Welcome to the end of the month! I hope your January was everything you hoped it would be and more.
This weekend is the perfect time for a self-evaluation because tonight closes out this month and tomorrow morning launches February. To kick off the year, we made dream lists. Our dream lists are essentially finite goals with actionable steps attached to them. We include all sorts of goals: short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals; internal and external; physical, mental, and relational – everything. Think of it as a bucket list-plus.
Having dreams doesn’t mean we’ll achieve them, though. For that, we need to actively work towards them. This is why we include action steps in our dream list: to set a logical path for us to follow to reach our goals. Once we have the paths set in place, we can follow them to the destinations – our dreams.
How are you faring keeping on track with your dream list? Looking at mine, I can see that I’ve progressed quickly with some, slowly with others, and gone backwards with a couple of them. I assess my progress at regular intervals to determine what I can do better, whether my priorities have changed (and if so, how that should be reflected in my dream list), and celebrate what has gone well. Let’s go through a few of my goals to see what this means.
Example: Journaling (Creative)
Assess
One of the habits I want to grow is a journaling habit. I kicked off the month strong, writing a (small) page every night at bedtime; it’s a good way to close out the day. However, when this week hit, I was more interested in the extra twenty minutes of sleep per night than in journal entries: many of my days are missing. And I know why: I was awake every day by 05:45 (5:45 am) and busy doing stuff (job applications, errands, blogging, phone calls, reviews of board decisions, emails, volunteering…) through until about 23:00 (11 pm) each day. (And that busyness only included one walk! Ahhh!)
Onward
I will fill in the missed days based on my calendar entries for the week. I suspect they won’t have the same flavor to them that contemporaneous entries will have, but it must suffice.
Plan
Recognizing my main problem here to be one of overscheduling resulting in a sleep deficit, I can work to fix that. Parts of my day are static (Mass at 07, for example, or work and volunteer commitments). These things aren’t going to change, so I need to look to the things that can be shifted around.
Keep: My journal and its pen hanging out next to the last light of the night to be turned off has been helpful. Every time I go to turn the light off, if I skip journaling, I have to make a conscious decision with the reminder right there.
Shift: I post on this blog daily, but it has become more of a nightly thing; I will work on getting my posts up earlier in the day so I can call it a night sooner than I previously did.
Change: I have a habit of overscheduling my days. This problem was exacerbated this week in particular because I was working on certain tasks that I didn’t know how long they would take (and I was never quite satisfied with the results), resulting on my understimating them.
Every Dream, Tracked
Ideally, we keep track of our dreams until they’re fulfilled. (And then maybe write a book about how awesome it was to complete a dream!) I recommend going through this process (assess, onward, and plan; keep, shift, and change) with every dream you’re serious about completing. The frequency will depend on the dream. (For example, it doesn’t make sense to assess my sailing dreams in January: the water is frozen over here.)
It may also help to include cross-dream data. Do two or more of your dreams relate to each other? Maybe you’re learning martial arts from a teacher who only speaks Japanese during sessions and becoming fluent in Japanese is another of your dreams. Even if you didn’t do much in your plan with learning the language this month, maybe you understood a certain phrase for the first time. Count that as a win, because it’s progress towards your goals.
Even if you don’t have the time to conduct a thorough assessment of each dream every month, I do recommend scanning through your list at least that often. It may help you to say each one aloud. There are three main reasons for this. First, it reminds you where you’re going and allows you to update your dreams as your priorities change. Second, you may have an epiphany on the next actionable step for one of your dreams but you haven’t written it down yet; this provides you with just such an opportunity. Third, it helps to keep you motivated to strive towards your goals because you keep them in sight.
Yesterday, we discussed the dream list – specifically, how to go about making one. The dream list is a tool to inspire us to grow into our goals. The tool includes holding ourselves accountable by telling others our plans. Here’s part of my plan for this year: getting to know Jesus better.
I haven’t read through the Bible yet myself. Bits and pieces, here and there – sometimes a chapter, sometimes a book – but not the whole thing start-to-finish. I’ve often relied on the Liturgy of the Word for filling out my spiritual nourishment. I’m much more haphazard in my reading of scripture than I’ve ever been with a novel or a text book.
This bothers me. The Bible is literally the greatest epic of all time, the adventure we’re called to live out, packed with quests and inspiration and encouragement. The Bible is the great love letter detailing how God pursues us through every difficulty. I love reading! I love questing and inspiration! And who couldn’t use encouragement? So why, then, have I not read through the Bible?
