Defining “Full Time Activist” As My Goal
January 23, 2008 | In About |
If you peruse my About page, you will see that this blog is about my journey to become a full time activist. That’s actually the second “tagline” I had for what this blog is about. Originally, I didn’t want to focus on me so much as provide general ideas that anyone could do. Then, the more I started writing, the more I realized of course the blog had to be about me because the only thing I can say with certainty that I’m an expert about is my own actions. I also realized how important it is to me to live my life in line with my mission. So, the focus changed.
Although you wouldn’t know it, I pulled down all the posts I had written and reworked them. Some stayed the same, others changed, and some didn’t make the final cut. I refocused on the goal of becoming an activist and made sure that my posts reflected that. However, as any good guidelines on setting goals would tell you, a goal must be SMART - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely. While I’ve done this for myself, I’ve never spelled it out on the blog. So, as part of the journey, I want to share what I mean when I say “a full time activist” so that everyone has the same idea.
Specific
A couple of years ago, I took the time to write my personal mission statement. I realized that my mission in life is to teach others. Throughout the years, the subjects I thought about teaching changed, but the desire did not. For years, I have wished I was able to volunteer as an educator at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. A few months ago, I looked into doing this on an occasional basis. Unfortunately, the Aquarium is at least 30 minutes away from my home, so the commute and the commitment of time they require meant it did not fit with my schedule. Therefore, I had to leave it as a wish for now.
When I am able to volunteer at the Aquarium, full time, and any time, then I will have achieved this goal. One of the main goals of the Aquarium is conservation and education, so this fits in with my desire to work on environmental conservation as well.
Measurable
In order to be available to volunteer full time, on any schedule, I will have to be in a position where I’m not obligated to a set schedule somewhere else. In other words, I will need to have an income source that is not dependent on me working for someone else.
There are several steps to this process, and each step has a clear end point. Therefore, it is possible to measure my progress toward the end goal of volunteering full time. I had some of the steps worked out, and after reading Your Money Or Your Life, I filled in the missing pieces. Basically, the process is this:
1. Become debt free
2. Build an emergency fund equal to six months of expenses
3. Invest in such a way that the investment interest meets or exceeds expenses.
Attainable
I read a couple of different definitions of what is meant by “attainable” when it comes to goals. The idea is that a goal should have a clear action plan to reach it. I should be a goal that can be reached by the one reaching for it. In other words, if you have a great goal, but you can’t figure out how in the heck to get there, then it’s not attainable for you.
For me, becoming an activist has a clear action plan. Obviously, the larger plan is what I outlined above. However, taking the first step and breaking it out, I get the following:
1. Decrease expenses through conscious spending as part of an overall downshifting lifestyle
2. Clear out clutter and sell for some cash
3. Find a new job
4. Pay off debt little by little
Timely
I realize that smart is not spelled SMATR. However, you’ll see why I’ve put Timely first in a moment.
Timely refers to setting a deadline for achieving your goal. Without a definite time period, it is easy to let the goal remain a dream, instead of feeling the motivation to follow your action plan.
So, I have set a deadline of five years from now being a full time volunteer. It may happen before then, and I not all of the steps above have to have been completed to be able to do this. For example, I only need a completely flexible schedule, not necessarily be totally living on my investments.
However, I will not consider volunteering until the debt is gone. Fortunately, my husband and I have not purchased a house yet, so our debt does not include a mortgage. Therefore, after looking at the numbers and our action plan, we have determined that two years is a good deadline for this subgoal. Again, it may happen sooner (and I certainly hope it does!), but two years is certainly long enough to achieve this.
Realistic
Realistic refers to the deadline - is it realistic that the goal can be reached in the time allotted? As I explained above, after looking at all the paperwork and making some calculations, we do believe that two years is a realistic time frame. I also believe that five years to become a full time volunteer is realistic; however, since this is based upon other steps, this one is not a deadline at this point. Step one - get out of debt - does have a deadline. When that step is reached, then we will set a deadline for step two - save emergency fund. After step two, as we are investing, we will be able to set a deadline for full time volunteering. But, for now, that will have to remain tentative.
I’m looking forward to reaching this goal and embarking on volunteering and teaching full time. However, I’m also enjoying the steps along the way - downshifting my life, examining my beliefs about money and society, and knowing that every day I get one step closer. As I continue down this path, I will continue to blog, discussing the journey, and connecting with others.
Have you turned your dream into a SMART Goal? Are you thinking of doing so now? Think I’m being too ambitious? Please leave the answers or any other comments you may have below.
Stone Photo by Philip Jägenstedt, Tape Measure Photo by aussiegall, List Photo by sunshinecity, Alarm Clock Photo by laffy4k, Pole Vaulting Photo by latvian
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My goal is to earn my income from blogging.
At the moment I don’t think I know enough to use SMART. I’m still finding out what is going on and what options sit well with me (eg. how much time and money it would take to check out any affiliate products I would recommend).
So I’m still in play mode really (but with a focussed intention).
I would also like to earn a full time income from blogging. I see that as one of the steps, but I didn’t want to dwell on that too much partly because that’s not the focus of my blog. But mostly because ever since I learned it was possible, I looked to do it myself so it would free me up for volunteering (or raising children). So, I saw the income aspect of blogging as a tool, while the writing portion is the motivation to keep working on my goals so I have something to write about.
But, like you, I’m not sure what the timeline is for getting a full time income from blogging part time. I don’t think there is really a deadline that can be set for it, but it is definitely one of the ways I hope to boost me to quitting a 9-5 job sooner, rather than later.
(BTW, I figure we must be at about the same spot in Blog Mastermind.
Good luck to both of us!)