Thursday, August 3, 2017

Goals - Revisited

At the turn of the new year, I went on the record with a few goals that I had for 2017, rather than resolutions.  My goals were to lose some weight, put some work into the beginnings of a book that I want to write, and to obtain a position as an administrator in my district.  As the new school year is set to kick off for me in a few days, I got to thinking about my goals and the progress that I have made over the past eight months.  Because I am very demanding of myself, I will say that I am not satisfied with where I am at, but even in the areas in which I have failed, that means that I am recognizing it and setting up a plan to still achieve my goals.

My first goal that I set back in January was to obtain an administrative position in my district.  At the time, I had applied and interviewed for a handful of positions but had not been offered anything.  As January and early February went on, I applied and interviewed for a few more.  Mid-February brought second interviews for two positions, then the waiting game.  If you have read any of my past posts, you know that I was offered, and accepted, a position as dean of students at a middle school.  My first day was February 24, which is a date I will always remember as my first day in administration because it is also my wife's birthday.  

Another goal that I set was to lose some weight.  I cannot say that my weight has been an issue for me my entire life, but between my family history, playing college football, and my love of food (I can count on one hand things that I will not eat, I am always willing to try something once), and the fact that I am several years removed from that peak "I can eat anything and not gain weight" time of life, my weight has crept up and has started to affect me in various ways.  Sadly, my goal to lose weight this year has not happened.  However, not one to give up on a goal, I am pledging to get up before work to go to the gym (I actually joined a second gym to get to one that is open and on my way to work, making the excuse not to go that much harder to make), make better choices, and politely refuse the doughnuts and other treats that will inevitably end up in the main office or staff lounge.

Lastly, I set a goal to get started on writing a book.  At the time, my thoughts were to write a book that was part personal memoir, part state of education in the world.  My thoughts for the book have shifted a little bit in the last few months, to more of a part memoir, part collection of short stories on teachable moments in my life and how they shaped me as an educator.  Examples of short stories would range from things like some of the most memorable (and sometimes agonizing) experiences during my first year of teaching, to what I learned from the toughest, but most compassionate, coach I ever had during my college days, to rigging a system that would fire Class C bottle rockets from a dock so that they would go underwater, hover, and explode, until a spark sets off a full package and 36 projectiles start flying around (this is a 100% true story of my 13-year-old self that could have killed me, but I definitely learned a solid lesson!).  Unfortunately, I have yet to put "pen to paper" on anything that would resemble a book, outside of my blog posts.  However, there are a few months left to still accomplish this goal.

I refuse to give up on my goals, and neither should you.  You may have setbacks, like I have, in achieving your goals. I wanted to quote one of my favorite Berenstain Bears books, Trouble at School, with "It's never too late to correct a mistake!", but it didn't' seem quite right.  However, this line from Will Smith's character on The Pursuit of Happyness seemed to sum things up very well.

Until next time...