Every January I sit down and try to establish a few new goals to work on during the upcoming year. I dutifully read articles and listen carefully to speakers all sharing how they successfully reached their goals. And I just want to laugh, cry or get angry.
Why is it so easy for some and so hard for the rest of us? Even just thinking about establishing new goals is torture for me as I’m almost always overwhelmed with fear that I’ll not meet my self-established trials. Hence, I’m usually unhappy, even before I start.
Sure, over the years I’ve had both success and failure reaching my goals. But mostly I’ve had to be content reaching a frustrated self-awareness tinged with happiness. Huh?
Oh sure, I was successful in reaching a couple of my goals this year. I made a large quilt, upped my yoga skills and wrote my first cozy mystery. Ta…da! A lot of hard work went into each of these areas of growth and I am really proud of my successes.
But there have been far too many other goals that I just never met. If I let myself dwell on it, I could get really bummed out. There’s still a dress on my sewing room mannequin half sewn. And I never finished it because I didn’t lose the weight to fit into it. Two of several goals not met!
So this year I’m taking a different tact – I’m using a revised strategy to set my goals.
Instead of just pulling something out of my hat or revisiting goals that I’m just never going to reach, I’m going to set goals that build on previous successes AND failures. I didn’t set as many as I had in the past, but I did spend some time thinking before coming up with these five that I’d like to share with you.
#1 Drink more water- This should be a relatively easy goal to attain. I just need to remember to have a bottle or glass of water near me at all times…and a bathroom not too far away. I’m getting older and more water equals greater health and I want to be healthier.
#2 Move More - This may sound like such an easy for goal to you. But it’s a tough one for me. You see, I love to sit and sew, sit and write, sit and read, sit and watch movies. In truth, I’m a little embarrassesd to admith that I just love to sit.
Is moving more actually an attainable goal? Yes – I just need to get my sorry self up and going each and every day. This goal will also require me to organize my life better – to actually calendar specific times to move. Like taking a walk first thing in the morning - because once I sit down to read, sew or write – it’s tough to get me out and about. Again, my focus is on living a healthier life.
#3 Challenge myself to learn one new thing a month OR how to do one thing a month better than I did before – It may be as simple as learning about a new phone app, how to use that expensive sewing machine foot I bought last year or how to play Black Jack – something I just realized I’ve always wanted to learn. Four of the months I’m going to force myself to revisit something that I wasn’t very successful at first time around. Since I am a lousy cook – one of the months I’ll focus on cooking for sure. That should be interesting- remember, I am not a good cook - hope no one dies from food poisoning!
#4 Learn how to be a grandmother – This will be a new gig for me and I know that I will have a lot to learn! But it is so exciting.
#5 Make Time – time to smile, to notice things, to say thank you, to laugh at myself and with my friends, to say I love you more and to be grateful.
I feel pretty good about these goals. They feel right. They feel doable. Will I reach success? All I can tell you is that I’m not afraid to try, I’m a little excited and more than ready to get started…especially with the one about being a first time grandma!
Happy New Year to you all. May 2018 be a healthy, happy year for each and every one of you. And may your goal setting process be a fulfilling and happy experience.
Why is it so easy for some and so hard for the rest of us? Even just thinking about establishing new goals is torture for me as I’m almost always overwhelmed with fear that I’ll not meet my self-established trials. Hence, I’m usually unhappy, even before I start.
Sure, over the years I’ve had both success and failure reaching my goals. But mostly I’ve had to be content reaching a frustrated self-awareness tinged with happiness. Huh?
Oh sure, I was successful in reaching a couple of my goals this year. I made a large quilt, upped my yoga skills and wrote my first cozy mystery. Ta…da! A lot of hard work went into each of these areas of growth and I am really proud of my successes.
But there have been far too many other goals that I just never met. If I let myself dwell on it, I could get really bummed out. There’s still a dress on my sewing room mannequin half sewn. And I never finished it because I didn’t lose the weight to fit into it. Two of several goals not met!
So this year I’m taking a different tact – I’m using a revised strategy to set my goals.
Instead of just pulling something out of my hat or revisiting goals that I’m just never going to reach, I’m going to set goals that build on previous successes AND failures. I didn’t set as many as I had in the past, but I did spend some time thinking before coming up with these five that I’d like to share with you.
#1 Drink more water- This should be a relatively easy goal to attain. I just need to remember to have a bottle or glass of water near me at all times…and a bathroom not too far away. I’m getting older and more water equals greater health and I want to be healthier.
#2 Move More - This may sound like such an easy for goal to you. But it’s a tough one for me. You see, I love to sit and sew, sit and write, sit and read, sit and watch movies. In truth, I’m a little embarrassesd to admith that I just love to sit.
Is moving more actually an attainable goal? Yes – I just need to get my sorry self up and going each and every day. This goal will also require me to organize my life better – to actually calendar specific times to move. Like taking a walk first thing in the morning - because once I sit down to read, sew or write – it’s tough to get me out and about. Again, my focus is on living a healthier life.
#3 Challenge myself to learn one new thing a month OR how to do one thing a month better than I did before – It may be as simple as learning about a new phone app, how to use that expensive sewing machine foot I bought last year or how to play Black Jack – something I just realized I’ve always wanted to learn. Four of the months I’m going to force myself to revisit something that I wasn’t very successful at first time around. Since I am a lousy cook – one of the months I’ll focus on cooking for sure. That should be interesting- remember, I am not a good cook - hope no one dies from food poisoning!
#4 Learn how to be a grandmother – This will be a new gig for me and I know that I will have a lot to learn! But it is so exciting.
#5 Make Time – time to smile, to notice things, to say thank you, to laugh at myself and with my friends, to say I love you more and to be grateful.
I feel pretty good about these goals. They feel right. They feel doable. Will I reach success? All I can tell you is that I’m not afraid to try, I’m a little excited and more than ready to get started…especially with the one about being a first time grandma!
Happy New Year to you all. May 2018 be a healthy, happy year for each and every one of you. And may your goal setting process be a fulfilling and happy experience.