Set Goals to Get Good Stuff!
Dear Blog Friends,
How are your goals coming now that January is about gone? I've always been a "goal setting gal" but artsy decorating kind of writer gal that I am, I do it in a creative way...with a big notebook, a stack of magazines, a scissors, and a glue stick, where I "cut and paste" my next vision of how I want my life to "look" for the year. It works for me. But my personal goal M.O. might not work for everyone. Enter my organizer extraordinaire friend Elizabeth Hagen, http://www.elizabethhagen.com/ and the Minnesota Vikings...
Alrighty then, as you may have guessed by my website and blog by now, I've never been what I'd call a "football type" as I don't like anything messy, noisy, smelly, or buggy, and I can't imagine why anyone in their right mind would want to throw a little ball around a bunch of green lawn on a frigidly cold day with a zillion people yelling at them while they pat each other on the back and nearly kill each other with tackles! That is, until I read Elizabeth's article about how football can help you set goals...and suddenly football made perfect sense to me!!
Thank you Elizabeth for letting me share your brilliant article with my blog readers so they can "get good stuff" for themselves with goal setting.
What Does the Game of Football Have to do With Goal Setting?
by Elizabeth Hagenhttp://www.elizabethhagen.com/ (Elizabeth wrote this after she attended a Minnesota Vikings football game with her five children and dear husband, a longtime Vikings fan! My personal favorite is the one about your inner ref!)
Start with a plan. An NFL football team doesn't show up to a game and just start playing. The team has had practices, gone over the plays, the coach has reviewed the other team, they have a plan, etc. And, the coach's plan is written down. Things may not exactly go as planned but there is a plan. It is key to write your goals down.
Surround yourself with positive people. There were over 62,000 fans at the game PLUS the cheerleaders. Of course, not everyone was a Vikings fan but most were and definitely the cheerleaders were fans. Who do you have to support you with your goals? Some fans will come and go in your life and some will stay forever. My husband, Bruce, has been a Vikings fan since age 10 and a season ticket holder since 1972. He's the best kind of fan to have as he will hang in there no matter what. I'm SO glad he's in my corner!
Going backward is ok. Rarely is a ball caught at the 1 yard line and run in for a goal. So far in NFL history there has been 12 times a 99 yard touchdown has been scored. Usually when your team has the ball they get ahead a bit, then go back a bit, then go ahead a bit, etc. Same with the goals that we set. We work on them and move forward, then there may be a setback, and then we move forward again. Once in awhile we get a 99 yard touchdown but don't expect that every time!
Take a timeout. When the going gets tough in a football game the coach calls a timeout. Same goes for us. Next time you feel yourself stressed out about your business, and perhaps even life in general, take a timeout. Go for a walk. Go to a book store. Take a nap, etc. Timeouts work. Our mind will get clear and usually the answer will come to us OUTSIDE of our office.
You're the coach. There are many positions on a football team. One person can't do it all. Occasionally, a quarterback will take the ball and run with it but he usually passes it to someone who is specialized in running the ball in for a touchdown. Who have you passed your ball to lately? Are you doing everything yourself? Start passing!
Listen to your inner ref. NFL football games have very experienced refs. We don't have professional refs in our life but we have our gut - I know that word isn't very lady like but yes, our gut. Are you taking the time to really listen to your inner self? Your gut will be right every time. If you've set a goal and it's just not happening take time to listen to what your gut is telling you and it may be the right move to drop that goal and try something else.
Stuff happens. Sometimes there's an interception during a football game. Have you had some interceptions lately? Health issues, kids need you more than usual, etc. Stuff happens. Take the time to take care of what needs to be taken care of and then get back to working on your goals.
'Til Next Time...
Kathryn :)
http://www.kathrynbechenink.com/
Cover image used with permission 
