Gotta Get Goals

One Alex Shalman gets the credit for creating this "Gotta Get Goals" meme along with its associated rules. I was tagged by my buddy, Dave, over at Wandering the Ether to enter a set of my goals. This is a tricky proposal because I'm not an open book about my personal matters and by posting my goals, I actually may have to achieve them! *smile*

I feel that goals should be achievable, measurable, and be bound by a specific time period - which makes this task even more daunting.

Another part of the meme process is tagging other blogs in your sphere of influence and invite them to participate. My blogosphere of influence is kind of small, so if I've tagged you in an earlier post (like this one), then consider yourself tagged. And if you are a new visitor to plezWorld, then consider yourself tagged, as well! How's that?!?

Gotta Get Goals for plezWorld

Goal #1: Financial - Save 5 Percent

My wife and I make a decent living; we live in a quaint house in a nice suburban Atlanta subdivision with a lush green lawn that contains no trace of the snow-like cherry blossoms that fell a few weeks ago. We spent my daughter's spring break from her private school at a beachfront resort in south Florida last week. I don't brag because I know others are doing much better than me, but I'd like to put my current financial situation in context. We are in debt and we walk a very taut financial tightrope on a monthly basis with very little savings in the bank. A few years ago, I was unemployed for close to 2 years while still paying a pretty hefty mortgage on this house, and as a result we pretty much exhausted all of our savings and have yet to replenish them.

My first goal is to save at least 5% of my annual salary in the bank by the end of this year. That would be a sufficient amount to "save" us in the unlikely event of a large debt or emergency. This financial goal cannot be attained until I reduce our credit card debt, so that will be a nice by-product of attaining this goal. Plus, I'll be staring at my 20th wedding anniversary in a few years and I need to have a nice sized knot (i.e. money) saved up to purchase that bigassrock that I intend to buy for my wife! *smile*


Goal #2: Lifestyle - Lose 20 Pounds

I used to be very active playing on adult basketball leagues, coaching church league basketball for 8-10 year old kids, playing lots of team tennis (ALTA), golfing, and going to the YMCA 2 or 3 times a week for aerobics classes. For the past 10 years, I have not been very good to my body: I've slowly and methodically dropped those more active endeavors (mainly due to my bad knees) to a more sedentary lifestyle (mainly watching TV and typing at a computer screen, like this one!). The arrival of our little bundle of joy 5 years ago sort of put the final nail in my active lifestyle coffin, I even cancelled my membership at the YMCA. Well, this more "settled" lifestyle has gone straight to my midsection... and it is quite evident when I step on that damn scale in my bathroom - my friends and I joke that I am no longer pimpsize! *smile*

My second goal is to lose the 20 lbs. that I have gained over the past 10 years. I will have to return to eating more healthy meals, and endeavor to hit that dreaded treadmill in my workout room (yeah, I have a complete gym here in the house) or in the hotel when I'm on the road at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes. By the end of this year (2007), I should be back to my "playing" weight and able to comfortably fit in all those clothes that I can no longer zip up.


Goal #3: Professional - Hire Somebody

"To whom much is given, much is required."

This quote means a lot to me because I have lived a blessed life: raised in a God-fearing, yet loving family by my father and mother, provided with a world-class education from nursery school through my college degree in electrical engineering, compensated by a company that values my contributions to delivering our services, loved by my wife and daughter, and emboldened by my continued youth and vigor well into middle age. With that said, I feel that I haven't done enough in return for the blessings that I have received until I can share my blessings with someone other than my immediate family members. Which leads me to Goal #3: I want to be directly responsible for the recruitment, hiring, and mentoring of a professional in my area of expertise.

I would consider it an honor to reach back and see someone from being latent potential to being a high performing professional. As a college fraternity chapter advisor, I am responsible for mentoring a large number of young men to prepare them for life after college. As a recruiter for my company, I was responsible for visiting college campuses around the country to find those students who would add value to my company. And as a manager/supervisor, I have been responsible for hiring, nurturing, and even firing personnel who report to me. But in the whole of my professional career, I've never had the opportunity to do all three with one person. Since this goal will require a measure of luck in finding the ideal candidate(s), I seek to fulfill this goal at some point within the next 2 to 5 years.


Goal #4: Communications - Blog Alot

I stumbled upon the blogosphere quite by accident, I went to a friend's blog and I had to register on blogger.com to leave a comment. That was February 14, 2006 and I've been hooked ever since. Unfortunately, plezWorld has no more direction than it did when I first started, but I think I've at least honed my message and hopefully, I'm able to communicate more effectively because of it.

I use sitemeter.com to keep track of the numbers of visitors I receive on a daily basis. Right now, I'm averaging around 15 visitors per day, but I notice that the number increases with the frequency that I post new blog entries. So Goal #4 is to increase the rate that I post entries to my blog to 3 times a week in hopes of raising my visitor average to 50 per day by the end of 2007.


Goal #5: Toyz - A New Car

That new car smell is something that you can only get in a new car! My car has not had that particular odor in over 10 years - I currently drive a 2007 Desert Plum Eddie Bauer Edition Ford Explorer. It is time for a new car in plezWorld!

I bought my wife a Lexus SUV a few years ago when her car turned 10 years old. I don't think our garage will be complete until I have a newer car to join my wife's Lexus. I'm thinking along the lines of the following: either a 2006 Claret Red Cadillac Escalade or a 2006 Black Lexus GX SUV (I don't like buying new cars, I like to get them after they've depreciated for a few years)! Goal #5 is to have one of those new SUVs sitting in my garage by the Summer of 2008.

WARNING: I'm not the most environmentally correct guy out there, so if it doesn't have a V8 and some serious "get up and go", you probably won't see it on my side of the garage!

plez sez: It may not seem like it, but this was a very difficult charge which took me a few days to complete. I have included some short term (1 year) and longer term (>2 years) goals on my list.

Now comes the hard part, finding a way to accomplish these goals. I understand that in order for me to attain any of these goals will require some changes on my part. But if any of my blogosphere buddies have any good ideas to give me a jumpstart (especially, with losing weight and saving money), I will gladly take your ideas under advisement!