What better way to start a new year than to ponder the state of one’s self. After the pondering, there is the matter of, “Am I on the right path? Is this where I want to be? What can I do to have a better life?”
It is best to do this while looking into a mirror and asking, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest one of all?” If the answer is you, you are in fat city and can perhaps forget about forging a life improvement plan. If, however, there is room for improvement and the desire to pursue it, we think about goals. What do we want to change or improve? What time frame are we looking at?
I think that goals are a tad different than make-and-break New Year’s resolutions. Goals imply a specific end and perhaps a specific time period. Goals should be measureable. Goals imply plan A and plan B. Resolutions strike me as being all or nothing, imbued with a high failure rate.
Reflecting on goals and how to set them was the topic of the Santa Maria Valley Women’s Network’s monthly meeting held on Jan. 10 at the Santa Maria Country Club.
Insurance agent Donna Randolph, winemaker Clarisse Nagy, fashion stylist Amy Curti, photographer Heidi Grutzemacher, and banker Marisol Cruz with her guest Barbara Blanchard (an ag loan officer) were among the attendees. You can see that there was a notable cross section of career interests in the group.
Women’s Network board members Sandra Dickerson, Susie Duane, and Lisa Murray were on a panel that talked about goal setting.
Dickerson is an attorney and an owner of Your People Professionals, a firm that provides a variety of services for businesses. In her world, there are one-year goals, five-year goals, and so on. Sandra’s advice is to review these goals often, to make sure you are on target, and take them seriously.
Off and on, Sandra serves on the boards of nonprofits. She knows the drill for keeping it all together in large organizations and how to get things moving right along.
Just about everyone wants to lose weight and be healthier. The peppy Duane is a fitness and nutrition consultant who can draw you a roadmap for this adventure. There are simple strategies, like hide the potato chips and don’t buy cookies, she explained.
Susie got a big laugh out of her audience when she said that it is best to “know yourself (so that you are able) to protect yourself from yourself … and temptation.”
If achieving fitness is on your agenda, Susie’s your gal. But be forewarned: She will make you laugh.
Personal coach Murray offered a broader spectrum of options for goal setting. Her brochure reads: “Coaching and empowering others in designing the life they want and deserve.” Coaching offers coping and communication strategies and can embrace aspects of your life like romance, spiritual life, family, and friends, as well as career and health. With Lisa, you get the whole enchilada.
Massage therapist Virginia Hall asked the $64,000 question, one that was lingering on the tip of my tongue: What if you are not a goal-oriented person?
Sandra said that some people, by temperament and personality, are not driven by goals and that’s OK.
Good to know.
If you want to hobnob with Helen, you may contact her at [email protected].
