Purpose Statement

August 08, 2012

One of the things that has provided me years of working knowledge was the Technical Writing class I took while at the University of Central Florida. The idea was that computer science majors (which I was at the time) would need to understand how to write professional documents after graduation, and that they should learn how-to before their Junior year. One of the major projects we completed was to invent something, however impractical or absurd, and write documentation on how the invention would work. The key piece that I took away from that exercise was the creation of a Purpose Statement, something that would provide a short but declarative statement as to what the heck it was that we were going to describe in fuller detail later in the document. This being yet another blog I've started even at this very URL, the first post has that Purpose Statement quality, except that instead of a detailed document that one would spend a short time reading and understanding, a blog trades that brevity for detail over time. Instead of writing a long-winded post to launch, I'll keep this one brief, and fill in the finer details as I progress through time. This blog is about me, and my quest to get healthy. Too vague? I guess if you consider the goal setting trio from Management class, or for those that didn't take it, whenever your boss gives you that year-end review, and has a definition for goals for the next year, there's usually an instruction box stating:

Goals should be Specific
Goals must be Measurable
Goals must have a Time Frame

For example: I want to get athletically fit is a good goal, but is is not specific, nor does it have a time frame, and, what is fit? A better goal is "I want to lose 20 pounds by December 31, 2012." It's Specific, Measurable, and has a Time Frame. To re-word my original statement to fit this specification: I Want to Ride a Bike Up One of the Grand Mountain Climbs of the Tour de France Before the End of July, 2013. Specific? Not as specific. I'll define what a "Grand Mountain Climb" is later. Measurable? Certainly! Time Frame? 11 months to go! Insane? I hope not. And this blog is my "diary." It wont end after the 2013 Tour, by then I will have set other goals, ones that keep me on path towards getting healthy and athletically fit. --Pete
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