January - the start of a year, the turn of a page, and another chance to reflect and look forward. It's temptingly easy to fall headlong into 2013 and let the tides carry you.
Over more than a decade, I've made it a habit to make New Year Resolutions every December/January. Sometimes I keep all of them, most times I tracked part of the way, but each and every year, I make progress. I know I make progress because there were goals in the first place.
We make personal goals based on what is important to us. When I first started, my goals were more material and experiential in nature than spiritual, mental, emotional or physical. I started setting annual resolutions not long after I was discharged for my benign tumor. I didn't want to waste time, I wanted to live life, I wanted the means to live life - I was easing out of the discomfort of young adulthood. I must do A, B, C by age 25 or 30, or make $X in annual income by when.
Looking back, I find me embarassing for what the goals suggest of my values. They were also largely unrealistic and often not within my control. Looking back, I also find kindness to cut myself some slack because they reflected what I thought I lacked and what I thought I needed. I was a young woman feeling insecure. I wish I had known more or be more exposed and knew differently. Looking back now, however, I also see how much I've grown and mature and how those initial goals have taken me to a place of greater material, emotional, and spiritual clarity.
So I feel more assured today that the goals I make every year, whatever is important to me at that point in time, will be cumulative in nature and contribute to making me a person I want to live with, know and love in the future.
In 2013, I've again made good my promise to myself to set New Year resolutions. I've had to balance and align my personal goals with work goal so there's leverage and harmony. This alignment also affects the number of goals on each end. Here's an abbreviated version of how I typically map my personal goals.
If you haven't set your New Year resolutions yet, why not try making some this year. Start with a handful. We don't know how long our life is but we can take positive action to make sure what time we have is used as consciously as we can. Even when doing things we don't enjoy or a particularly difficult task, the mindset to control your response to the situation makes it valuable.
These goals are not be-all-and-end-all - they are and should be just a part of how I live life.
Soooo I guess my point is - New Year resolutions steers my year and makes me a happier person. It's all good :o)
Over more than a decade, I've made it a habit to make New Year Resolutions every December/January. Sometimes I keep all of them, most times I tracked part of the way, but each and every year, I make progress. I know I make progress because there were goals in the first place.
We make personal goals based on what is important to us. When I first started, my goals were more material and experiential in nature than spiritual, mental, emotional or physical. I started setting annual resolutions not long after I was discharged for my benign tumor. I didn't want to waste time, I wanted to live life, I wanted the means to live life - I was easing out of the discomfort of young adulthood. I must do A, B, C by age 25 or 30, or make $X in annual income by when.
Looking back, I find me embarassing for what the goals suggest of my values. They were also largely unrealistic and often not within my control. Looking back, I also find kindness to cut myself some slack because they reflected what I thought I lacked and what I thought I needed. I was a young woman feeling insecure. I wish I had known more or be more exposed and knew differently. Looking back now, however, I also see how much I've grown and mature and how those initial goals have taken me to a place of greater material, emotional, and spiritual clarity.
So I feel more assured today that the goals I make every year, whatever is important to me at that point in time, will be cumulative in nature and contribute to making me a person I want to live with, know and love in the future.
In 2013, I've again made good my promise to myself to set New Year resolutions. I've had to balance and align my personal goals with work goal so there's leverage and harmony. This alignment also affects the number of goals on each end. Here's an abbreviated version of how I typically map my personal goals.
If you haven't set your New Year resolutions yet, why not try making some this year. Start with a handful. We don't know how long our life is but we can take positive action to make sure what time we have is used as consciously as we can. Even when doing things we don't enjoy or a particularly difficult task, the mindset to control your response to the situation makes it valuable.
These goals are not be-all-and-end-all - they are and should be just a part of how I live life.
Soooo I guess my point is - New Year resolutions steers my year and makes me a happier person. It's all good :o)
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