A Someday Check-In with the Lab Rats
By Alex Fayle

This week I asked the Lab Rats to check in with their Somedays. Read the next post for an analysis of their answers.

Cat: Specific Goal

1.   What’s my Someday?

• To get my desk/office area organized and keep it that way

2.   When do I want to complete it?

• Ideally within the next two weeks

3.   What are the big steps to get there?

• Finding places for things that don’t have a specified place yet
• Keeping clutter from piling up to begin with

4.   What am I doing right now to move things forward?

• Making sure that I don’t add to the clutter
• Finally sent old/broken printer packing out the door
• Leaving unfinished work in the middle of my desk to attend to first thing when I come in

5.   How much progress have I made since starting?

• Actually, a fair amount.  A couple trouble spots, specifically on the floor by my feet where no one looks, but I have almost completely killed my pile of papers I don’t know what to do with.  The space under my desk has been reclaimed from the defunct printer. And I moved a box of files into the storage room.

6.   Anything missing?

• The confidence that I’ll be able to keep it organized once I finally reach that point
• The desire to try and find places that make sense for things that never really had a place to begin with (<—this is the part that I’m really struggling with)
• The energy to just buckle down and get it done

Cat: General Goal

1.   What’s my Someday?

• Being able to start new things and finish the things I start within a reasonable time frame

2.   When do I want to complete it?

• It’s going to be a lifelong journey, but I’d like to kick a large part of the fear that’s preventing me from starting anything big within the next five years.

3.   What are the big steps to get there?

• Figure out what I want to do or what needs to get done
• Figure out how I’m going to accomplish the task at hand
• Start at step 1 and go until I finish.  Don’t stop until I get there.

4.   What am I doing right now to move things forward?

• I’m starting small, proving to myself I can get things done by tackling them a day at a time and not giving up or getting overwhelmed.
• I’m trying to imagine my life beyond my current set of circumstances
• I’m trying to figure out what I really want to do
• I’m getting scared of the unknown, that I might make the wrong decision, but I’m also  fighting to not put my brakes on

5.   How much progress have I made since starting?

• Well, my desk/office project is almost complete, in theory
• I’ve made some attempts to start studying for the GREs again
• I’m starting to tackle a project that I really don’t want to do and have put off doing for over a year now

6.   Anything missing?

• Still not sure if the desk will or will not slide back to where it was
• Confidence that my decisions won’t come back to haunt me
• Confidence that I won’t fall back into old habits

Jim:

1. What’s my Someday?

• To compose and arrange a song (lyrics, piano, guitar, etc.) and record a rough demo.

2. When do I want to complete it?

• 10 days (I have an internal deadline)

3. What are the big steps to get there?

• Complete the lyrics and song structure
• Identify the melody and chord progression
• Lay down simple tracks (piano + guitar)
• Record vocals
• Add percussion, strings, etc. as appropriate

4. What am I doing right now to move things forward?

• I’m working on completing the lyrics, as the melody seems to flow in my head from that.  Then the remaining pieces should fall into place.

5. How much progress have you made since starting?

• I’ve got a couple of verses and lyrical fragments written down.  That’s a good start.  Some of the fragments have suggested melodic ideas to me and that will be next.

6. Anything missing?

• I’m a strong starter, but a weak finisher.  I’m also a perfectionist, though I’m getting much better at dealing with that.  I’m afraid whether people will like it or not, so I must summon some internal courage.
• My biggest concern is introducing distractions, other things I feel I must do, but that serve only as a procrastination device.  I don’t procrastinate by doing nothing.  I procrastinate by telling myself I have other things to do, stealing time from the things that are more important.  I have trouble knowing what is truly important and how to appropriately balance the things that are. Some of the distractions I’m dealing with:
  • I have a couple of paintings that I started.
  • I am building a climbing wall in my garage.
  • I’m decluttering and organizing my basement.
  • I want to decorate my house better.
  • I have a speech to write for Toastmasters.
  • I’m starting to date again.
  • I’m increasing my climbing and cycling training.

The key is to find balance… the right priorities to let me make progress to my goals.  I also need to identify which goals are secondary and should wait, in order to increase the focus on the big ones.

Brett:

1. What’s my Someday?

• Finish renovating my house..

2. When do I want to complete it?

• I would like it finished by Christmas…

3. What are the big steps to get there?

• Empty Downstairs and fit new carpets, walls and furniture
• Paint and decorate upstairs
• Renovate Bathroom and Kitchen
• redo shed to make proper Man-Cave

4. What am I doing right now to move things forward?

• packing up the Junk/Stuff to move out
• booked a date when carpet guys are coming

5. How much progress have I made since starting?

• A little, some boxes are packed.. Not as much as I would like though

6. Anything missing?

• Time.. so it seems anyway..
• Energy… I always feel so exhausted by the end of the day, both mentally and physically

Barb:

1.   What’s my Someday?

• To be a Psychologist

2.   When do I want to complete it?

• Not sure on the end date; but I know I want to start back to school in the Fall ’09.

3.   What are the big steps to get there?

• Find a school, get accepted and figure out how I’m going to pay for it.

4.   What am I doing right now to move things forward?

• Figured out that I can I be more successful if I take small-steps and decided to not focus on the end but rather the start.
• Stopped feeling guilty about doing something for me.
• Still battling the feeling that I’m too old; but since that feeling hasn’t won…I guess I’m okay.

5.   How much progress have I made since starting?

• Not enough.
• Went from feeling like it was totally unachievable because of time and money; to feeling like if I just started with one course it wouldn’t cost too much or be too overwhelming to life.
• Found a college nearby with a good program; still need to do more research

6.   Anything missing?

• Good study habits!  (Never had them even when I was young either!)

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Get rid of your Somedays and make the big change you’ve always dreamt about. Check out:

• The Someday-Busting Coaching Services
• The Dream Discovering Ebook by Alex Fayle

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