay off? That is the real question.

When you are in control of what you eat, you make decisions every day. Hopefully most days are good decisions, but even on those days where you choose unwisely, you are still learning about self-control.

In my first thought, of the two people in the canoe, what would be the result if the rider in back were to grab an oar? First he could help steer the canoe. He would be able to exert some influence upon the direction he moves. But he could also help propel the canoe faster, and reach their destination quicker.

But as it is, he is simply riding. Passive. One could even say “useless.” That is never a descriptor of anything good.

Railroad Tracks,
Straight Ahead, No Detours!

Photo by Antoine Beauvillian, via Unsplash.com

What about getting on a railroad? Isn’t that a passive choice? Sort of.

That is a choice you can make, too, and with that choice, you know the end destination. Depending in the railroad and ticket, you have a reasonable assurance that you will disembark where you are planning. There are no rapids for the engineer to steer through, and if the train unfortunately derails, it will have nothing to do with your actions, and you could have done nothing to prevent it.

But once again, you have no control over how fast you arrive and actually, your potential destination choices are also limited. This is like choosing a very restrictive weight loss plan, one where you strictly limiting certain foods. Might that work? Sure. But will it take you exactly where you want to go, in the comfort that you desire? Maybe. Maybe not.

Clint Eastwood said “Fate pulls you in different directions.” He’s right. Some things that happen to us are out of our control.

That’s why it is so important to take charge of all those parts of your life which are under your control.

Which choices are you making right now? And do you have the paddle in your hands, or are you riding passively.

That is always your choice.

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Music composed and performed by Jason Shaw, courtesy of Audionautix.com

Voiceover courtesy of Matt Young. Matt is a professional voiceover artist. If you have any need of voiceover work, for your podcast, radio spot, or whatever, you can reach Matt by a variety of methods. He is on LinkedIn. On Twitter. And Google+. And you can read his really nice, contemplative blog.

Some links (but not all) within these show notes may be Affiliate Links, meaning that I may receive a small commission when readers click on them and then purchase something. This does not increase your cost at all, but it does help me cover some of the cost associated with this podcast. Thanks!