Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.

Scott Fitzgerald

In the last week, I’ve written a few thousand words, shredded documents, organized a room and decluttered a space.

Fitzgerald was right about the crispness of fall. It gives me both energy and a desire to ready my space for hibernating in the winter. That’s why now is the perfect time of year to look at your goals and see what progress you have made. Maybe you haven’t looked at your goals since you made them in January. Oops!

That’s okay, you have three months to either begin them and carry forward into 2018 or to finish them in 2017.

I’m on track with a few goals, but one has all but derailed. That’s my goal of walking 10,000 steps a day. A knee injury had limited me to almost no movement. I finally saw a doctor, who prescribed a treatment plan. I’m up to 5,000 steps a day, which is progress. Rather than berate myself for not making the other 5,000 steps, I’ve adjusted my goal and continue to monitor my progress.

My financial goals are on track, but this is the time of year I have to be careful. Sweaters entice me as do holiday sales. As a result, I aim to finish my holiday shopping by Nov. 1. I find it to be the only way to keep myself from being drawn into sales for things I don’t need to buy for me or others. While others search for parking spaces and fight the crowds, I’m hoping to be reading books from my book list.

As you think about what is important to you, think about how you might set a goal in that area. One of my friends said she wants to start giving back and is exploring where she might put in some volunteer hours.

As you review or set your goals make sure they are SMART goals:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Time-bound (or trackable)

Another good tip is to set performance goals, not outcome goals. It’s important to have control over the goals. For example, my goal can be that I want to publish a novel. Unless I am self publishing, I’m not going to have much control over the publication of the novel. What I can control is how many pages or words I write each week and the steps I will take to find an agent and publisher.

Here’s to crisp fall days and meetings goals. I know I’ll reach one of my play goals – to jump in a pile of leaves!