Areas of Focus = Goals = Projects
As I’ve been reading through this message board, I notice that people sometimes respond “That really isn’t a project, it is more of an area of focus”. In thinking about this, I have an observation to share. This may be “discovering fire” to most of you, but these thoughts are clarifying things for me.
“Areas of Focus” really are goals (or they should be). Furthermore, a well-defined goal is really a project. All active projects should have next actions, therefore, there should ALWAYS be a next action for any active goal or “area of focus”. If not, you’re really CHOOSING to put that goal or Area of Focus to “someday/maybe”.
Let me elaborate…
What is a project? A project is something that has a clear outcome that requires one or more actions to complete. Some projects only require one or two next actions. Others are more complex and may have sub projects.
What is a goal? More importantly, what is a well-defined goal? You may say you have a goal to lose weight. However, if you want to truly achieve this goal, you need to make it more specific and more measurable. Instead of “lose weight”, your real goal is to “Achieve a weight of 150 pounds” (or whatever). Right? How do you achieve this goal? You complete several small projects related to that goal, such as research eating habits and pick one you can live with or make an appointment for a physical, or join a gym. In order for a goal to be meaningful, it has to have a well-defined outcome. And it probably requires one or more actions to complete. Isn’t that the definition of a project?
So…therefore, a goal is nothing more than a project.
What is an area of focus? David defines it as your responsibilities or roles in life combined with your values, things such as parent, spouse, self-development, creative expression, financial management, etc. This may be more controversial, but I propose that these roles are really closer to projects too. Let me explain…
When you say you have an “area of focus” of financial management, what does that mean? It means different things to different people. Heck, it means different things at different points in your life! 20 years ago, my financial focus was getting out of the debt my ex-husband incurred. Now that I’m living debt-free, it means making wise investments for my future. But either way, in order for me to be honoring my “area of focus”, I need to have a clear vision of what it means to me now. I need to define what is being a successful financial manager. That’s not really any different than having a clear vision of a successful outcome for a project. For example, being a successful financial manager may mean: Paying all my bills on time, Having a retirement plan for my future, Owning my own home, etc. But any one of these things is a project. In practice, it may be better to restate the “area of focus” as an affirmation such as: “I’m an effective financial manager” and define it.
So….for an area of focus to be a part of your life, it requires a clear understanding of the outcome and probably takes one or more actions to complete—and that’s a project.
Let me make this even more abstract 
One of my roles is as a spouse. Therefore, one of my areas of focus is “Relationship as Spouse”. Another way to write that is “Maintain my relationship with my spouse.” Maintain. Hmmm… Is that really what I want? Possibly. At some points in my life, Improve would be a better word. Right now, I would say Maintain isn’t right either. I really want to “Deepen my relationship with my spouse” or “take it to the next level”. I propose that this is a project. Why? It would probably be smart for me to take a look at my relationship with my spouse now and consider what I mean by “taking it to the next level”. I’m not going to share my own vision here, but I have a pretty clear idea what that “next level” looks like. I’m a little less clear how I get there  But let’s say I just want to maintain my happy marriage. It would still be smart for me to consider what I mean by “happy marriage”. What is it that makes it happy? My spouse and I spend lots of time doing shared activities, we take the time to relax and enjoy each others company, we laugh, etc. So, in order to maintain my relationship, I need to make sure I’m making time for those things, that I’m planning fun activities that we enjoy. If I choose to put off all those activities and fill my life with my dogs and my work, I’m making a choice. A choice to put my marriage on the someday/maybe list. I may get away with that for a month or two, but if I make that choice for too long, I won’t have a relationship to maintain. Relationships—any relationship—requires time and commitment.
Therefore, even a relationship is really a project. It is a project that requires a clear vision of success and one or more actions to achieve.
Where am I going with all this?
I can understand that I may want to keep these roles/areas of focus/goals in an area separate from my active projects, but they aren’t different than projects and they should be reviewed and I need to ask myself the questions “What is a successful outcome” and “what is the next action” for these things just like any other project if I want to avoid open loops.
