Tag Archives: Goals
New mountains on my horizon!
Posted on 01. Jun, 2011 by Kenny.
The title isn’t figurative, it’s quite literal. Two years ago Sara and I attempted to climb Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs along the Crags route. Only about 700 feet from the summit, we had to turn back due to near white-out conditions, hail and lightning. It was a wild ride. I wrote about the hike here and here and actually wrote about the adventure on my personal blog here.
Well, Sara and I have made plans to visit Colorado Springs again this summer and I’ve got the itch to conquer a 14,000 foot mountain. Because Sara is pregnant, she obviously won’t be hiking with me. Because she’s not hiking, I’m not going to attempt Pikes Peak again, that’s something she really wants to do with me again. However, I’ve set my sights on a new mountain… or should I say mountains.
In mid-July I’ll be attempting to summit both Gray’s Peak and Torrey’s Peak. The two mountains are joined at the waist, so after we summit Gray’s (depending on time, weather and how we feel), we’ll make the traverse over to Torrey’s before descending to the bottom. It’s a slightly longer trek than what we did on Pike’s two years ago, but only because we’ll be hiking up and down. We’ll actually be on the summit much quicker on Gray’s than we would have been on Pikes Peak.
So, two weeks ago I’ve began training. I’m on the treadmill 4-5 days a week for an hour at a time. 4-5 MPH at a 4% incline. Each day I’m either raising the incline a small percent or raising the speed. I’m very excited about being in the hills again this summer and doing everything I can to stand on the top of one. So, there’s my fitness goal for this summer (only 6 weeks away), so if you see me being lazy and getting thirds for desert, you have my permission to punch me in the neck.
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What a loser!
Posted on 27. Apr, 2010 by Kenny.
If you follow me on twitter of facebook, you’ve seen my pathetic whining these last few weeks. Whining about being hungry and tired and ready for this competition to be over. Well, it is now and I lost. Kinda.
Back in January, I threw out the idea to my children’s ministry staff about doing a biggest loser competition. I had some weight I really wanted to lose and they did too, so we set up a competition. Who could lose the most weight in 13 weeks. That was one prize. The other was to the first person to lose 10% of their body weight. To win they had to maintain that weight until the end.
Seven of us competed. Some competed harder than others. However, only one person took the prize (both of them). Only one person took the glory. That person is ME, I’m the biggest loser! I will say this, it’s one of the hardest things I’ve done. For me, I had to lose 26 pounds. No matter which way you look at it, that’s a lot of weight in just three months.
To my disadvantage, I came down with a stomach virus 3 days before the contest began. I lost 4 pounds for the first weigh in which meant the 26 pounds I had to lose started at my “I lost this weight becasue I’m sick” weight. So, in essence, I had to lose 30 pounds in all.
For most of the contest, I stayed faithful and true. I limited my portion size and went to the gym 3-4 days a week. In the last few weeks, I realized that time was running out and I still needed to lose some weight. I was getting nervous. Then at only 10 days from the end, I had 8-10 pounds that needed to come off. The gloves were off, I needed to really go after it. So for the final ten days, I only ate two eggs and a piece of toast for breakfast, fruit for lunch and a small light dinner every day. I’d snack on clementine oranges and small yogurt packs. In addition, I’d run 5-6 miles on the treadmill every day.I hit the goal weight for the first time the day before the contest was over and the final weigh in, I was a full 1/2 pound over my goal. I’d lost almost 27 pounds.
Not only was this one of the hardest things I’ve done, but also one of the most rewarding. I feel so much better about myself, I feel better in general and I’ve learned something about staying healthy. I’m goal driven. For me it has to be about hitting a number or achieving something. If I don’t have a goal, I’m going to wander. So when it comes to staying in shape and eating healthy, it’s got to be tied to a goal. So, I’m taking it easy this week at Orange (when I say easy, I mean I’m eating what I want… so back off). However, when I get back home, I’m heading toward the next goal. Another 20 pounds, but in 6 months instead of 3.
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Why I blog so much
Posted on 22. Mar, 2010 by Kenny.
In recent months I’ve had a handful of people ask me why I blog as much as I do. Actually, more people ask how I blog as much as I do. The average Children’s Ministry blogger pushes out 2-5 posts a week where I push out 2-4 a day. Some of you will notice that the tempo has really picked up since Christmas. Well, there is a reason for the blogging insanity and I guess I’ll let you in on the motivation behind the posts.
My name is Kenny Conley and I’m addicted to goals.
