I received my 21-Day Challenge Badge!

I'm so excited to have completed this Bible reading challenge by YouVersion.  It's one thing to say you are GOING to do something, but its a WONDERFUL feeling when you actually COMPLETE it.  Here's the badge I received for it.

Of course there was an incentive to complete this; an iPad or Kindle Fire could be won.   However, even if I don't win one of those items I'm still a WINNER.  Statistics indicate that it takes 21-days to make something a habit in your life.

This is a HABIT worth having!

"Reading Goal": Do Audiobooks Count?

I'm a member of Goodreads.com and this will be my second year signing up for the Reading Challenge.  You can track my progress in the left panel.  Last year my goal was 12 books, which meant I had to read 1 book a month minimum. That's a very doable goal for a busy person like myself.  Here's a snapshot of what I "read".

Sometime during July, 2011 I activated a membership with Audible.com through a $1 for 6 months offer I received on my Kindle with Special Offers and so began my journey and I'm not ashamed to admit a love for listening to audiobooks.  This was a steal of a deal because I received 1-credit per month and 1 credit would get you one audiobook.  (The math: I received 6 audiobooks for $1).  So then the BIG QUESTION popped into my head -- Should I count audiobooks towards my goal of books "Read".  I decided to include them. :-)  Of the fourteen (14) books I completed only 5 were in audiobook format.  I know you're wondering, I thought you received 6 credits so why didn't I get 6 books, right?  I decided to GIFT an audiobook to a dear friend of mines. :-)

Today I decided to google the question "Do audiobooks count towards your reading goal?" and was pleasantly pleased when I saw others had the same question and the overwhelming response was "Yes, audiobooks should be counted".  One response I especially liked was that audiobooks should be counted if "unabridged", meaning the book is read in it's entirety and not shortened for the audiobook.  Unabridged books take a considerable amount of time to listen to with the average listening time being between 10-12 hours.  Interestingly, it would probably take the average reader only about 6-8 hours to actually read the book in print.

Taking this into consideration I am planning to increase my reading challenge goal to specifically include more audiobooks.  I primarily listen to audiobooks during my commute to and from work and while at home doing things such as cooking, cleaning and hobbies like sewing and crocheting.

Do you have an opinion on this subject?  Weigh in via a comment below and let me know your thoughts.

Check out some of the books on my To-Read List.  It will be interesting to see which ones I get to this year.  If you have a book recommendation for me please feel free to leave that in a comment below.  Thanks!

Cateyesmd's bookshelf: 2012-challenge

The Women of Azusa Street

by Estrelda Alexander

Selling My Soul

by Sherri Lewis

A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World

by Paul E. Miller

Freedom from Performing: Grace in an Applause-Driven World

by Becky Harling

In the Line of Fire: How to Handle Tough Questions...When It Counts

by Jerry Weissman

Water for Elephants

by Sara Gruen

Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together

by Ron Hall

Soon After

by Sherryle Kiser Jackson

Taylor Made

by Sherryle Kiser Jackson

Reinventing Rachel

by Alison Strobel

HEYYYYY!!!

Did you notice that my reading goal follows the SMART Goal technique?  Check out my other posts about goals:

5 Ways to Succeed at being YOU!

A New Year: A New Challenge!

5 Ways to Succeed at being YOU!

 1. Get to know YOUrself!

Oftentimes we get caught up into doing what we have been "trained" to do or even sticking with that job/career that we first started out in.  Maybe that's not your true passion. 

• What do you like to do when no one else is around?
• What do you enjoy doing AND would you do for FREE because you enjoy it that much?
• Have you thought of turning that one thing into a business? Consider it!

2. Know when to say "NO" 
Family and friends can make you feel pressured to do something for THEM even when you don't really want to do it.  Don't hesitate to tell them "NO" if you really don't want to do it.  Use that time to work on YOUr goals.

  

3. Set SMART Goals

 

See: Goal Setting Guide 

Use: SMART Goal Worksheet by Coaching for Impact

4. Evaluate YOUrself

Be HONEST with yourself when evaluting your progress or lack thereof.  If you can't depend on anyone else to be honest with you, YOU need to be honest with yourself in order to make sure you "Succeed at being YOU".  Questions to ask yourself:

• How much time and effort did you put into accomplishing the task(s)/goal?
• Is there a smarter way to accomplish your goal?
• How can you improve YOUrself? i.e., skills, updated training, etc. 
• Should you continue pursuing the goal? Does is need to be tweaked or changed all together?

These are just a few questions to get you going.  The goal here is to evaluate what you have been doing, realigning your goals and/or setting new goals if you've reached your previous ones.  For a list of more questions and other information about evaluating yourself check out this Article on personal goal setting.

5. Don't be afraid to change directions 
After doing all of the above you may find that the BEST YOU is leading you in another direction.  Your interest may vary greatly and the one interest you thought would be your "meal ticket", so to speak, is not panning out as you expected.  Once you've completed your evaluation of yourself you should have a better or clearer picture of what direction you want to be headed in. 

Finally, you want to repeat this process periodically based on the length of your goals.  Evaluate yourself after each goal period (short, medium, long term) and then set new goals.  Example: Your original medium term goals may now be your short term goals and your long term goals become your medium.  Following this process will have you re-accessing and setting new Long Term goals so that you are ALWAYS striving for the next level. 

IMPORTANT:

Don't allow your last success

to become your failure because you FAIL

to plan for continued success.

A New Year: A New Challenge!

This month I will be participating in the Ultimate Challenge. The goal of this challenge is to write a blog post daily and/or a cumulative 31 posts for the month. Today is January 2nd and this is just my first post :-( .  I'm aiming to post daily once I get caught up. :-). I've been contemplating a writing schedule with a different topic each day. More on that in another post.

The new year is always met with individuals setting what they call "New Year's Resolutions". And, as most of us can attest for, those resolutions are short lived. Many don't even make it a month before breaking them. Did you know that in order to make something you do a "habit" you have to do it consistently for at least 30 days, if done daily. If its not a daily task give yourself a longer time period of completing the task consistently to make it habit forming, i.e. 1x week give yourself 6-months.

In addition to posting to my blog on a regular basis in 2012 I have set the following personal/family goals:

• Reading: Complete 15 Books (including audiobooks)
• Bible: Complete multiple reading plans from 7-30 days in length each
• Pay bills timely. (Avoiding all electronic wire fees and/or late fees)
• Prepare a household budget, follow and track monthly.
• Create emergency Cash fund

This is my preliminary goal list.  I will be revising throughout the year as I work towards compiling a list of short and long term goals with expected completion dates.  It will be interesting to watch my progress and share with you.

What are your goals for this year? Have you set any? Remember to use the SMART method when creating your goals.

Happy New Year!!!