Genealogy Jottings

Family Search has suggested that we genealogists should write 52 stories about ourselves this year. In this, my third story, I am to discuss my goals—which ones I actively pursue and which ones I have trouble achieving because something gets in the way.

Do I even have specific goals? I guess I do, but I have not formalized them. In general terms, my goal is to stay well-rounded and find fulfillment is various aspects of my life:

• Genealogy. In an earlier post, I discussed my genealogy goals for the year. I try to work on those every day. Recently, I decided to stretch myself and took on the additional responsibility of judging this year’s writing contest for the Colorado Genealogical Society.
• Life in the community. I try to stay engaged, so I find volunteer projects to do. I currently serve as my neighborhood’s representative to our civic association. I am the Musician for my local Sons of Norway lodge.
• Spiritual life. I sing in my church choir, and this year we will tour in Germany to commemorate the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation. This trip satisfies a lifetime goal for this cradle Lutheran to see the land of Luther. In preparation, I am reading Luther’s biography this winter.
• Home life. I meet my goal of knowing my grandchildren by taking care of them whenever I can. I am working on making my home more livable by taking on a huge home remodeling project this spring—the goal is to complete it before my choir trip.

I avoid making goals any more specific than these. Instead, I tend to work more on a To Do list of scheduled tasks. The tasks sort themselves by what has the earliest deadline, hopefully set by me and not by someone else. I work on big, open-ended projects as time allows.

I know, I know. We are supposed to sort work by our A, B, and C priorities and then create timelines and work on the A priorities first. But for me the C priorities often take over my life. I find it more comfortable to do those first to get them out of the way. I avoid developing timelines because I have never figured out how to do it effectively.

When I worked for the local library many years ago, I had a boss who wanted to quantify all our work into goals with timelines she set, but this seemed impossible to me. Too many extraneous matters and circumstances beyond my control affected my ability to meet goals at specified times. This created so much stress. It drove me crazy, and I finally left that job.

Now I have no boss, and I work at a comfortable pace. I do not accomplish all that I wish I could on some goals because I have many family responsibilities that come up. They get in the way of my other goals. Then again, taking care of my family is one of my goals, too. Some of the other goals will just have to wait.

It boils down to what goals I can accomplish in my real life as opposed to what I would like to accomplish in my fantasy life. I must live in the here and now, and my goals must align with my real-life responsibilities.