How can I set reasonable goals?

[Celadon]

I've pretty much always been a person with goals, whether at school, or while planning my career, or doing projects at work. And when I was younger, I had the luxury of being single-minded, focusing on just one or two things at a time, dropping everything else. Like if I was doing a work project, I wouldn't spend that much time with friends, or I'd let exercising completely fall by the wayside.

 

Now my problem is that I want to set reasonable goals -- while also maintaining the rest of my life. I don't want to set "killer" goals anymore. I'm no longer into the thrill of being able to pull off something huge. I'm more into my sanity now. (LOL!)

 

But I'm fighting my "old" self. For example, I was recently promoted and I want to do well in my new job. So I've got a whole long list of things I should probably do to become good in the new position. Well, I can't just suddenly start doing all of them, because then I wouldn't have any time left over to take care of myself or my life. So somehow, some way, I have to break these things down.

 

That may sound simple, but there's a part of me that's afraid that if I don't try to meet all of the goals right away, I'm somehow going to be screwed.

 

So how do you set reasonable goals for yourself, while allowing some things to be put on the back burner for awhile? I mean, how would you decide what to do first? And how do you trust that you won't be somehow bitten in the rear by the things you're not doing immediately?

 

Thanks!

[hosswhispra]

This may come off as whimsical advice but it is something that has guided me:

 

Follow your heart and trust your instincts.

[Mrs Elliott Smith]

Write down what your most important *priorities* are in different areas of your life:

 

Job

Home life

Health / Body

Relationships

Education

 

And whatever else . . .

 

Write down the most important goal(s) for each, and then break them down into mini-goals, or the parts of each huge goal. Like steps in acheiving those goals.

 

Then approach those goals in a step-by-step fashion.

 

Just an idea. Don't overwhelm yourself, you remind me of myself. I put too much on my plate, so to speak, and I wind up going crazy trying to keep up with everything. You gotta relax. Deal with the most important things first, and bite off only what you CAN chew. Or else, as I'm sure you know, you'll get burnt out-- fast.

[Celadon]

Thanks you two. I really appreciate the advice. Hosswhispra, I do need to follow my heart. I feel like I'm entering this period of life where it's more important to follow instincts than to "perform to task" anyway. I hope I can navigate the waters this way....

 

MES, I'm glad I'm not the only one who has dealt with this. Sometimes it's tough to back off, but I like the priorities approach. I definitely don't believe it's worth it for me to go full speed ahead and then burn out. Been there, done that!

 

Thanks!