Because it’s daunting.
Because it’s long.
Because I don’t have the best version.
Because I’m scared I won’t finish.
Because I’m scared I won’t understand everything.
Because I’m scared of what people will think of me.
Because how?
So, yes, to all these things. I get it. However…
Daunting: Yes, but so is anything worthwhile in life. Some days, getting out of bed is daunting. We’re called to have courage; let’s grow in courage this year.
Long: We’re called to persevere. (Also, some of the books are remarkably short, and chapters make it more digestible.)
The best version: I plan on using online versions, specifically Bible Gateway’s RSVCE as my go-to and the Vulgate (Latin and Douay-Rheims) when I’m feeling fancy (pinky-out, fan-ceh!) and/or want to see the line-for-line literal translation. Both are free resources.
Finish: Maybe. But I promise you, if we don’t start, we won’t finish, either.
Understand: The Bible contains mysteries, probably in part to keep us coming back to figure them out. Let’s try. If we don’t try, we can’t succeed.
People: The people who want you to walk with them in Christ will lift you up in your endeavor to know Him. The people who don’t want you to walk with Christ will find any reason to lure you away. Walk with me; let us know Him better together.
How: Luckily for us, Deacon Karl of Manchester, NH mapped out a reading plan. We don’t even have to figure out the how, just decide the timeslot we’re going to sit down to do it.
My only hard copy of the Bible: very pretty, easy to carry, and you can see a couple of my bookmarks, but missing a few books.
Will you join me on this journey? I’m both nervous (see all of the above reasons) and enthusiastic about embarking on this adventure. We’re going to get the whole story… well, at least as far as it’s shaken out thus far; we’re still building the next chapter.
You and me – we’re building the next chapter for Christ’s next installment of the Good Book. Let’s prepare by getting to know Christ and His story thus far. Let’s respond to the calling of Jesus to walk side by side with him.
To be a Christian is to be grafted on to Christ.
– Homily, Mass on 03 January 2020
Here’s the plan for January’s First Week*
1st (W) : Genesis 1-4
2nd (R) : Genesis 5-8
3rd (F) : Genesis 9-11
4th (S) : Genesis 12-14
5th (Sunday) : Genesis 15-17
6th (M) : Genesis 18-21
7th (T) : Genesis 22-24
If you’re in the Manchester, NH area on the third Tuesday of the month, join us for the discussion in the Cathedral’s Rectory Conference Room 7-8 pm. It’d be great to see you there. Otherwise, join us here! I want to hear the wisdom you gain from reading the Bible. Two eyes are better than one; we’ll learn more as a team. Let’s do this together!
Summary
We’re going on a Bible study! There are a plethora of excuses to not, but so many more reasons to. We’re starting at the beginning and going right through the end. Action! Adventure! Romance! Seeing that the greatest heroes in history are just like us! Reading how the greatest heroes in history managed to answer God’s call despite their weaknesses! Inspiration for us to do the same! Are you ready?
Have you done this before, read through the whole Bible? Do you have any tips? Do you have a favorite book or chapter or verse that you turn to when you need the spark? What hidden gems await us?
Edit (06 January 2020): The original post improperly reported the readings as for the weeks in January. Each segment was actually by day; I realized this upon seeing the new bulletin. I’ve updated this and added the readings for through tomorrow. If you’re behind, don’t worry! We can run the slow circuit together! If you’re ahead of me, that’s great, too, because it means you’ll have longer to ruminate and can provide us with your insight!
I referenced my dream list in yesterday’s post but didn’t provide assistance to help you build your own. This post is a quick-start guide of practical application; the article that inspired me to write my dream list is 7 Steps to Self-Mastery, and I highly, highly recommend reading that as well.
Love the life you have while you create the life of your dreams.
Here are the categories I use; allow them to prompt your dreams to escape the tip of your tongue. Read through them and let them stimulate your senses and rouse your ambitions. If anything springs to mind, write it down, but don’t dwell on this part yet: just let it mingle with your mind for a minute.
Categories
Adventure – What sorts of escapades and travel adventures are you interested in?
Creative – What skills, hobbies, and sports do you want to do?
Physical – How do you want to shape your health and wellness?
Legacy – Which causes do you want to support?
Emotional – How do you want to grow your relationships, both with yourself and others?
Psychological – What would you try if you had the courage?
Professional – How do you want to grow in your work and career?
Intellectual – What do you want to learn?
Spiritual – How do you want to grow with God?
