goal setting

The Curtain of Distraction; Dealing with Kissing Unicorns

“The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men”

The students at Arizona State University have devised a very clever way of lowering the points on the opponents scoreboard at their home basketball games. When it is time for the opposing team to shoot a foul shot the students unveil the black “Curtain of Distraction.” When this curtain is opened it reveals all kinds of college-devised tomfoolery.

These distractions range from a Miley Cyrus wrecking ball montage, kissing unicorns, or a robust boy dressed in a diaper. If it is bizarre it will serve its’ purpose of keeping the points off of the scoreboard. ASU coaches love it because it has resulted in lowering the average opposing foul shots by 2.5 points per game.

Do you ever feel like the basketball player trying to do your job of getting points on the scoreboard only to have the opposing team open up a “curtain of distraction?” You never know what is on the other side of curtain, and it could be anything. In life there are all kinds of bizarre life circumstances and wild opportunities.

Have you known the sound of the ball hitting the rim and rolling out? Brick. Air horns, waving plastic inflatable tubes, and kissing unicorns all conspire to distract you.

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So how do you deal with the world’s “Curtain of Distraction?”

Know what you want and focus on that alone.

There are a million good things you could put your hand to accomplish today, but there is only one thing that should capture your undivided attention in this moment. Knowing what you are trying to accomplish will help you recognize the current interruption as a way to move your project forward or if it is yet another thing seeking to pull you off task.

Prioritize. Put that which is the most important first. Don’t allow the urgency of the moment to overshadow your long range goals.

Plan your day.

Some people map out their whole week at one time. Others the night before map out their day. Still others start their day with a cup of coffee and a calendar and map out what needs to happen that day. However works best for you, taking time to think through your goals, priorities, and dreams each day will help you to stay subconsciously aware of what is the most important.

There will be opportunities that pop up and the curtain will be opened. It is your plan for the day that will keep you from staring too long at the tooth fairy with a purple tutu and distract you from the eternal.

Build in margin.

Your ability to focus when the crowd is screaming will come from many days of practicing with screaming crowds in the background. You will have to deal with interruptions as a constant part of life. There will be people who constantly drop by your office. Incoming phone calls and kissing unicorns are apart of your day so why not plan for them.

Don’t max out your schedule and calendar as though they don’t exist. You don’t know the exact time that Miley Cyrus on a wrecking ball is coming into your office but you can count on her appearing some time this week. Build in some time on your daily plan for her to appear.

Communicate your plan with others.

Communicate your goals with your teammates so that they can help you when the distraction curtain is opened. The goal of a foul shot is for the ball to to go into the basket. Listen to those on your team when they try to keep you focused on the goal and to steer you away from the kissing unicorns. It is vitally important that everyone know the ultimate goal. Let them know. Help to guard them when the are making the shot list and let them help you when it is time for you to step up the foul line.

Experts and Their Advice

As I lay down at 11pm the night before I ran the Disney marathon I took some time to peruse the participant guide. I received this guide when I checked into the ESPN SportsCenter to pick up my running bib and various other items they gave the runners earlier that day. I quickly turned past the routes through the theme parks (knowing I would never remember them anyway), and settled on an â€œadvice from an expertâ€ section.

The outlined advice the expert gave was:

â€œDonâ€™t stay on your feet for more than three hours the day beforeâ€ â€“ The reason I was going to bed at 11am was because after I picked up my running stuff we went through Magic Kingdom. We had to stay for the fireworks (at 9pm), and by the time we made our way back to the hotel, with 50,000 of our new friends, it was late. I thought to myself, â€œok so I walked for about 9 hours, maybe it wonâ€™t be that big of a deal.â€

â€œDonâ€™t eat â€˜heavyâ€™ foods the night before.â€ By the time we thought about dinner, along with 50,000 of our new friends, it was around 8pm. The only place we could find had a very limited number of items on its menu. So fried chicken tenders and green beans it was. Ok, so I canâ€™t check off two items on the expert list â€“ is being tired and full of grease really that bad before you run a marathon?

â€œGet a good night sleep; at least eight hours.â€ Well, I had to get up at 3am, and now it was pushing 11:30pm. My thoughts were beginning to gravitate toward, â€œThis is going to be a train wreck!â€ There sat three empty squares on the checklist.

Also, there was the fact that I had not actually run the full 26.2 miles. The most I had ever run up to that day was 20 miles. In my training I had to do the long runs when I could. In between a full time job, four kids, and various other responsibilities â€“ ok, let me just tell the truth. My forty-year-old body did not like long runs (anything over 10 miles) â€“ It would cry out, rebel, and remind me that I had mistreated it for days afterward. So I avoided them like the plague.

So, unrested, tired, full of grease, and feeling unprepared I sat the very â€œhelpfulâ€ booklet aside, rolled over and went to sleep (be it ever so briefly).

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Would I have had a better experience had I listened to and followed the advice of the expert runner? As the old Magic Eight Ball would say, â€œIt is decidedly so.â€[1] But in life, there are times when you have a choice to make. The weather report indicated that it would rain the day after the marathon â€“ the original day my family had decided to tour Magic Kingdom. So, we decided to go the day before, when the weather was much nicer. This meant that my body moved from one of being potentially â€œfully restedâ€ to â€œnot all that rested.â€

If I had listened to the advice of the experts there probably would have been less â€œpain.â€ But sometimes we push forward anyway because the payoff is worth the pain.

