Setting A Family History Goal

As I sat down with my computer durng my few moments of free time this week, gigantic cup of green tea in hand, I began scouring the many blogs that I read on a regular basis.

Over at the 24/7 Family History Circle sits a great article that, while a basic concept, is one that we genealogists often forget.

It was suggested that we should take time during this month (family history month) to create goals for ourselves regarding our family history.

I just wanted to expand on this idea, and give some tips that apply to goals in general as well as family history goals:

• Make your goal clear and precise. A goal that is too broad or vague has a much smaller chance of being achieved because there is nothing to serve as a benchmark, determining if you have accomplished your goal or not. A good goal is specific, such as, ” I will sort the pictures by surname that are sitting in the box Aunt Maggie left for me, placing each category of pictures into archival safe boxes”.
• Give yourself a deadline. Some people like myself, need a deadline to make things happen. I work better under pressure and it keeps me from being able to put it off for too long.
• Have two goals: One really fun goal and one goal that just needs to be done. For example, a fun goal would being making a shadow box highlighting a particular ancestor. A goal that just needs to be done could be something like filing or backing up your materials.

Good luck everyone – and I’d love to hear about your family history goals.