Goals vs Dreams

I've been goal setting for years. My very first taste of this tantalising exercise was way back in the days when my daughter was at primary school. Goodness knows why I went along to a parents' session that involved goal setting - all I remember was the part of the course on developing your own photos in a lab! But many years later, I found the notes I'd made at the time and was astounded to find that a few of the things I'd put down back then (such as "attend a writing conference in the US") had been achieved. If you'd asked me what I'd written down, I would have had no idea.

Later, I worked in a community arts centre and there I ventured into my second round of goal setting. The session was new to me, but familiar to nearly everyone now. 1. What would you like to achieve one day. 2. What do you want to achieve in 3 years. 3. What would you put at the top of the list if you had six months to live! I kept the handouts from that session, but not the goals I set. However, the two experiences stayed with me, and I have done a range of goal setting exercises ever since. Usually around February or March each year, after the initial New Year's resolutions have worn off and I can be practical about it.

Except, a few years down the track now, I have been finding the whole goal setting thing a total yawn. A list of jobs. An obvious list of stuff I already know I have to do (including deadlines) so why bother going through the motions? I've been giving this a bit of thought over the past few months, in the face of what looked like just another list of THINGS TO DO, and have come to some conclusions.

1. Deadlines and things contracted (with future due dates) don't belong on a Goals list.
2. Jobs such as cleaning out your office don't belong on a Goals list either - if only because this will be an ongoing job that will keep me busy until Infinity.
3. Jobs and commitments that involve other people don't belong on a Goals list.
4. What might help to re-inspire you about Goals is to change the word to Dreams, and then have a good think about the difference.
5. Dreams involve inspiration, excitement, anticipation and happy planning. They involve little steps, each one of which makes you feel good. Trips to France are included in Dreams. Completing a revision by 30 June, or fixing up your tax records, are absolutely not!
6. Dreams should include a couple of things that are wonderful to contemplate, but probably unreachable in practical terms. The exciting bit is when you start to see them become reachable.

So I've thrown away any of my Goals that sound like Jobs. I've put plenty of Dreams back on the list, things that I want to do just for me and no one else. Things that make me happy just to think about them. Things that don't rely on or respond to anyone else except me. I've been to France (and that was a dream come true!) - maybe now I'll start thinking about South America ... or Alaska ... or Canada ... or ...

What Inspires You?

I'm sure many of you have already seen the YouTube clip of Susan Boyle singing on Britain's Got Talent TV show. If you haven't yet, it's here. According to the Age newspaper yesterday, 14 million people had seen it in a week. It's probably up to 20 million by now! Why is this video of a woman singing in a talent quest so amazing? For me, it's two things. She so obviously loves singing and says she just wants to sing in front of a big audience for once. And when she arrives on stage, so many of the audience immediately judge her on her appearance (as do the judges) and are showing scorn before she even begins to sing. Once she starts, however, everything changes.

In his book, No Plot, No Problem, Chris Baty asks you to list all the things you enjoy in a novel (and the things you don't). For me, something I love in any story is transformation. In the Susan Boyle clip, that is exactly what I see, over and over. Not only are the audience and judges transformed by her performance, but it's almost as if she is not! She is very emotional afterwards, and happy, but she has done what she set out to do - achieved her dream. The rest is just the icing on the cake. So I also see the whole thing about reaching for your dream and making it happen.

Dreams can be powerful things. They can keep us motivated and striving for what seems like the impossible - and maybe that's what a dream should be. Not a deadline, or a manuscript that has to be written for a certain purpose or to pay the bills. Those are things clearly within our reach, as long as we work hard and produce the words. A dream is "the big thing" - the one that makes your heart race when you think about it, the one that keeps you awake at night, planning the next few small steps you'll take towards it. The one that you have to have faith in, believe it might one day be possible, and that belief keeps you going, no matter what.

For me, it's seeing someone like Susan Boyle that encourages me to believe in my own dreams. I read about people who achieve wonderful things, but seeing it like that, in full colour, right before my eyes, is stirring and emotional and inspiring to me. So what inspires you, as a writer? Is it real stories like these? I don't mean so much what inspires you to write (which can be movies, other writers, an exciting idea, etc) but what truly moves you and inspires you to also reach for your dream?