If you happen to find yourself as one of those â€œexperts,â€ donâ€™t get mad when people donâ€™t always listen to you. Instead, understand that rarely do we operate in a perfect and ideal world where nothing ever goes wrong. We meet the unexpected around every corner. It is this unknowable spontaneity that makes lifeâ€™s path so treacherous and the veranda so majestic.

Along the way toward any noble goal â€œlifeâ€ will happen. And, letâ€™s be honest, there are few times when you have done everything you know to do and are fully prepared for something. If noble goals were easy to accomplish everyone would do them. It is the difficulty and our perseverance that makes them mean so much more to us. Crossing the finish line of a life goal is wonderful, but rarely will it be without insurmountable obstacles.

Also, yes I had trained almost an entire year to run this race, but my family were with me. Like a scene for National Lampoon’s Vacation I would have felt terrible if they stood at the entrance of Magic Kingdom only to have to go back home not having experienced it (due to weather). So, my goal was second to our family goal of going to Magic Kingdom. Life happens, so hold on loosely to what is of lesser priority.

So set your goal, mark out your course, and in spite of advice from experts, do it anyway. Take the first step, even if you suspect that itâ€™s probably going to be a train wreck. Life is about the journey and the destination.

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[1] Just as a side note, it probably would have been of more help had I received this advice before the day before the race â€“ just saying.

Didn’t We Just Decorate the Christmas Tree Last Year? Evaluation and Goal Setting

Christmas shopping is in full swing, radio stations are blaring Jingle Bells, and the end of the year is roaring at us like that toy train at the bottom of the mall Christmas tree. With the end of this year and the beginning of a new one, it is important to take time to evaluate and plan. Tis the season is the best time to sit down, sip some gingerbread latte, and look forward into 2015. There is a wonderful gap in time right after Christmas and before New Years Day when the worldâ€™s spinning seems to slow down for a moment.

If we are not careful we will find ourselves repeating the same year again, and again, and again. If we allow ourselves to be swept away by the current of the day we get pulled into an undertow of allowing everyone and everything to dictate our lives. Year after year, after year. . . we will look back on our lives and realize we have gone no where. The way to avoid this is to set aside time to evaluate the previous year and determine a plan for the upcoming year.

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Why set goals?

1. Â Goals allow us to direct our lives instead of being directed by circumstances and otherâ€™s priorities.

The statement â€œthe squeaky wheel gets the oilâ€ is a very true statement. But if you are constantly putting oil on immediate squeaky wheels you will never have time to determine what is making them squeak and stopping it. Let the wheel squeak for a while and take time to step back and think. Carving out time can be extremely difficult. But understand this time of evaluating and goal setting to be an investment in the overall health of your life and those that you lead.

2. Â Goals help you to identify what are the most important areas in your life and establish plans to guard those priorities.

Sit down and choose five major areas of your life. They may be things like family, marriage, ministry, church, friends, education, relationship with God, etc. For example, if you know that you need to spend more time with your spouse, then take this time to figure out what is keeping that from happening.

3. Â Â Goals help you to move forward as a person.

When was the last time that you did something that really stretched you? Goals help us to move from a wish to making something a reality. What is it in your life that is keeping from trying something really big? This may be the year when you need to cut off personalities that are constantly having a negative impact on your life. Set a goal and go for it!

The leader has to train himself to listen to the correct and healthy voices in his life. There will always be those that discourage, irrationally criticize, and are just negative. And there are those that give healthy criticism, and helpful suggestions. There are also that are encouraging, give energy to a situation, and add light to your life. Also, be aware that sometimes that negative critical spirit may even be you. So take some time and think about what you are hearing, who you are hearing it from, and intentionally surround yourself with people who will encourage you to go even further than you have ever been before. You can do it. I do believe that it is so important to reach a little further, and stretch yourself beyond what you feel comfortable doing. [Click here to read this entire article.]

4. Â Calendaring With Vision and Goals in Mind.

Now as you look into the new year take your goals and put them on the calendar. For example, if you know you need to take batter care of yourself then put times at the gym on the calendar. It is up to you to guard those goals and times on the calendar. If you and your spouse have set aside Saturdays to be family days â€“ donâ€™t allow something of less importance to crowd out that set aside time. It is important to also build in “margin” or extra space into your calendar so that when life happens and you have to enter into that time you had set aside for something else, then you can still have time to accomplish what was originally in that time slot.

5. Â Â Communicate Your Goals with Those Around You.

Letting other people know what you are working on will communicate to them what is important to you. It can also serve as a point of accountability when you begin to get off track with your goals.

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So What Now?

Vision â€“ what does the end of the road look like? What vision do you have for your life, or far more importantly, what is the vision that God has of you life? Write it down. No one knows the whole life big picture, but you should have some idea for the next year.

Goals â€“ Now after you have seen a picture for the next year, then establish some goals based upon the vision. Goals are not wishes. Wishes have no plan; goals are a vision that you have developed a plan to accomplish.

Mile Markers -Â Goals are then broken down into reachable steps or â€œmile markers.â€ If your goal is to run a half-marathon, then study and research to see how you would train and spread that out over the needed length of time.

Regular evaluation â€“ how are we doing? Are we moving forward? Take time to regularly (daily, weekly) epaulet to see if you are on track to reach your goal and accomplish your vision.

No organization is autonomous from the community at large â€“ how is the progress you are making affecting those around you? Sometimes your goals and forward movement can have a positive (or negative) affects on those around you. Recognize that others may not like your growth because it may challenge them — others may see it as a source for inspiration. Either way, keep moving forward.