Tag Archives: goals

Jeff Flesch 6:00 am on August 29, 2021
Tags: , , gita, goals, hobby, , , , , musical, , ,   

Sunshine Blogger Award

I am honored to have received the Sunshine Blogger Award nomination from two lovely bloggers; Lauren, of Lauren M Hancock Poetry and Prose, and Ahiri, of AhiriCreates. Thank you, Lauren, and thank you, Ahiri.

I’ve been following Lauren for a while now, and love the poetry and prose that Lauren creates; and, though I’ve only been following Ahiri for a little while, I am truly blessed to have found Ahiri’s site, which is full of inspirational content. Both, amazing bloggers! If you’ve not yet checked out their sites, please do so. Thank you.

Alright, here we go. Rules first.

  1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog.
  2. Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you.
  3. Nominate 11 new bloggers to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
  4. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or your blog.
Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

Lauren’s Questions

  1. How do you deal with regretful situations?
    1. I don’t spend a lot of time in a regretful state today. However, that was not always the case. At one time, regretfulness was a state I spent a lot of time in; yet, I was unaware, which means there was quite a lot of pain. Today, if a situation occurs that feels not so good, I inquire right away, and if there is something I need to take action on, I do so immediately. 
  2. What is a joyous moment for you?
    1. The birth of my two beautiful sons. Both moments that were completely joyous, and paradoxically so, stressful! They are amazing young men.
  3. When you’re inspired to write, is it in a frenzy or a controlled manner, how do the words flow onto the page?
    1. Depends. Sometimes the words just pour out; and they might start pouring out when I’m driving, which can be challenging! I’ve learned to take notes throughout the day as insights occur. At other times, the process is more gradual. Meaning, I’ll have a concept in mind, will pull up a document, and see if anything comes. Usually the words do come; yet, sometimes they don’t. I’ve learned both are okay.
  4. What is the most important object in your life, and what significance does it hold for you?
    1. Hmmm. I have some photos and artwork in my apartment, which all hold significance for me. Pictures of the boys, spiritual and devotional pieces, and then a piece of artwork a good friend of mine made for me. The significance is that there is a person or concept behind each pic or piece of artwork that I love, and they hold a special place in my heart.
  5. Are you a coffee or a tea person?
    1. Tea, please. 🙂
  6. What would be your ideal way to enjoy a Sunday?
    1. Meditating, writing, walking, enjoying time with people I love.
  7. Name one hobby that you enjoy and why.
    1. I love to write! Hahaha. Alright, something other than writing. Let’s see. I love to hike and work in my garden. That’s two!
  8. Share a treasured memory of yours?
    1. The one that comes to mind was a family trip we took in 2013 to the east coast. The boys were much younger then, and we spent 10 days in Philadelphia, Washington DC, and New York. As a west coaster, I’ve not spent as much time on the east coast, and I love it. We had a grand time.
  9. Name a favourite song of yours from a musical.
    1. I Dreamed a Dream, Les Miserables.
  10. Would you consider yourself an extrovert or introvert?
    1. Both! I love people, and love being around people; yet, as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), I have a deep internal life, which is very important to me. Meaning, I need time away from everyone and everything. Time to pause, breathe, and reflect. 
  11. And does this affect the way you write for your blog?
    1. Oh, yes, absolutely. For me, internal processing, introspection and contemplation, the stillness and quietness of our beingness, is where creativity and innovation reside. 
Photo by Erwan Hesry on Unsplash

