Goal Setting

I was working away on my professional learning plan, and it got me thinking about the process of goal setting. We've all been required to set goals a thousand times in our lives, and of course we always trust that it is the right thing to do. It seems to me that the whole process is rather contrived. The process of recording the specifics, measurable qualities, attainability, realism, and timeliness of my goals is actually quite uninspiring - it's no wonder that students and teachers alike have to be required to write goals - the very process of recording the goal seems to kill the passion behind the goal.

It feels very unnatural to me to write a list of goals, but to grab hold of an idea that excites me and pursue it - that is the most natural thing in the world. Maybe the whole idea of goal setting was just invented to make up for the fact that we don't really care enough? In my recollection, the things I've done which I'm most proud of - the things that I have thrown myself into and worked my hardest to do the best job I could possibly to - I never wrote or even spent a lot of time thinking about specific measurable attainable realistic and timely goals for the project. I was just really passionate about what I was doing, so I did it well - it didn't even feel like work.

My specific goals do get done in time, but they lack the enthusiasm and that extra ummph of just doing stuff I care about. Even undertakings which seem like they might require goals, such as planning a conference, a preparing a Physics unit, completing a large art project, organizing a camp, etc - in my experience, I've done these sorts of things better and with more passion when I haven't set specific goals. Working outside of goals allows me to do more than I would have originally set as a goal, rather than just stopping work when I've reached the goal.

I like living by ideals and principles that I firmly believe in, rather than goals. So I've finished my professional learning plan, and I know my goals will get done, but I must admit - the things I feel passionately about will happen first and better.