My Thrill? Setting Goals

Not particularly sexy I know.  If I was one of the 'cool kids', my thrills would be climbing a mountain, running without shoes (a new trend, I'm told), eating odd food, or not paying my bills nearly two weeks early.  Those would be thrills which would keep me on the top of cocktail party invite lists all of the time.  No, my thrill is setting a goal. 

For fun, I Googled 'goal setting.'  Give it a try.  This is clearly a search that has been done before because the websites that come up are both appropriate to the topic and helpful.  Now try Googling "how to convince your dog he is actually warm enough."  Those sites are not so helpful.  Apparently my dog is unique in that he believes he is cold all of the time, even when he is under four layers of fleece.  But I digress.

Further research about goal setting and, even more importantly, following through on goals, was sobering.   Quirkology.com followed 3000 people who set goals at the beginning of 2007.  52% were confident they would be successful.  But one year later, only 12% achieved their goal.  (Read the article at the following link: http://www.quirkology.com/UK/Experiment_resolution.shtml)

Hmmm, at least I don't feel so bad.  My thrill may be setting a goal, but my bore?  Following through on my goals.  So, even though I have unique cold dog problems, I seem to fall well within the average of goals.

However, I am not a fan of being average.  What's more, I certainly don't like being told that I might as well not try because I will not succeed.  I already fall outside the lines with the cold dog and goal setting thrills, so I wonder how I would feel if I was one of the 12% who actually succeeded on a goal.  That is what I am setting out for now.

For my loyal readers (my parents and grandmother) you know that it has been a couple of years since I have updated my blog.  Why?  Who knows.  I received good feedback (always a plus for someone trying to reach a goal) and I enjoy writing.  But, the thrill wore off.  I set the goal of writing a blog but then instantly began to bore while trying to follow through.  But, I am a different person now.  I wonder what kind of thrill it is to accomplish a goal?  That has to be a rush, right?  I have been loosing weight and my goal is well within reach.  I wanted to become a runner, and lo and behold, I am a runner.  So, why can't I become a writer?  And not just writing incredibly pithy and well thought out patient chart notes (I have a loyal following for those as well).  I can be a blogger.  Set a goal, work through the boredom of accomplishing it, and feel the rush of achievement.

So, I ask my followers (yep, that's you mom, dad, and grandma!) to keep me accountable.  Here is my plan: I will post an entry 5 times a week.  I can't promise a theme or that they will always have ground-breaking Google search results, but I promise to keep them real and interesting. 

Stay tuned for tomorrow as I share my thoughts on why everyone should have fresh flowers in their home!