Goals

In business school we studied goal-setting motivational theory. Sounds fancy, doesn't it? At work we had mandatory goal-setting training to attend. Every year, around January people ask about your New Year's resolutions. Are you sensing a theme here?

Setting goals is an important part of being an ambitious citizen of the world. If you have no goals, nothing to strive for, than you basically are taking up space and using up perfectly good oxygen. I refuse to do either.

So this year I set some goals for myself. The training I received at work articulated that my goals should be SMART. That is:

Specific
Measureable
Attainable
Relevant
Timely

For example, saying I want to climb Mt. Everest this year is not attainable or, arguably, not relevant. Saying I want to complete school is not timely, unless I specify when I plan on finishing. You get the drift.

With that in mind, I have the following goals for 2007:

• Complete my master's degree in June of 2007 - I'm so close I can feel it. I started this two years ago, attending class once a week for 4 hours on Tuesday night while doing lots of homework and reading. Now I'm almost done. What seemed like a major commitment actually passed quickly.
• Run the Derby Mini-Marathon on April 29, 2007 - Duh! Everyone that reads this blog should know this one.
• Run the NYC Marathon on November 4, 2007 - Please see above
• Start an online brokerage account by the end of January, 2007 - This is actually done. I wanted to use some of that financial knowledge I acquired while attaining my MBA. So far, my portfolio is up over 18%. I think I'm doing all right.
• Learn to speak basic Italian by the end of 2007 - Properly pronouncing menu items at Vincenzo's doesn't count. This has always been a goal of mine.
• Learn to fly fish by spring 2007 - I love to fish. It's, quite possible, my favorite hobby. Fly fishing has always held a special romance to me. The graceful casting loops and delicate presentations always looked more like art than science. I actually have a fly-fishing outfit now and am learning how to properly overhead cast and roll cast. Once the weather warms, I'll be on the water.

I think that's all, although more goals and opportunities will present themselves during the course of the year. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

On a different note, my ankle is feeling much better. This weekend, I plan on testing it out again, hopefully, with more encouraging results.