Joe’s Goals — Keep your resolutions
So in the spirit of the New Year and setting New Year Resolutions, I figured I needed something to help me track and keep my resolutions. I first had the idea to build something simply myself. An online application I could use personally and perhaps expand in the future for other’s use. Of course, when I have one of my brilliant ideas, I try to see if it’s been done before so I don’t waste my time.
And of course, it has been done before. And done well. Check out JoesGoals.com. It has a smooth interface that is rather intuitive. You can setup positive goals (exercise for 30 min) as well as negative goals (don’t eat candy). It also allows you to indicate which days you plan to accomplish each goal. Another great feature is the LogBooks that allow you to add textual representation of what you accomplished. So you can add a LogBook for your daily meals and indicate what you ate for each meal.
The site will also send you reminders when you having completed any goals for a time frame of your choosing.
Another cool feature is the “Joe’s Goals Badge.” This allows you to broadcast your progress to the world through your website. The badge you see to the right will update continually and always show my progress. You can also add it to your iGoogle homepage so each time you open your browser, you can be reminded to review your goals.
My only complaint is the lack of long-term goals. In a way, this is good because it forces you to break down your long-term goals into manageable short-term goals. But I will still like some type of hierarchy that indicates that a short-term goal is the child of a long-term goal. Helps to keep the big picture in mind.
So try it out. You never know. It may be the difference between keeping your resolutions this year.