Thoughts on goals

In many of the stitching/crafting blogs that I read and on the message boards that I visit, I notice that a lot of people setting weekly or monthly (or even yearly) stitching goals. It seems to be a motivator for them and having it down in black and white really gives them the push they need to stick to those goals.

Am I the only one this doesn't work for? I've tried to set goals for my stitching but it just doesn't work. It just makes me feel a lot of pressure and I don't enjoy what I'm doing. Stitching is my hobby and I want to enjoy it, not feel pressured by it! Now, I understand about having a goal for an obligation piece, such as a gift. That kind of goes without saying. But for the projects I stitch for myself, I don't write down goals (i.e. finish page 3 of design XYZ by November 15, 2007). I actually feel less inclined to work on the project and then I feel bad when I don't meet my goal.

It's the same thing for me when it comes to work. You know, those goals they always ask you to write down when you have your annual review. I hate doing that!! How am I to know what the year might throw at me? I could have a goal to achieve a certification or take a particular course and then have no time to work towards that goal given my regular workload.

But (and this may sound weird), I'm okay if I keep it in my head. It's almost like keeping it in my brain rather than writing it down keeps me more focused on something and if I don't get it done by the time I thought I would, it doesn't bother me as much as if I'd written it down and didn't achieve the goal. Don't get me wrong, it still can bug me (heck, little things like not putting away the dishes when I said I would bugs me, but that's another post) but it's not on the same level.

So sometimes I read my friend's blogs and I see them setting goals and I think "Maybe I should do that, too" but I can't. I just can't. I've tried and it just doesn't work for me.

I know this is kind of a long, rambling post but I was just wondering if anyone else experiences the same thing.