That’s pretty much it. I love goals. I have grand goals in my life as well as silly little meaningless goals that I set each day. As often as I can, I’ll do just about anything to reach a goal that I set for myself. I’m not like this with everything or every goal, just in the things that are important to me.
So, last year on this blog’s 2nd birthday, I assessed the number of posts I wrote that year and set a goal for year two. I set other goals as well, but the big one I really wanted to hit was to write my 1000th post by the end of year two. That would mean 550 post in 365 days. Based on my writing frequency, that goal was totally doable. Even four months into the year, I was well ahead of schedule. However, during the summer and fall months, I fell behind. I think I assumed I was far enough ahead that it wouldn’t matter. I was wrong.
The week after Christmas I realized how far behind I was. I saw that I would need to write on average, 2-3 posts every day to hit my goal. I was a little frustrated as I realized there was little chance in me pulling that off. However, a day or two passed and I thought to myself, “I can do this.” So, since Christmas, I’ve been at a break-neck pace of hitting my goal of 550 post by the end of the 2nd year. My plan is to post my 1000th post on April 3rd. My blog turns three on April 4th. I’m also committed to writing quality posts. I’ve tried to limit the silly posts, I don’t want to pad the blog with meaningless content.
So where am I now.
Where do I stand now? This post is likely post #960. That’s only 40 more posts to go. Although I’ll have at least 5-10 posts already written by the time this post publishes, I’ve still got 30-35 more to write. Only 13 more days to go, that’s a little more than 2-2.5 posts a day. Almost there. Almost there.
BTW, thanks for reading, I really appreciate it.
Obvious followup question: do you plan to slow down a little after hitting April 4th?
YES!
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Service project versus teaching kids to serve
Posted on 07. Jan, 2010 by Kenny.
Our mission for Next Gen mirrors the mission of our church. One of the components of our mission relates to serving. Specifically, here’s how serving supports our mission.
Be the Body (Serve)
We help kids realize that they are part of a collective body bigger than themselves and that through God’s power they can make a significant difference in the world for Christ.
Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
I’ve been working with my team in setting goals for 2010 and I’ve been thinking a lot about this area of service. Last year my goal was to initiate two serving initiatives where participation would exceed 50%. We did two outreaches in 2009. One was a flop and the other appeared fairly successful. However this year I want to put a little more though into this area of service.
Rather than just have a service project/initiative, I want to teach our kids how to serve. I’ve done all kinds of service projects in my years of ministry. We’ve raised canned food, peanut butter, gifts, money and all kinds of other things. Through these drives, we’ve helped thousands of people in need. But I’m not sure we were always successful in teaching our kids to serve. When doing these projects, how often were parents just going out and buying the stuff for the kids to turn in? Although it may help our project see success, does it make a difference where it’s most important.
I can only speak for myself (although I have a feeling many others of you are in this same boat). We’ve held initiatives where the goal is to raise “x” amount of money or “x” amount of whatever. Success is determined by how close we get to “x.” What if we looked at the initiative from the other viewpoint and “x” amount of whatever wasn’t what determined success, but perhaps a percentage of participation was? In addition, what would it have to look like so you could track participation?
Just thinking out loud on this. What do you think?
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Day 5: How’s it going so far?
Posted on 05. Jan, 2010 by Kenny.
Only 361 days left. We’re on our way, right?
It was just a week ago that we penned our resolutions for the new year. So how are you doing with that?
I’ll be really honest. I’m not done with mine yet. I’ve got most of them written down and several of them I’ve “started.” However, there are still a few I need to put some thought to.
Here’s what I’m cognizant of this year. 2009 was a really great year for me. It quite possibly could have been the best year of the last decade. I really would like 2010 to be better, but I know it won’t be unless I can live out my written desires. How are you ensuring that 2010 resolutions don’t fizzle and become forgotten?
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Ministry as usual or climbing higher mountains
Posted on 24. Aug, 2009 by Kenny.
On Friday I posted about the mountain I’m preparing to climb. Fifteen years ago I trained for about 3-4 weeks in preparation. I was running 1-3 miles a day and about 20-30 flights of stairs 4-5 days a week. Fifteen years have passed and I’m in worse shape and about 30-40 pounds heavier. I’m not really nervous, I’m just aware of the fact that this isn’t going to be easy. Sara, who’s going to climb with me is also very concerned about the challenge.
Almost a year ago Sara and I vacationed in Banff, Canada. On our first day there, we hiked to the top of Big Beehive Dome overlooking Lake Louise. It was a 3 mile hike ascending almost 2000 vertical feet. That little hike kicked our butts. We hadn’t done anything to prepare, but we barely made it.
