even though i’m a “J” temperment (highly organized, structured), i am terrible at organizing my own goals.? heck, i am terrible at even setting goals. or boundaries. or any kind of future-planning things.
as 2008 comes to a close, the year 2009 is stalking me, hiding behind every corner, threatening to attack me with it’s scythe – the crazy schedule, book things, conferences, job stuff, and oh yes, relationships – all demanding time and energy.
after going through a large stack of brown paper bags, hyperventilating in each one until they were soggy with spit, i decided that now is the ideal time to set some boundaries and goals in place for next year before next year eats me for lunch.
and thus the five focuses of anne jackson’s 2009 were born.? i’m going to really laser in on these during the first six months, and adjust if i need to.
i hereby promise to focus on these five things, and these five things alone: (listed in no particular order, and puh-lease, do not be hatin’ saying “you left god off the list.”? god is interwoven through every fiber of my being and is too worthy to be placed on a silly list. thank you.)
1) my relationship with chris
2) my job and the people of cross point community church
3) things directly related to mad church disease and investing in church leaders
4) specific relationships i feel god leading me to nurture
5) fighting injustice and poverty by supporting compassion international
the things outside of these five focuses will get cheated.? but hopefully the things in these five focuses will become rich and valuable.
i’m learning if you don’t put some intentionality behind your actions, you really will be less effective, less healthy, and way more stressed out.
how do you process goals and your future? are you a list maker? or fly by the seat of your pants?? how have you seen your style work or not work?
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18 responses to “next year could eat me* for lunch (*or you)”
Sit down and have a “Williams’ Family State of the Union Address” around the table. We set big goals, re-establish previous year’s goals, set kids chores, spending, dreams… They don’t always come through but it’s fun and a great way to kick off the new year!
Thx Anne. Going to go ahead and make my list this week as well.
May have to go old school and post them all around the house.
I psyched myself out of a few this year.
Not going to happen next year.
This weekend my pastor challenged us again to not rest on our laurels going into ’09 but to start our goals now. Being a mostly opposite-of-j-temperament kind of person setting concrete and reachable goals is huge. I hadn’t set any goals for a while but now have a few I’m focusing on and asking others to hold me to.
Great post! Also, I really like the new graphics on the blog. Sharp.
This weekend my pastor challenged us again to not rest on our laurels going into ?09 but to start our goals now. Being a mostly opposite-of-j-temperament kind of person setting concrete and reachable goals is huge. I hadn?t set any goals for a while but now have a few I?m focusing on and asking others to hold me to.
Great post! Also, I really like the new graphics on the blog. Sharp.
[I reposted this comment because I goofed on the link. How annoying.]
I was just discussing this topic as relates to career goals or “where do you see yourself in…” questions.
Although organizations and businesses should plan, do we need to? What’s wrong with taking each second, each day, and each issue as they come and just letting ourselves be directed to wherever we end up? I think I like this. A little out of my comfort zone but also a little less planning.
And I never fail to reach a “goal.” :)
I used to be great at this till everything broke loose and it seemed as if I lived in a state of emergency and then it got harder. I will say that the sheer difficulty of the past few years has led me to make changes and set boundaries out of desperation. I do it much better now. One thing I’ve had to really work to make a priority is leading out of fullness. I have to take care of myself – spiritually, emotionally, physically. So this has to be a huge priority and it feels so selfish, yet I’ve learned the hard way that I cannot lead at all and hear from God without this.
I generally get a feeling for what God is preparing me for and for what He desires me to concentrate on right now….with that said I have felt that this “school year” I should focus on my family as it is my last child’s senior year and my other two children will graduation from college in 09 so who knows where they will end up (one is applying for the Peace Corp), making time to be with my husband because he travels nearly every week and time together is rare, rebuilding my team and loving my church during transition, and then answering God’s calling in two additional ways: 1) writing my story and what I’ve learned and 2) preparing to share encouragement and resources with indigenous worship leaders and doing mission work as well.
I am still at a place where I feel my future is “mushy” – I don’t have some clear direction I’d love to have but I feel I’m moving forward one step at a time……
But you are right. We can’t do it all.
