Goals Goals Goals - The Second Attempt

Weird... I published a post called "Goals Goals Goals" a few days ago, and somehow Blogspot ate it. As is always the way, it was the ONE post I didn't save a copy of!

Anyway, here is take two, for better or for worse:

Gentle Reader,

I feel like we're constantly told how important goal setting is. But if you're anything like me, your New Year's Resolutions didn't survive January.

Once upon a time (2007) I found a pretty cool site named 43 Things. It calls itself "The world's largest goal-setting community" and invites participants to:

Join over 3 million people who list their goals, share their progress, and cheer each other on.

Back then, I chose a bunch of goals, and promptly forgot about it for four years. The cool thing is that when I rediscovered the site, I could tick off a bunch of things (like graduate Law school!).

Why it's called 43 Things (as opposed to 10 Things, or 100 things), I don't know. I have only 30 Things on my list at the moment, which range from the straight-forward ("plant out the garden bed") to the complicated and long-term ("start my own consultancy").

Just to prove that people are people, no matter where they're from, here are the top 10 popular goals, according to the site:

1. lose weight (40,055 people
2. write a book (29,511 people)
3. stop procrastinating (29,466 people)
4. Fall in love (26,835 people)
5. be happy 924,158 people)
6. Get a tattoo (22,019 people)
7. go on a road trip with no predetermined destination (20,797 people)
8. get married (20,702 people)
9. travel the world (20,486 people)
10. drink more water (20,390 people)

Any of those sound familiar?

And here are the ten most recently-added goals:

1. Paint nails every week
2. Post 100 looks at Lookbook.nu
3. Stop with swear-words
4. Reading everyday
5. Have success in my career
6. Care better for my skin
7. Practice jazz/pilates/yoga
8. Get a webdesign course
9. Improve my music selection
10. Buy a good camera, with good resolution

Fun, right? I sometimes like to just puddle around and get inspired by other people's goals. The trouble is, I'm such a victim of peer pressure that I tend to get carried away - 43 Things is the reason I am now enrolled in a Wednesday-night ice-skating class...


PS. Thanks to the people who left a comment on the original post - which I was able to access from my email inbox:

Trisha has left a new comment on your post:

Usually my New Year's resolutions don't survive. But this year was easier - they're all writing resolutions, and I've been doing really well so far. :D Even have my own "Goals" page on my blog!

Hey Trisha, I've seen some of your goals on your blog - I must say I am impressed by your dedication. We could all take a leaf from your book!

DearHelenHartman has left a new comment on your post:

Ice skating in summer, a lofty goal indeed. I salute you! Love the thought for the day. Like most writers realizing a lot of my goals lie in someone else's hands. 

Hi Helen, actually I'm in New Zealand, so we are heading into Winter right now! My timing is impeccable: by the time I have skated enough NOT to look like a new-born deer on the ice, it will be summer time! :)