This was, perhaps, the least productive month in terms of my Groundhog Day Resolutions. There’s a general feeling in the air (at least in the air immediately surrounding me) of “who cares about these stupid goals, anyway?” The combination of pregnancy-induced tiredness and a crazier, heavier workload leaves little time to dream big dreams and work towards “something.” Dave Seah mentioned that he’s booked for the next YEAR with projects, and at the end of his post, mentioned that he is losing steam with GDRs. I have to wonder if full (or over-full) workloads directly coincide with less energy for longer-term goals, such as developing alternative revenue streams (a goal that Dave and I both had in common; his ETP product and my shadow box business) or working on personal brand development. Hmmmmm.
I’ve definitely hit the point with some of my goals where I’ve forgotten why I had set them as goals in the first place. Why exactly did I care about developing my brand? Why did I want to start another business? And who cares about having a daily routine, anyway? Last month, I set monthly milestones anyway to try to slog through this rut, but as you’ll see in my summary below, not much happened. So, this month, I’m trimming back my monthly milestones, but I’m adding one main task which is to think about my goals and either redefine them or re-inspire myself.
- Main task for next month: Reevaluate goals and/or re-inspire myself. This weekend will be a good time to reflect. I’ll post a blog about how it goes, so that helps with some built-in accountability already!
- Health/body goals – 🙂 / 😦
- How I did: I had a goal to gain between 3-5 lbs. by the end of my first trimester (a healthy amount). In between weighing myself several times a week and my controlled diet, I gained three pounds. I’ve also been mostly disciplined with what I’m eating, although I have been starting to slack off a bit and not paying attention to eating enough veggies. But overall, I’ll give myself a gold star for weight/food! However — my exercise routine is still non-existent, so that’s what the sad face is for.
- Next month: During the second trimester, I need to gain about 1 pound a week, so I hope to be 4 lbs. heavier by next GDR review day. My only other goal for this next month is to GET BACK INTO AN EXERCISE ROUTINE! It will be best if I just start walking every day, whether I go to the gym or not, so I’ll start tomorrow morning!
- Work-related goals
- Branding goal – 😦
- How I did: My scheduled two hours of web site tweaks didn’t happen.
- Next month: I’ve tentatively scheduled two hours on another day, but this is dependent on how my goal reevaluation goes.
- Small business goal – 😐
- How I did: I designed one side of the brochure and didn’t do anything else (following-up with people or developing a local marketing plan).
- Next month: Nothing planned for now.
- Branding goal – 😦
- Routines – 😐
- How I did: My daily routines are, well, routine (except for exercise), but I never figured out a housecleaning routine. We did meet with our roommates and figured out a chores system, but there are various maintenance tasks that only affect me/Steve that I wanted to figure out (such as how often do I clean my shower?).
- Next month: Nothing planned for now.
- Character/social – 🙂
- How I did: Gratitude journal is part of my daily routine.
- Next month: Nothing new planned.
Corrie Haffly 
That’s an interesting observation, Corrie…I’ve kind of forgotten why. Actually, I know they’re good, but I’ve been living with these goals for so long that they’ve lost their Shininess. I think maybe we’re just sick of them.
It might be a good idea to introduce a post-summer Goal Chucking, invoking the image of the Woodchuck (which is the same thing as a Groundhog, it turns out!) Serendipity!!! 🙂
So maybe this means we have a six-month goal attention span. 🙂 And I’m intrigued by your idea of a Post-Summer Goal Chucking. What would it look like? (…aside from the part where we kick a woodchuck out the window…)
I’m certainly bored of looking at the same goals every month, and I was 2 months late to the party.
Despite that, I also independently decided to reevaluate my goals a little this month… so it can’t be a duration induced tarnish. Perhaps its a seasonal tarnish that makes October a time for letting the leaves fall in preparation for some shiny new leaves next season?
Azazil – Fascinating that you found it a good time to reevaluate goals as well! Now I’m curious to see how other people are doing with monthly goal reviews.
I’ve seen a dramatic redo of all my goals due to personal chaos (my wife has taken a promotion in a new city). My goals have all gone out the window 😦
Dan Miller, author of 48 days (48days.com) actually sets his goals for the new year by November 15th to avoid the same issues we’ve all seen with New Year’s resolutions. Perhaps its late in the year that we truly see what has been working and what has not.
I’ve struggled, though, with maintaining the forward momentum with my goals as well (but mine was problematic back in July already). I think a major key to all of this is to avoid staying locked into goals that are no longer relevant. The monthly review should allow us to ensure we’re still doing the right things and that our actions align with that. If I’m not doing anything toward a goal, is it really a goal?
Yombo – Good points, and I relate with the momentum problems! I’m hoping that this weekend will be a good time for me to revamp and reconsider my goals.
I honestly don’t know if starting on Nov 15 would make much of a difference to me (although I suppose I wouldn’t know until I tried). It seems that I would just “burn out” on my goals in May or June of the next year.
In any case, good luck with the transition you and your family will be going through, and Mr. Groundhog is cheering you on in your course!
Whoa, this is obviously for goal-oriented people! I never sit down and write goals for myself because I would just get discouraged and never do them. A daily task list works for me, with goals fuzziily swimming around in my head… with no due date. 🙂