As I’ve been reading through this message board, I notice that people sometimes respond “That really isn’t a project, it is more of an area of focus”. In thinking about this, I have an observation to share. This may be “discovering fire” to most of you, but these thoughts are clarifying things for me.
“Areas of Focus” really are goals (or they should be). Furthermore, a well-defined goal is really a project. All active projects should have next actions, therefore, there should ALWAYS be a next action for any active goal or “area of focus”. If not, you’re really CHOOSING to put that goal or Area of Focus to “someday/maybe”.
Let me elaborate…
What is a project? A project is something that has a clear outcome that requires one or more actions to complete. Some projects only require one or two next actions. Others are more complex and may have sub projects.
What is a goal? More importantly, what is a well-defined goal? You may say you have a goal to lose weight. However, if you want to truly achieve this goal, you need to make it more specific and more measurable. Instead of “lose weight”, your real goal is to “Achieve a weight of 150 pounds” (or whatever). Right? How do you achieve this goal? You complete several small projects related to that goal, such as research eating habits and pick one you can live with or make an appointment for a physical, or join a gym. In order for a goal to be meaningful, it has to have a well-defined outcome. And it probably requires one or more actions to complete. Isn’t that the definition of a project?
So…therefore, a goal is nothing more than a project.
What is an area of focus? David defines it as your responsibilities or roles in life combined with your values, things such as parent, spouse, self-development, creative expression, financial management, etc. This may be more controversial, but I propose that these roles are really closer to projects too. Let me explain…
When you say you have an “area of focus” of financial management, what does that mean? It means different things to different people. Heck, it means different things at different points in your life! 20 years ago, my financial focus was getting out of the debt my ex-husband incurred. Now that I’m living debt-free, it means making wise investments for my future. But either way, in order for me to be honoring my “area of focus”, I need to have a clear vision of what it means to me now. I need to define what is being a successful financial manager. That’s not really any different than having a clear vision of a successful outcome for a project. For example, being a successful financial manager may mean: Paying all my bills on time, Having a retirement plan for my future, Owning my own home, etc. But any one of these things is a project. In practice, it may be better to restate the “area of focus” as an affirmation such as: “I’m an effective financial manager” and define it.
So….for an area of focus to be a part of your life, it requires a clear understanding of the outcome and probably takes one or more actions to complete—and that’s a project.
Let me make this even more abstract 
One of my roles is as a spouse. Therefore, one of my areas of focus is “Relationship as Spouse”. Another way to write that is “Maintain my relationship with my spouse.” Maintain. Hmmm… Is that really what I want? Possibly. At some points in my life, Improve would be a better word. Right now, I would say Maintain isn’t right either. I really want to “Deepen my relationship with my spouse” or “take it to the next level”. I propose that this is a project. Why? It would probably be smart for me to take a look at my relationship with my spouse now and consider what I mean by “taking it to the next level”. I’m not going to share my own vision here, but I have a pretty clear idea what that “next level” looks like. I’m a little less clear how I get there  But let’s say I just want to maintain my happy marriage. It would still be smart for me to consider what I mean by “happy marriage”. What is it that makes it happy? My spouse and I spend lots of time doing shared activities, we take the time to relax and enjoy each others company, we laugh, etc. So, in order to maintain my relationship, I need to make sure I’m making time for those things, that I’m planning fun activities that we enjoy. If I choose to put off all those activities and fill my life with my dogs and my work, I’m making a choice. A choice to put my marriage on the someday/maybe list. I may get away with that for a month or two, but if I make that choice for too long, I won’t have a relationship to maintain. Relationships—any relationship—requires time and commitment.
Therefore, even a relationship is really a project. It is a project that requires a clear vision of success and one or more actions to achieve.
Where am I going with all this?
I can understand that I may want to keep these roles/areas of focus/goals in an area separate from my active projects, but they aren’t different than projects and they should be reviewed and I need to ask myself the questions “What is a successful outcome” and “what is the next action” for these things just like any other project if I want to avoid open loops.
rder book, put up map, make list of rivers, PROF-Client xxletter drafted and faxed by3/21:locate file, review with sticky notes in hand. I hope this helps.