Some Musings on Goal Setting and Intentions...

Somehow, we have arrived at the last day of June.

I realize "time" is a pretty arbitrary construct, yet it seems like we all — and I include myself in all — are slaves to time, in one way or another.

I suppose it's pretty handy... in olden times, people watched the skies and the shadows cast by the sun, and measured time by the passing of the seasons. We knew it was "spring" and "harvest" and such... and that makes sense.

Of course, now it is summer.

A Creeping Inclination Towards Productivity...

But the calendar is also about to tick over from "June" to "July" and from the "2nd Quarter" to the "3rd Quarter" and I find myself somehow drawn to the idea of setting some goals for the third quarter — July, August, September — a practice I have typically avoided, but that somehow seems more relevant due to quarantines, sheltering in place and our otherwise tumultuous world... which is causing us to spend more time at home.

Maybe it's a bit ironic to read these words from someone who talks a lot about not growing too attached to doing, but I also find that if I go too slack on structure in my world, I do — in fact — gravitate towards getting absolutely nothing done.

And since it still costs money to live in this Covid-19 riddled world, it seems I should have some plans and goals.

Which is actually how I came to writing these words.

I was thinking about this whole somewhat New Age-y sounding concept of "Setting Intentions," and the bottom line is that you really can't set intentions unless you have established what it is you intend to accomplish.

My experience has been that most of my goals I have failed to reach were the result of poorly defined objectives and a lack of clarity.

It's like that old New Year's Resolution: "I'm going to lose weight and get in shape!"

What the frak does that mean???

If you lose two pounds by the end of the year you'll — technically speaking — have succeeded, but I bet that wasn't what you actually had in mind.

Put It In Writing!

I find that my intention (goal) setting works best when I sit down and actually force myself to put it in writing, and then proceed to publish it in a "public" sort of place.

Although I don't actually put a lot of stick on what others think, I do like having a record to point back at as a point of reference... a benchmark, if you will.

It's an "accountability thing," I suppose.

Whereas I sucked at many things when I was in college, putting things in writing was NOT one of them!

So, with little further ado... and a tip of the hat to @jongolson who helped inspire this post:

By September 30th, it is my Intention to:

• Write 100 new blog posts and articles across all platforms I use.
• Revisit all my old blogs and either revitalize them, or shut them down.
• Create 1,000 new listings across all my eBay and other sales accounts.
• Finish my bookkeeping loose ends for both 2018 and 2019.
• Reach 6,500 HP staked here on Hive. #MyHiveGoals
• Finish "Phase II" of converting our lawn into food growing space.
• Check in with my Intention progress once a month.

Think I'm going to just stay with those, for now.

The thing is, it's easy to set so many goals and intentions that you have no chance of succeeding, in the realistic world.

And so, this is my last post of June 2020... I appreciate your readership, or at least indulging me with an occasional upvote!

How about YOU? Are you a "goal setter" or more of a "go with the flow" type of person? Has the quarantines/restrictions we have experienced over the past few months changed how you approach "getting things done?" Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for this platform.)
Created at 20200630 23:50 PDT
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