Ahiri’s Questions

  1. What’s your reason behind diving in the ocean of Blogging?
    1. When the pandemic first started, I began to look for another creative outlet, as work at that time was a little slower (that, as you all know did not last long), and it had been several years since completing my graduate studies, and I was longing to write. Write about my practical experiences. Thus, blogging started for me. It’s been an amazing experience, and I love blogging more today than ever before.
  2. The most favourite book of yours and WHY SHOULD OTHERS GIVE IT A TRY?
    1. Ah! This is a hard one; I’ve read so many books. Hmmm. I’ll need to choose two. Here we go.
      1. The Bhagavad Gita
        1. Why?
          1. The Gita is one of the most profound books I’ve ever read and experienced. I use the concept experience intentionally, as the relationship to the concepts and content within the Gita to everyday life is profound. For me, reading the Gita is an experience of life, all aspects of life.
      2. The House of Spirits
        1. Why?
          1. First, it’s a book I’ve read recently; second, because Isabel Allende is a master of language. The House of Spirits, though quite violent in parts, is one of the most elegantly written books I’ve ever read. 
  3. Tell us something which a lot of people think about you is true but actually isn’t that true
    1. When people learn what I do for a living, working in Educational Leadership in higher education, they sometimes assume I followed the “traditional” pathway through school, which is not true. I spent 16 years in the private sector before going to University at 33, and didn’t finish my degrees until I was 42! 
  4. Which do you favour the most: Solo travelling or Group/Family travelling?
    1. I’ve not done a lot of solo-traveling; yet that is now changing. As I wrote about in a post a couple of weeks ago, I have a three-year plan to visit places I’ve always wanted to see and experience – Europe, India, and Japan, which starts next year! 
  5. One of the most impractical imaginations of yours you wish could be somehow fulfilled?
    1. I am living out all of my dreams and creating the necessary activity to realize the ones on my imaginations list! The one that comes to mind most right now, is living in another country. That will likely happen in the next 5’ish years; and, I would like that country to be India. 
  6. Is there anything you still regret for, that you’ve done?
    1. I’ve worked through a lot of regret in the past 4 years; so, today, there is nothing that I am present to that I regret. However, I am always discovering new aspects of myself. If regret does arise, I inquire into the regret, and work through the pain, whether that be grief, sadness, remorse, or whatever other emotion may be there. 
  7. What are you: Mountain person, beach person or a forest lover?
    1. Ha! All three. I really do love all three; and, I also love the desert. Each of these landscapes hold a different experiential promise. And, I’m lucky enough to have lived in all three environments for considerable amounts of time. Alright, now that that is clear, the beach is my absolute favorite! 
  8. Any moment/incident when you felt “Right now, I’m the luckiest one on Earth”
    1. Right now! Seriously, I consider each moment precious, a divine gift on this beautiful planet, getting to type into this document about myself, acknowledging two lovely bloggers for nominating me for this wonderful award. Lucky, indeed! 
  9. What’s your next short term goal you’re working on?
    1. Regaining more range of motion in my left shoulder. As I’ve written about before, I was diagnosed with a frozen shoulder a few months ago, and have been in PT since that time. It’s slow going, yet my range is much improved and the pain has subsided a bit, which is great. 
  10. Which is that place, you already have visited and wanna visit again?
    1. New York City, for sure. Though I’ve been there before, it’s been a long time, and I would love to spend time there exploring all there is to experience. Growing up in Los Angeles, means I have a special place in my heart for large metropolitan cities; and, though I’ve not lived in a large city for, well, over 13 years, the diversity and cultural richness of larger cities resides in my heart.
  11. Do you believe in ghosts?
    1. I love this question, Ahiri! There is no way for me to not believe. Meaning, I have the visceral understanding today that we, as human beings, know so little of all that is knowable, so to not believe in ghosts would be folly. 

Wow! That was so much fun. I would like to once again thank Ahiri, of AhiriCreates, and Lauren, of Lauren M Hancock Poetry and Prose. Ahiri and Lauren are inspirational bloggers, and I do hope you will check out their sites.

As you all know, I don’t nominate individual bloggers for awards, as you are all inspirational and deserving. Therefore, I choose to invite each of you to respond to either Lauren’s or Ahiri’s questions if you would like.

Alright, have a beautiful and blessed coming week everyone!

#blogging, #books, #gita, #goals, #hobby, #imagination, #inspiration, #joy, #memory, #musical, #nominations, #regret, #sunshinebloggeraward

Jeff Flesch 10:41 pm on July 17, 2020
Tags: creatinglongtermgoals, creatingshorttermgoals, , dailyactions, , goals, , mindmaps, , , , ,   

Create A Vision For Your Future Self in 5 Minutes

Photo by tanialee gonzalez on Unsplash

Alright, I’ve written about creating a vision for yourself in several posts, yet, to date, have not walked through the process of doing so. What’s interesting is that people usually associate creating a vision with business, which makes sense, yet it makes as much sense, as we will discuss, to create a vision for yourself – for your life. Ready? Let’s go.

What’s first?

First, you want to get out all of your ideas about what your future self will look like, think like, and feel like. Here are some questions to get your thinking started.

  • What are your goals?
  • Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
  • Where do you see yourself in 3 years?
  • Where do you see yourself in 1 year?

That’s enough to get us started. Let’s take them one at a time, and use practical examples. Here we go.

