Every month or so, I review my 2016 goals to see if I’m on track. In fact, some goals get checked way more often – like my reading goals. In order for me to achieve my read-100 books-in-2016 goal, I have to finish an average of 2 books every week. I use Goodreads to record what I’ve read and it automatically tells me whether I’m on track or not (at press time, I’ve finished 15 books since January so I’m ahead of schedule)
But for some goals, I have to manually evaluate my progress. No problem. I have my goals on a note pad in my phone so I can refer to them easily and keep them in mind.
The issue: When I was browsing my goals/resolutions list, I realized I have a resolution that’s not attached to a goal. How can that be? I’d resolved to practice French for a few minutes every day but I set no goal to evaluate my progress. Mistake. Practice is one thing but how will I know if I’m getting better without an evaluation of some sort or some goal to strive towards.
The fix: I decided to adjust my 2016 goals to include a benchmark of fluency in 100 days.
A couple years ago, I started a video-a-day series on a website that required me to post short videos every day. My goal was to practice towards fluency in French in 100 days. It was going well, that is, until I stopped. The video clips were too short – the site only allowed 10 seconds and I spent more time editing than speaking the language. Epic fail. But I am doing it again.
This time, I’m uploading the videos to my YouTube channel so I can control how long the videos are. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEq9_AZDdRA
Click this link for a laugh or two and watch me stumble my way towards mastery of the language I have always wanted to learn.
Have you had to revise any of your 2016 goals yet?
Other posts you might like:
- The Difference between Goals and Resolutions
- When you want to do more than just order French fries
- 4 Steps for moving from failure to success
RUN WRIGHT 
Yup….goals reviewed and edited each month!
That is how it is suppose to be right?
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Yes, ma’am. But then, you’re always on the ball (pun intended) 😀
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Hahaha! Good one!
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Without a goal there is no destination. Without a planned destination we will never know if we arrived. A review of our goals is an excellent way to see if we are on track or if changes need to be made. Enjoy moving forward in learning the French language!
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This is so true! They definitely go hand in hand. My husband has been taking french for a few years now and is pretty fluent. He wanted to add it to his list for his law enforcement career. I don’t speak it at all lol. Good luck!!!
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Thanks Alexis. You should let your hubby teach you a few phrases. You know they say French is the language of love 😍
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Karen, my adopt-a-daughter, you have taught the slightly older dog today. I realized from your post that I don’t evaluate my own goals nearly often enough. And I knew I was right in my adoption when I read your data driven perspective…I’ll be working on my own today! Thanks for the inspiration!
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Awesome! Lol at your comment. We can all learn from one another. The kids I work with often teach me a thing or plenty 😀 I hope you have a great weekend. I’ll be looking out for your updates.
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Sounds like you are on track to turning your goal into a reality, so keep it up!
•.•°•.• savorytouch •.•°•.•
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Thanks so much for the encouragement, Genie
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I totally understand! Goals evolve and change so easily! Have you ever used the duolingo app?!?!?!?! It’s totally brilliant and free!! It will keep you on your toes and allows you to do short little lessons to practice (orally, reading, visually… audi-toraly etc.) I LOVE IT. Plus you can use it on phone or PC. Totally brilliant. I used it to brush up on Spanish a while back, my husband used it for German. I can totally see using it for languages of countries we might head to in the future. I love that they have been expanding which languages they offer too. Overall I just love it because it is handy and multi-faceted. Not just audio, not just reading. Everything. I swear I do not work for them… I just love it that much LOL! 🙂 XO – Alexandra
Simply Alexandra: My Favorite Things
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Haha. Those are the best testimonials- when we love something so much, we recommend it without getting any kickbacks. Of course I’ll try out Duolingo. I’ve been testing out different sites and I’m always on the lookout for things that will enhance my learning experience.
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Smart tweaks! Going to go back and look at my resolutions again too, inspired by you…
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