Character – Which qualities do you want to incorporate more into your life?
While your mind is wrapping itself around these questions, let’s prep for the big brainstorm.
Step Zero: Preparing the Workbook
Why Prepare a Workbook?
It’s a lot easier to get something done when you don’t have to worry about the logistics and incidentals. For example, when I travel, I check to see where I’ll be attending Mass before making any other plans. I don’t want to find myself flustered, frustrated, and running around panicking because I didn’t spend a few minutes planning ahead; I’d prefer to enjoy my travels by focusing on the moment at hand.
In much the same way, putting a few minutes of prep time helps with actually getting a task done because it allows you to focus on the task at hand rather than the incidentals that accompany it. Here are my preparation recommendations.
Open a new spreadsheet workbook (Excel, Google spreadsheet, OpenOffice spreadsheet – whatever suits your fancy). Title the first tab Summary. Skip the first column. Entitle the second column “Dream” or “Goal.” The third column is to have the title “Category” so you know what type of accomplishment it is. The fourth column is for the Order (of priority). The fifth column is a deadline column; I suggest “By…” or “Target” or “Date” headers. The fifth column is for Notes.
This is what my Summary page headers look like.
Next Tab: First Dream Category
Leave the Summary page and switch to a new tab. Again, skip column one. The headers of the rest of the columns should read as follows: Goal, Category, Order, Priority, Years, Step 1, Step 1 Date, Step 2, Step 2 Date, Step 3, Step 3 Date, Step 4, Step 4 Date, Step 5, and Step 5 Date.
Each Category tab should look like this at the top.
Replicate this tab (I suggest copying it via the Move or Copy option available upon right-clicking the tab title area) until you have one for every category. Name each of the tabs for easy access, and also write the category name under the Category header; include it for every entry. I also assigned a code letter to each category (A for Adventure, for example) for shorthand and included it in the tab name.
That was easy enough, wasn’t it?
Prep work out of the way, let’s get to the fun stuff!
Step One: Select Goals for Each Category
Maybe some categories will have twenty things you want to do whereas others have two or three. That’s totally fine! I challenge you to have at least two goals for each category, but if you’re on a roll and have a lot of things you want to accomplish, write them all down.
All of them. Long term, short term, and everything in between. It’s good to have a mix so that you know where you’re going in the long term but also have guideposts between here and there so you know you’re on track. This also means it’s great to have short- and medium-term goals that feed into long-term ones.
This is the big question; the goals are how we’re gonna get there.
It may seem a little overwhelming to have a big list in front of you, but it’s a lot easier to whittle down than to build up, and we want to include every dream in your heart. Want to write a memoir in fifty years? Write it down. Trying to compile a compendium of Grandma’s best recipes? Write it down. Considering a trip to the little town in Russia your great-grandparents are from but you don’t know a lick of Russian? Write the trip down and learning Russian as separate goals. All of it. Keep going.
You can certainly add more later, but get out everything you can at first blush.
Step 2: Sort
Go through your list and put each goal in the category it fits best in. (Traveling to Russia, for example, belongs in the Adventure category whereas learning Russian fits in the Intellectual category.) If you finish sorting and find that a category only has one dream (or is entirely bereft of them), add more. We want goals in each category so we have incentive to grow in every area of our lives.
Now prioritize each goal within the category. Use a simple high (H), medium (M), and low (L) notation in the Priority column. I recommend prioritizing based on a few things: how much you want it, how difficult it will be, how long it will take, and whether any other dreams depend on it. For example, if you have to know Russian to make that trip to the little town in Russia a success, learning Russian may be high priority even though it may take a lot of effort and learning a new language in and of itself doesn’t rank highly for you.
Here’s a snip from my Creative tab.
Clump the highs, mediums, and lows together in each category. Compare them to see what gets the first priority of the whole category, then the second, and so on until you have the whole category prioritized. This number goes in the Order column; it’s your quick-check of which goals you want to work on first. Repeat with the remainder of the categories.
Step 3: Sketch Out Steps
Where do you start? Write out the logical first step of every high priority goal. If these first steps come easily to you, do the same with the medium and low priority goals. For the high priority goals, write out the steps as far as you can logically see them. Only do this for the high priority goals to prioritize your time and avoid burnout. We’ll revisit the list and can fill it out later; for now, let’s focus on our major goals. We want to walk away from the list not feeling drained, but inspired.