Convicting post. I am very similar; highly organized, planned, prepared, maybe a little OCD. But when it comes to “setting goals” or making “resolutions” I tend to shy away.
What if I don’t meet them? What if I fail? These questions have haunted me in years past, not allowing me to step out on a limb and trying something new or even something I knew to be potentially difficult.
More than this though, I wanted to let you know how much I and the rest of Compassion International (I work at Compassion) appreciate your support. The fact that becoming more invovled in our organization made your list is a blessing in more ways than one. Thank you for being vocal about it and for taking the time to share with others.
Your voice and effort is an answer to so many prayers.
Sincerely,
Meredith Dunn
good stuff, aj…
1) you are so right about your relationship with God being woven through every aspect of life; that is the creation intent :)
2) good for you in your willingness to “cheat” appropriately
joy and i attended a spiritual formation retreat last spring that ended with everyone developing a Rule (Rhythm) of Life. helps to provide a framework to help best position ourselves with God and others.
if you are interested, i probably can round up some more info.
Great blog! Thanks. You always come through.
I DO my goals by Calendar. i.e., today being the 1st of the Month,
I write in little squares the main things.
The truly main thing is “Salary Days” and that’s utmost because I
make our money work for us, so our goals can be accomplished,
especially for December because of Christmas.
Next is “Thank You Notes” – guess I’m strict about that; I have to
have “An Attitude of Gratitude!”
Then my prayer journal….gets my emotional issues straight up to God;
then I close the page and usuallly have six things I accomplish daily.
I do Outreach on certain days, but I always have a “Carol Day” which
means I have one day that I just do exactly what I feel like doing; for
instance, go buy a new bottle of finger nail polish; just anything to
celebrate my choices. I’m already an “others” person, but at the same
time keep boundaries. And, since we just got back from NYC, I refuse
to get stressed over the Holidays. Because the Macy’s Parade was
phenomenal! Thanks for letting me share….your new look is
amazingly incredible! You are so talented!
Anne, great post. I, like you tend to go in 5 million directions and am horrible at setting goals. But this system that you have devised is great! I am going to sit down and do this tonight. Thanks!
Kudos on more pimpage (however, I liked your other photo better – much more lively). Hooray for a fellow J and yet still struggling with planning. I’m right there with you… This sound like reasonable goals. Way to prioritize.
This is going to sound crazy and backwards….My guess is that your list from 2008 would have looked very similar so what brought you to the point of panic that birthed this new list? The same thing as the rest of us!
Try this…
Go back over the past year to the exact moments of failure. Where were you? Who was with you, not with you? What things led up to those moments? replay those scenarios in your mind adjusting your responses. Sounds negative but visualizing those can allow you to be more prepared for when they come up again this year.
Just as convicting as when Jim Collins said at Catalyst “If you have more than three priorities, you have NO priorities.” What? But wait?!? What happens to…. What if I don’t…
Jay – I’ve never made a list before :)
Great list Anne. Btw..you really shouldn’t put pictures of food on your blog posts. Because there could be pregnant ladies (ie: me!) who are reading your blog and then absolutely begin to crave the very sandwich you posted!!!
=) Have a great day!
I hate Francis Chan because everytime I listen to him, he challenges me to the breaking point. And I love Francis Chan because everytime I listen to him, he challenges me to the breaking point.
I’m a lot like you, highly organized when it comes to everything else but myself, and you’ve challenged me with your list here.
For me January brings a huge, completely and totally new shift in ministry responsibilities at my church. I probably really need to prioritize things as well.
So I love/hate this post because it was like being slugged in the chest.
And I think I’ll call you Anne Chan (that’s probably better than Francis Jackson). =)
For whatever reason…lists scare the fire out of me. Don’t do ’em. Thats a good thing and a bad thing. Whats the good thing?! Ha. There is so much I want to be better at for ’09 but I can’t manage to make that list and then have to look at it posted near my computer every single day! :)
Good for you Anne. Draw those boundaries and stick to them!