Resolutions, Goals, and Objectives

Well, it's the new year.  Or should I say "New Year."  Everyone always capitalizes it, like it's something special.  I've always kind of considered the beginning of the school year to be the New Year, but that's probably because I've been in school or teaching school for a ridiculous amount of my lifetime.  So today, in honor of the New Year, I thought I would write about resolutions.  And goals and objectives.  (In case you DIDN'T read the title...)

226.  Shit.  Sorry, I know I said I'd keep it G-rated...

That was the number on the scale this morning for my New Year's weigh-in.  In my PJ's and socks.  Not quite my all-time high, but close to it.  And about 10 pounds heavier than a month or so ago, which is totally understandable - the last month or so has seen Thanksgiving, a trip to Ann Arbor for a marching band weekend with a few of my students and my son, a trip to Chicago for the Midwest Clinic, and the Christmas holidays.  But still, TEN POUNDS???

Anyway, that's what inspired me to write about today's topic, which I believe I have mentioned is about goals and stuff.  Here's what I have discovered over the years as my weight does whatever it seems to want to...

RESOLUTIONS suck.  They can wreck your whole year.  "This year I resolve to__________."  Then you fail.  Then what?  You can't just start over again; you have to wait til next January 1.  That's why I never make New Year's resolutions.  If I set my expectations low enough, I can't fail:)  (I'm seldom disappointed with things using this philosophy.  I always expect the worst, then can only be pleasantly surprised.)  

How about the idea of approaching something with "new resolve"?  Nah.  Too much thought.  Moving on, then.

As a teacher, I have been subjected to the idea of "goals and objectives" since I was an undergrad.  "The student will......" and you had to use a form of ABCD form, in which each of those letters stood for an Action, a something that started with B, and a couple others.  

I'd rather talk about them this way: I need to set a goal that's reasonable so I don't get too discouraged.  My overall objective in this quest is to be healthier, and I need to focus on that as much as the idea of how much I weigh.

When I pass out a piece of music to the band, or when the freshmen first see a marching band drill book for the first time, it can be overwhelming.  So many notes, so many things we don't know how to do, how will we get this done, etc.  So we break it into manageable chunks. And that's how I need to approach this idea. I can't just say I want to lose 50 pounds.  First of all, that's a huge amount of weight.  Second of all, it's overwhelming.  How on Earth can I manage that?  I'll just have another cheeseburger.

BUT, if I set a smaller goal with a smaller time frame, it makes it much easier.  For instance...  Two years ago I fell short of 3,000 miles on the bike by about 150 miles (btw, I just say I did 3K; it was close enough).  But I didn't set that as a goal.  I set a goal of riding a lot.  Seriously.  So after today's 17 miles on the trainer inside, I only have 2,983 left.  See why you can't set a goal like that?  My current goal is to exercise every day this week.  So far I HAVE MADE IT!!!!  I went ice skating on Sunday, lifted weights with the guys yesterday, and rode my bike today.  I plan to lift AND ride tomorrow, which then allows me to not feel too badly if I miss a day this weekend when we take Nathan back to MSU, for instance.  See how that works?  If I were to set a goal of "I must ride 5,000 miles this year and that will include X miles per week per month," I would be in too much danger of missing the goal and getting discouraged and giving up.  So my advice to you, dear reader (and apparently I have a few - over 300 views of my first post.  Now there's pressure...), is to set manageable goals that you can achieve easily and work your way up from there.  Advice from one who's been there and knows how it works (said the old, wise fat guy).

So Happy New Year.  I hope that it finds you happy and healthy and that you are able to achieve whatever goal you set for yourself.  I also hope you're enjoying what you're reading.  I'm not an expert, but I do know that doing something like exercise or a weight loss program with someone else or with someone else's advice makes it a lot easier.  As a matter of fact, that's on the list for my next post!  (Which may or may not be tomorrow.  See, I set a goal of writing a blog about this adventure, but not that I would journal every single day.  WAAAAYYY easier to accomplish!)

See you later.