New geocachers find it's easy to feel intimidated by experienced, hardcore cachers when attending their first picnic or group geoevent. Here's why:

In casual hallway conversation before the meeting gets started, new cachers meet other friendly cachers with exotic names, featuring, in our case, references to the Kansas City Chiefs, Jesse James or other local phenomena. These cachers just happen to mention finding 30 or 40 caches in one day. Others may mention having a total number of cache finds totaling in the thousands.

Our team Walkabout 2, hugging our newly purchased Garmin 60C, found these numbers daunting and their dedication bewildering. But, our new acquaintances made us realize we didn't know where we were heading. Unlike these fellow cachers, we had no target, no goal to provide geocaching direction and sense of achievement.

We decided to use SMART, a familiar mnemonic credited to Paul J. Meyer of self-improvement fame, to guide our planning. All good goals include the ideas embedded in SMART:

 S= Specific. Walkabout 2 decided to hunt traditional geocache sites. A friend set finding "unusually interesting" sites. Others might search primarily for micros or travel bugs or within a certain number of miles from home.
 M=Measurable. Walkabout 2, knowing that phrases like "more often," "frequently" or "as often as I can" lead to inaction, set one search per month as a goal. You might set taking friends or including a picnic or fishing as a measurable goal. Measurable goals are quantifiable, telling how many or what percentage must be completed to accomplish the goal.
 A=Action-Oriented. With geocaching this is a no brainer! (All good goals are action-oriented, so use action verbs.) Walkabout 2 decided that finding, not just looking, would be our action. In addition, any travel bugs would be moved along within one week at a busy cache site. (These actions are also measurable.)
 R=Realistic. Realistic goals are ones that we would be both willing and able to accomplish. Effective goals are achievable taking various factors into account. For example, extreme cold and extreme heat characterize much of Walkabout 2's year. Realism took into account that one member of Walkabout 2 is not as excited about geocaching as the other. Walkabout 2, having considered other commitments, determined our goals achievable, yet not too easy.
 T= Time and resources. Energy Levels! Deadlines! Finances! Sure, it would be nice to geocache in September in Paris or Sydney, but Walkabout 2 has jobs, family, and community commitments and a budget to consider. Walkabout 2 decided that a monthly deadline would provide motivation. Geocaching could be completed on family trips as well as in the immediate metropolitan area, so costs would be minimal.

For over a year, Walkabout 2 has been feeling the exhilaration of successfully reaching our goals and setting new ones.

Why not gather your caching family around the dining room table and set your own goals? Just make sure your goals are SMART ones. Setting SMART goals ensures motivation, establishes a direction for ongoing activities, and lets you know what you have accomplished.

It's a good idea to tell extended family, neighbors, and colleagues about your goals and count on their support and interest. Keep them informed of your geocaching exploits.