Identify your 5-year goals

Make a list of all of your goals. Yep, all of them. Why? Because at this stage, you are concentrating on getting out all of the goals that you want to accomplish. Make a list. Here are some of mine.

  • Publish a book
  • Travel to Spain
  • Learn Spanish
  • Travel to Japan
  • Knee recovery so I can run again
  • Expand our remote community education classes
  • Take a trip out of the country with my best friend

Alright, there are some we can work with. Once you have your goals identified, pick one to start working on. Where you start in the future will depend on the goal. I suggest going out as far as you can. Why?

Because you will find that once you start thinking about 5 years from now, let’s say, more goals will come to mind.

Now that you have your 5-year goals identified, time to start working those goals backward. Meaning that you need to create 3-year goals that connect to the 5-year goals.

Photo by Alex Nemo Hanse on Unsplash

Year 3

Let’s use my 5-year goal to publish a book and work that backward. In order to actually publish a book 5 years from now, I would like to have 75% of it written by year 3? Why? That will give me plenty of time to edit, market, and engage people about the book.

Now, publishing a book is not something I’ve ever done, and that is okay. The realisticness of your goals in year 3 matter less, than that you have an idea or picture of what that future state will look like.

Having that picture in mind is important to the next step, which is creating the next year inside of the 3-year goal.

Photo by Isaac Smith on Unsplash

The next year

When you start working on your goal for the next year, you are now in the realm of actually putting your theoretical goal into practice. I’m sure you’ve heard people say theory should feed practice, well, it is as true that practice should feed theory. They are inextricably linked. Always.

Now you can choose how to create your next year inside of the goal you are working on. There are many ways to put yourself to work inside of your goal. First you need to decide what your goal will look like at the end of the next year. Let’s keep using my goal of publishing a book.

What will the book look like at the end of the next year?

I would like to have 150 double-spaced pages written. Alright.

Now, to complete 150 pages by the end of next year, I will have to schedule time to get those pages written. How? First, create quarterly goals. With this particular example, I will break 150 pages into 4 parts.

My quarterly goal then is 38 pages. Now take that to monthly, which is 13 pages. Yep, now to the week. 3 pages a week. Alright, I now have a weekly goal.

And, it is a weekly goal that is connected to a quarterly goal, which is connected to a yearly goal. And, that yearly goal is connected to a 3 year goal, which is connected to the 5 year goal. Phew. Pretty cool.

Here is the system. And, you can put any goal into it, and work it backward the same way.

  1. Identify all of your goals.
  2. Pick one to work on.
  3. Set that goal out into the future and visualize what it will look like.
  4. Work backward to year 3.
  5. Set that 3 year goal.
  6. Work backward to the next year.
  7. Set that yearly goal.
  8. Work backward to each quarter.
  9. Set that quarterly goal.
  10. Work backward to each month.
  11. Set that monthly goal.
  12. Work that backward to weekly.
  13. Set that weekly goal.

You can even take it to daily goal-setting, however, in this example it is not necessary. Now, if my goal was to get that book finished in the next year, taking the goal-setting to daily would actually be very helpful.

As you create these goals and work on them, know that you are actively creating the vision of your future self. Yep. And, as you put them into practice in your life, you are actively working on and creating your future self every day. Pretty cool, and fun.

How to organize them to ensure you move them forward?

Here are some tools you can use.

  • Calendars
  • Post-it boards
  • Whiteboards
  • Day planners.

How you organize yourself matters less than creating the actions and actually holding yourself accountable to doing them every day. Use whatever organization system that works for you.

And, if what you are using now doesn’t work, change it. There are tons and tons of tools for organization. So many.

Okay, that’s creating a vision of your future self in 5 minutes. Another thing I like to do with my goals is to create a mind map. As I’ve mentioned in many other posts, I am very visual, so I love to see my goals inside of a mind map.

In case you’ve not created a mind map, here is a quick video I created that describes the process.

Alright, you now have a system to create your future self. And, when you get into it, I think you’ll find that it is quite fun. And, guess what?

When you take those daily or weekly actions to create your future self, you will find that your longer term goals are being accomplished bit-by-bit each day. Happy creating.

#creatinglongtermgoals, #creatingshorttermgoals, #creatingyourfuture, #dailyactions, #goal-setting, #goals, #growth, #mindmaps, #practice, #selfdevelopment, #theory, #theoryandpractice, #vision