Do you still set goals? (state, opinion, activities, income)
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I was just having this conversation with my wife the other day. For the past decade and a half I worked under the S.M.A.R.T. evaluation procedure. I’ve had five or six primary goals that I had to complete before years end. I never realized how disciplined I had become under this system until I retired. Now, with no specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-related goals driving me, I seem to be sort of doing a lot of nothing. I think this is a large reason why I do not enjoy retirement like I should.
Apparently I am a goal/results oriented person more than I imagined. Now, this does not mean I want to live with a bunch of specific and measurable goals, but I do wonder about following some sort of regiment just to get me better engaged in this retirement gig.
Nope, my time is mine. I don't feel like I am required to be productive for the collective.
What about being productive for yourself? Maybe one single goal for the year? Go out walking twice a week. Join a book club. Listen to a book on tape every week. Plant tomatoes. Take one out of town trip. The possibilities are endless.
Goals are not tied to employment and working. Goals are a part of life. Retirement shouldn't end all goals in life.
I set a small goal for every day. It may be to clean the bathrooms. It may be to work in the yard for an hour. It may simply be to go to church or the rec center to walk.
When I do it, I feel like I have accomplished something. However, I cut myself a lot of slack for the rest of my time right now. I have only been retired 7 months, and I was a solo heath care provider for 5 of them. My husband died in the middle of October. We had all these plans, and his health fell apart 3 weeks after my actual retirement.
Interesting conversation that made me think a little more about goal setting in retirement. My primary goal is to not do anything I don't want to do and to enjoy whatever I choose to do! I've always been a doer and a joiner, and have learned to say no when an "opportunity" doesn't appeal.
I used the Steven Covey system (7 Habits of Highly Effective People) for planning and goal-setting throughout my work life and it has become second nature. The "system" gives me control over my time and reassurance that I'm not forgetting important stuff! And it leaves lot of time to just "be", without having to worry about things I "should" be doing.
Larger goals tend to be time-sensitive like planning travel overseas or family visits, renewing passport and drivers license, taking watercolor painting and yoga classes, scheduling my annual physical. I add these and family/friend birthdays to my planner on specific days or weeks when I should take care of them. And I add short-term goals or tasks as I think of them, scheduling them around other daily, weekly, monthly or annual commitments. Examples of tasks I've added in the last few days are: taking down the outside Christmas lights; cleaning closets and taking stuff to Goodwill; checking Youtube to see if anyone has suggestions about fixing my steam mop that has stopped steaming; buying a map of London for my trip this year. Completing tasks as they need to be done gives me a sense of accomplishment often missing in my mostly unstructured retirement.
This routine has worked for me - 10 years into a better retirement than I could ever have imagined - and I can't see changing now.
I was just having this conversation with my wife the other day. For the past decade and a half I worked under the S.M.A.R.T. evaluation procedure. I’ve had five or six primary goals that I had to complete before years end. I never realized how disciplined I had become under this system until I retired. Now, with no specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-related goals driving me, I seem to be sort of doing a lot of nothing. I think this is a large reason why I do not enjoy retirement like I should.
Apparently I am a goal/results oriented person more than I imagined. Now, this does not mean I want to live with a bunch of specific and measurable goals, but I do wonder about following some sort of regiment just to get me better engaged in this retirement gig.
Well, you could set goals like "Actually go fishing on 30% or more of the days in the fishing season", or "Attend at least 4 rock concerts during the year" or "Start guitar lessons". Substitute in specific activities that you actually like, if you don't like to fish, hear rock, or want to play an instrument.
You may want to join a group, or go to Meetup activities, or not, depending on your preferences.
I need to set a goal this year to take the half dozen or so guns I have purchased, but never fired, to the range.
I have the same problem but not retired yet - If I don't make some specific plans for weekends and holidays, I tend to do essentially nothing, and do feel like I wasted that time.
Interesting conversation that made me think a little more about goal setting in retirement. My primary goal is to not do anything I don't want to do and to enjoy whatever I choose to do! I've always been a doer and a joiner, and have learned to say no when an "opportunity" doesn't appeal.
I used the Steven Covey system (7 Habits of Highly Effective People) for planning and goal-setting throughout my work life and it has become second nature. The "system" gives me control over my time and reassurance that I'm not forgetting important stuff! And it leaves lot of time to just "be", without having to worry about things I "should" be doing.
Larger goals tend to be time-sensitive like planning travel overseas or family visits, renewing passport and drivers license, taking watercolor painting and yoga classes, scheduling my annual physical. I add these and family/friend birthdays to my planner on specific days or weeks when I should take care of them. And I add short-term goals or tasks as I think of them, scheduling them around other daily, weekly, monthly or annual commitments. Examples of tasks I've added in the last few days are: taking down the outside Christmas lights; cleaning closets and taking stuff to Goodwill; checking Youtube to see if anyone has suggestions about fixing my steam mop that has stopped steaming; buying a map of London for my trip this year. Completing tasks as they need to be done gives me a sense of accomplishment often missing in my mostly unstructured retirement.
This routine has worked for me - 10 years into a better retirement than I could ever have imagined - and I can't see changing now.
What system do you use to keep track of your matrix? Do you use a spreadsheet. Or similar? I struggle with this. My week gets too busy with commitments I enjoy and some days I just want long stretches of time just Being, catching up with things I want to not NEED to do.
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