The hike to the top of Pikes Peak is four times what we did last year in Banff. Four times the distance and four times the vertical climb. This is the reason for our concern and preparation. We’re working hard to prepare so that we can finish the hike. Sara and I are on treadmills for 45-60 minutes, four to five days a week keeping our heart rate above 70% of max to prepare for the high altitude hiking. The running and stair machines are preparing our legs for the 6-8 hours of climbing.
So, this is what I’ve been thinking. When’s the last time I set a goal in my ministry that almost kicked my tail trying to achieve it? Most of us set goals every year and usually my goals represent concerted growth, I don’t know that I’ve really “stretched” myself in a way that I have been to summit Pikes Peak. What about you? It’s almost time to start thinking about goals for 2010. I’m thinking about a Pikes Peak sized goal or two.
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In case you’re wondering…
Posted on 18. Dec, 2008 by Kenny.
If you follow this blog at all, you may be thinking… “Dang, Kenny’s writting a bunch of blog posts.”
Yeah, I am. The last few months have been marked with 1-2 week vacations of me posting nothing. I had many great ideas, I just didn’t take the time to write them down.
In addition, I’m trying to hit a personal goal. The other day I wrote about my goal of hitting post 400 by the new year. It was a very attainable goal, but taking time off slowed me down from reaching this goal. However, I’m very goal-driven and I’ve got it stuck in my head that I want post #400 to publish at 11:59 PM on December 31st. It will be followed by post number #401 at 12:00 AM on January 1st. Post #401 will contain my resolutions for 2009.
So, as I write this post, I have 353 published posts and 12 scheduled posts. That means I only need to write 35 more posts in the next 12 days or so. It’s actually very attainable still. So, we’ll see how close I get! Oh, and I’m not going to publish a bunch of fluff either, nothing but good stuf to encourage, connect and resource those serving kids!
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Goals
Posted on 15. Dec, 2008 by Kenny.
I’ve discovered that I’m a very goal oriented person. I can easily live life spinning my wheels and going no where. However, when I have clear goals, I progress. Even when I dont’ quite reach all of my goals, it’s usually still okay. Here are two simple goals I have right now.
Losing weight: If you follow my posts you know I’ve been working to lose some weight. After 6 months out of work, I put on some weight. When moving to Austin, I was the heaviest I’ve ever been. I was very sad about this. I changed my eating habits and decided that I wanted to lose 20 pounds by 2009. Last weekend I weighed in and I was only 2 pounds away from that goal. I think I might just do it. Right now I am the same weight I was 3-4 years ago. Yaeh for me! I’m not done though, still have 20 more to go. If I can lose another 20, I’ll be back at my weight when I got married. I’ll definately need to buy new clothes. From that point I think I would be really happy, but maybe set one more goal to lose about 10 more pounds. For years I’ve talked about losing the weight, but it wasn’t until a few months ago that I started setting goals. It also helps to have a digital scale that knows what my goal is and tells me how far away from it that I am every day.
Blogging: As some of you know, I took several months off from blogging last year while I was on the job hunt. I had been blogging for about 7 months and had less than 100 posts. However, in March I started blogging again with renewed passion and zeal. I absolutely love it. I set a somewhat unrealistic goal of hitting my 500th post before 2009. However, that would have required me to post twice a day, 5 days a week for about 5 months. However, hitting post 400 was much more realistic. As of a month ago, I was still on track to hit it. Unortunatley, now I am only 18 days away from 2009 and I am 60 posts short of 400.
There is a part of me that still very much wants to go for it. It’s more than 3 posts a day, 7 days a week. Although I feel like I’ve written plenty of silly posts, I don’t want to post a bunch of fluff to hit my goal. So, I’m going to do the best I can and see where I land. If I don’t hit 500 by 2009, maybe I can hit a high note on April 4th, the 2nd anniversary of this blog.
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Staff Retreat – Developing Mission, Vision and Goals
Posted on 28. May, 2007 by Kenny.
A few weeks ago I took my staff on a retreat. We rented a great lake house on Lake Travis just outside of Austin, Texas. Initially I was taking the team to the PDCM conference… but it was cancelled. So I found this place and made plans to retreat instead of going to a conference.
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The strategy of the Purpose Driven model has helped me tremendously in ministry. Since I moved into my current position a year ago, I’ve made adjustments to ministry to reflect a more “purpose driven†strategy. Everyone has been on board for the most part; however, I wasn’t completely convinced that everyone understood why. This is the reason why I planned to take everyone to Saddleback. So when the conference was cancelled, I decided that we would watch 2 or 3 sessions from a past PDCM conference, and talk it out and make it reality for our church. [...]
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