Vision, Goals, Plans

I am a visual person.  And though we all learn in different ways, I think for all of us, seeing something helps us process, and understand.  I have always found it interesting that when a person loses one of their senses, or is born without something like sight, their body often compensates with other senses.  When we engage our senses in our daily life we can achieve more.  This principle was applied to a wonderful phonics system (my sister HH Shared with me) which I used for my kids when they were younger.  The program had them repeat the sounds of letters with their mouth, see with their eyes as I wrote them, write with their hands, and hear instruction with their ears.  In a month my son's writing ability improved drastically from chicken scratch to beautiful lettering.

So I want to take you on a quick little journey and I will need you help and cooperation if YOU are going to be able to VISUALIZE the end field:

Imagine for a minute with me.  Close your eyes and think about your life.  Here are some things I want you to consider as you VISUALIZE your life.  Where do I want to be by next week, next month, next year, in five years and in ten years.  (YOU can think even farther ahead into the future, but for this exercise just a week, month, year, 5 and 10 year mark).

Now imagine yourself in that place a week from now, a month, year, 5 and 10 years.  Give each place its due.  What would that look like and feel like?  What does it require?

I am a mommy to seven kids:  16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 3 and 9 months.  But I am also blessed to get to do a little extra mothering and one of the grown boys in my life is off at school.  He has been a big brother to my kids and a huge cheerleader in helping me set some goals.  Between his support, my rockstar, cheerleader husband, and my sister HH, I have given up treats since the end of November.  It was a goal of mine.  I resisted it, because I didn't know how I could possibly do it.  But N.L. taught me some great strategies for goal setting and I want to share them with you.

But first about goals in general:
My mom used to say, "Christine, a goal is really just a wish unless you write it down."  Her next favorite mantra was "Successful people have more than ONE strategy, they usually have 10-12."  She had gleaned this information from a self help class taught by our friend Jim Munoa.  And in our lives it has proven to be true.  I am still surprised as an adult how many people quit after barely trying and exhausting the one, or two strategies they always use, instead of thinking out of the box.  Success I believe is just around the corner, one or two turns from where you already are.  Sometimes we give up and throw in the towel when the opponent is so close to collapsing and give away our own victories, that, if we had only continued, we could have mastered.

So here is my formula.  N.L. Learned it when on a service mission for his church, from his mission president.  And he believed it was from the Franklin Covey plan, though I couldn't find any reference for it.  He calls it the V.G.P. and that is how we refer to it now.  But it stands for Vision, Goals, Plans.

And this is how it works:

Vision:  The faculty or state of being able to see.  Synonyms:  Eyesight, sight, observation, perception, view, perspective

I start with a vision.  It is a lofty direction you are headed.  It is a dreamy idea of your final outcome.  It takes time, and needs to be broken down.  

I have a V.G.P. for my household.  
It includes my Vision, Goals, and a Plan for cleaning and chores with my kids.  
Here it is below.
My Goal is more clear and detailed.  How do I get to my Vision, what do I want it to look like.
My Plan involves who, what, where, when and how.  I have accountability and set time frames.  
Accountability is key, and I report to someone.  For my household V.G.P. we have a family counsel regularly to check in and evaluate this.  I will say, it isn't an overnight transformation.  But we have seen a vast improvement in chores, and teamwork.  There is still room to do better.  But I am grateful for the things we are learning and the habits being established in our home.  

I would love to hear about how you set goals and what works for you.
Love and Light, Christine