Goals……
They have come to be almost wishes…
And so connected to the end result.
Results we cannot always control.
But actions, to some extent, we can control.
I have been thinking about goals lately, and relating them back to farming.
And this year is a particularly good one to discuss (As we will see down further).
As a farmer our goals were pretty simple on a year by year basis.
Get the crop in the ground in spring.
Take care of it (aka Spraying mainly) during the summer.
And harvest the crop in fall.
Simple yes, but within those goals was a lot of moving parts and timelines and tons of WORK!
And yes, we needed to do things right, we had targets for what we wanted to grow, but we also had severe limitations on the end result.
As a farmer, we KNEW the weather controlled the results.
Not only the yield, but the timing, the quality, and also the amount of work to do.
Worse weather conditions always meant more work and harder work.
And this last fall, many farmers, including myself, did not get the harvest finished.
This is my first year ever to not complete harvest.
Do I feel I failed at my goal…. NO….
As I did all the actions necessary.
The uncontrolled part – the weather – caused the crop to not be harvested.
This does now change the goal – to harvesting, or at least removing the crop so that next year a new cycle can begin.
And how that will play out is unknown at this point, depending on the weather over the winter.
So back to Goals…. Did I accomplish my goal.
I feel I did as my goal was the portion that was dependent on ME!
The results depended on me doing what I needed to do, but also were directly affected by the weather.
Your own goals must be about what YOU are Doing.
The actions you are taking. The plans you are putting in place.
The WORK you are doing.
And yes, you need to adjust along the way, depending on outside conditions, timing and other factors that may affect your success.
That is why we have milestones in place to see how things are going on the progress to our goal.
But primarily the Goal is about doing what you need to do.
Remember that as you set goals for 2020.
