Today I will be setting my Health and Spiritual goals. I am going to start by setting my long-term goals for two years out - and my medium-term goals for one year out, the end of this principled living/blogging experiment. So, this is what I'm shooting for by September 14, 2010. It's going to be fairly easy to come up with the objective goals, not so much with the subjective goals - how do you measure those anyway? Well, a little bit of research has just informed me that besides using numbers to measure things, one can also employ the use of "descriptive measures." There are two parts to using descriptive measures - a judge, and a list of factors. We'll see how this these can be used as I work through my goals below...
Health Goals
Before you can set meaningful long-term goals, you kinda need to know where you are at when you start. So here are some starting points with regard to my health:
Objective Measurements
- Weight: 256.6#
- Waist Measurement: 46.5" at the navel
- Resting BP: 138/88 medicated
- Resting HR: 67 bpm
- RealAge: 53.5
Subjective Measurements
- Am I physically ready to run another mini? No
- Am I physically ready to start the final 3 month training phase? No
- Do I feel physically fit? No
- Do I feel able to run around our block (< 1 mile)? No
- Am I physically ready to run another mini-triathlon? [Not ready to commit to that final 3 month training phase yet]
- Am I physically ready to start the final 3 month training phase? Yes (26 years later, at the age of 47)
- Weight: 165 pounds (90 pound loss)
- Waist Measurement: 32" at the navel (14.5" loss)
- Resting BP: 115/76 un-medicated
- RealAge: 42 (11.5 year drop)
- Do I feel physically fit? Yes
- Weight: 190 pounds (65.6 pound loss)
- Waist Measurement: 36" at the navel (10.5" loss)
- Resting BP: 120/80 medicated
- Resting HR: 55 bpm
- RealAge: 46 (7.5 year drop)
- Do I feel able to run around our block? Yes
- Weight: 235 pounds (21.6 pound loss)
- Waist Measurement: 42"
- RealAge: 50
- brush 2x/day
- floss daily
- stop talking/texting while driving
- add a daily multi-vitamin
- eat breakfast daily
- add three servings of both fruits & vegetables daily
- eat fish 1x/week
- multiple servings of whole grains, pasta, cereal, rice daily
- pay attention to portion and serving control
- exercise 20-30 minutes at least 3x/week to get started
Spiritual Goals
I am thinking that numeric measurements aren't going to work here. I could measure how many times a week I read my Bible, or how often I pray, but those seem too "religious" to me. However, if one takes the view that spiritual well-being is defined by the state of a relationship, wouldn't it be valid to measure how often one interacts with the other as at least one indicator of relational health? Reading and praying do not, by themselves, define a healthy spiritual relationship, but you cannot have a healthy spiritual relationship with God without communicating with Him - i.e. reading His Word and praying (speaking AND listening). Communication is the lifeblood of relationship. Some subjective measurement must be paired with objective measurements, though, in order for the numbers to be meaningful...
Objective Measurements
Minutes spent reading spiritual material or the Bible daily or weekly: ~60 minutes/week
Minutes spent praying/meditating (dedicated time, not a running dialogue) - speaking to and listening to Him: <30 minutes/week
Hours spent in fellowship with other Believers: ~ 4 hours/week
Subjective Measurements
Do I feel connected enough to minister meaningfully to others? No
Do I have a sense of understanding of His will for my life? No
Do I feel connected to and in touch with God? No
Do I know that He cares for and loves me? Yes
Long-Term Goals: September 2011
Feel connected enough to minister to others in a meaningful manner
Have a sense of understanding of His will for my life
Medium-Term Goals: September 2010
Feel connected to and in touch with God
Reading: 30 minutes/day
Praying: 30 minutes/day
Fellowship: 10 hours/week
Short-Term Goals:
Know that He cares for and loves me, continued
Reading: 15 minutes/day
Praying: 15 minutes/day
Fellowship: 6 hours/week
I have to admit, I'm not doing very well with this spiritual section. For some reason I've become quite agitated. It has something to do with boiling this down to a series of numbers, I think. I asked my wife to help me figure what was upsetting me about this and we talked about it for awhile. I asked her, "What questions ratchet through your brain when someone asks you how things are going with your spouse? You answer with a sentence or two, but what are the criteria that you use to make your evaluation?" Like any good therapist, she didn't answer directly, but asked me what criteria I use myself when answering that question. "Well, I ask myself if we've been getting along, if we've been fighting. Or if we've been discussing real-life issues, working through tough stuff. Have we been affectionate?" "Sounds like the same criteria I use, too," she said.
So, what does that look like in a relationship with God?
"God, have we been fighting (have I been rebelling against You)?"
"God, have we been discussing real issues? Have You been helping me with stuff (Have I been listening to You)?"
"Have I been talking about You with others that love You?"
"Have we been intimate?"
Later...
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