These steps are basically a high level checklist. For example, for the Russia trip, your first step may be to learn Russian as it’s a prequel to taking the trip. The second step may be to plan the itinerary of the trip by writing out a basic outline of the top things you want to accomplish while visiting. The third step could be selecting dates and hammering out the details of what you’ll do on the trip; the fourth may be researching travel options, obtaining a passport, buying the plane ticket, and making lodging arrangements; the fifth may be final trip preparations such as packing; and the sixth may be getting on that plane.
If you need more steps columns, add them. I find five to be helpful and ten to be unwieldy, but you may find it easier with twenty steps. Knowing yourself is awesome! Use your information to your advantage.
For the top one or two goals in each category, write a date next to that first step. This is your personal deadline. By this date, you will meet that step’s goal. Give yourself deadlines on each of the highest priority goals in every category.
Step 4: Summarize and Review
Copy the highest priority columns from each category to the Summary sheet. I suggest referencing the manual entries (type “=” in the cell, then click on the cell you want it to copy in the other tab) because it’s easy, and at this point in the process, you may want to drop out of the red zone and into a yellow zone for recuperation. If you’re instead all about that orange theory, copy the information manually; the process will help drill into your head what you want to do and gives you more time to figure out why you want that.
Sleep. Look at your goals and plans tomorrow or over the weekend with fresh eyes. Are there any changes your well-rested brain recommends? Review the dreams you’ve written down daily for at least a week. Have you forgotten anything? Did a friend spark an idea? Did you aim high enough?
Step 5: Tell Friends and Family for Accountability and Support
Tell friends, family, and anyone else who might help you on your way forward. When you tell others, the goal becomes more tangible. When you involve others, you have additional reasons to stick to the plan even when the road gets rough. They don’t even have to do anything for this to work!
Prime example: I’m providing an example Dream List. This example is my Dream List with added information: I filled out my C – Creative tab so that this document may help you with your process. In giving you my information, I added details that I hadn’t bothered to put in yet, forcing me to evaluate my hopes and dreams and encouraging me to move forward with them. There is more detail on this template than on my original document because you learn more by teaching others than by simply doing something for yourself. This is why study groups work.
Here’s another example: I found a posting online for a position that perfectly fits my skills and abilities, but in a very non-linear way such that I don’t know how to write a resume for it. I made a phone call to do recon and ask for any information that might help me in the application process. Just knowing that I told someone on the other end of the phone that I’m excited about this opportunity is galvanizing me to figure out how to properly apply.
Step 6: Review and Revamp
Print your Summary and put it somewhere you can see it frequently. It will remind you of why you’re really getting up at 5 am to go for a run while listening to various Russian verb conjugations: ’cause you’ve got a dream to fulfill. Having a hard copy makes your dreams more concrete, and you’re more likely to rise to the challenge if you have the goal in front of you.
I keep my Summary as the insert for the binder I bring with me everywhere. Every time I pull out the binder, I get a quick reference guide to my goals.
Start with a digital copy, then print a hard copy.
The reason I recommend a digital spreadsheet is because I expect changes and updates. Try your hand at origami and decide you don’t like it? Cross it off the list. Discover a new passion? Put it on the list. Are you a quicker study at aikido than you expected? Move up your next deadline for it. Life changes, and so do your goals; don’t give up on something because it’s difficult, but don’t hang on to something just because you put it on the list, either. Know your why, and pursue your why.
Recap: Dream List
Know where you’re going so you can get there. Take some time to figure out where you want to go by setting goals that are meaningful to you. Draft a list of dreams, aspirations, and hopes and take a few minutes to figure out the first few steps to achieving the ones most important to you.
What goals surfaced while you were going through this process? What are you going to do today to take the first step toward your top priority goal?
Further Reading
Take Control of Your Life: 7 Steps to Self-Mastery by Dominick Albano is the article that inspired my dream list. It’s broken into a three-part series (Steps 1 & 2, Steps 3-5, and Steps 6 & 7), and there’s a lot to digest, but it’s absolutely worth the read. I recommend bookmarking it and returning to it when you feel over-encumbered. This post is based on my practical application of this article, and I’m going to re-read Self-Mastery (again) to see how I can do my dream list better.
Dynamic Catholic never ceases to amaze me with the content they provide. Dominick Albano wrote another stellar article entitled How to Gamify Your Life which strikes my heart because I identify with it so fully: I’m a Catholic, a casual gamer, and eager to learn the magnificent lifehack for wanting to improve our lives by setting up a scorecard. This is also a very shareable article: who do you want to join your party for the game of life?
