4. MONITORING YOUR PROGRESS
IT IS ASSUMED THAT BY NOW YOU HAVE WORKED OUT THE GOALS YOU WANT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR PERSONAL PLAN FOR THE PROGRAM, THAT YOU HAVE BROKEN DOWN EACH GOAL INTO THE APPROPRIATE TARGETS, RECORDED THESE DETAILS ON THE SUMMARY SHEETS PROVIDED AND THAT YOU HAVE SECURED THE AGREEMENT OF A FRIEND TO ACT AS YOUR PROGRAM BUDDY.
If you have not yet completed all of these tasks please return to them now and work to complete them before continuing...
THE IMPORTANCE OF A SCHEDULE
You are almost ready to begin work on the targets in your Personal Plan. Before starting, it is strongly advised that you work out a weekly timetable, or schedule, which will set out when you are going to carry out your target activities. For example, if one of your targets for Week One is to jog twice a week for two kilometres, you really need to work out the days and times when you are going to take your run. If you just leave it to the times when you feel like doing it, it is very possible that you will fail to meet your target requirements. Of course, such a schedule does not have to be totally prescriptive - it should also make allowances for the unexpected.
Overall, however, a schedule tends to commit you to a routine which, more often than not, will lead to the successful completion of a target. So, if, for example, you set down Monday and Thursday evenings, directly after coming home from your workplace, as the times for your jogs then there is greater likelihood that you will keep to your targets. However, in setting up a schedule, you may need to consult with a partner or members of your household so as to ensure that your chosen times do not conflict with other important routines or commitments.
In the same way, it is advisable to set up a regular weekly meeting with your buddy which is mutually convenient so that the valuable weekly get together is not missed. Try to ensure that when this meeting occurs you are alone together and not under undue pressure of time or in a place which is subject to potential distractions [e.g. with the TV sports channel running or when your children are likely to arrive home from school]. If the regular meeting with your buddy is unavoidably missed, then plan for another time slot for the same week.
A few people may be able to successfully keep the details of a schedule in their heads, but I think most individuals will have problems with this kind of arrangement. Try, therefore, to set down in writing the precise details of your target completion times and the time planned to meet with your buddy. To assist in this regard, a column has been provided in the Program Monitoring Sheet [see Page 75] where you can record briefly your target schedule.
Of course, some targeted activities may not fit in well with timed slots. For example, if one of your targets is to pay more daily compliments to your partner or children, it is very difficult to relate this to particular times. However, what you can do is to set aside a time when you check with yourself whether or not you have carried out your chosen target. You might, in the example above, do this just before going to bed at night. Whatever your target, there is always a way to monitor it effectively. You just need to work out what the best way is for you.
GUIDE TO MONITORING THE PROGRAM
The Program Monitoring Sheet has been provided to help assist you with setting out your weekly targets and schedule. This Sheet provides you with an easy means to record, on a weekly basis, all of the targets, based on all the selected goals you have set yourself together with a note of the time slots, or other arrangements, allotted to them. It also provides a means of ticking off, as completed, each target activity carried out and records the weekly meeting with your buddy.
You are required to complete one Program Monitoring Sheet for each of the eight weeks of the Program. However, only one sheet should be completed at a time, that is, on a weekly basis. This is because you may make a change to behaviour targets after the first or subsequent weeks. The completed Program Monitoring Sheet is kept as a record of your activity during a particular week and forms a useful record of progress for your meeting with your buddy.
A blank Program Monitoring Sheet can be seen on Page 75 while a sample of a partially completed one appears in the Appendices in Part Four.
STOP NOW AND GIVE CAREFULTHOUGHT TO SETTING UP A SCHEDULE FOR TARGET COMPLETION FOR WEEK ONE WHICH SEEMS TO YOU TO BE WORKABLE IN YOUR LIFE. REMEMBER YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES TO OTHERS AND TO YOUR EXISTING TIME COMMITMENTS.
IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO, CONSULT BRIEFLY WITH YOUR BUDDY AND MAKE, AT LEAST, A TENTATIVE ARRANGEMENT AS TO WHEN YOU WILL HAVE YOUR FIRST DISCUSSION MEETING.
Consider and concentrate on Week One only at this stage. If necessary, you may later change schedule arrangements for subsequent weeks.
When you have worked out the outline of your schedule, fill in all the details of your arrangements on the Program Monitoring Sheet. You will need to photocopy this from Page 75.