This is my favorite time of year! More than Christmas, more than Autumn, more than Labor Day. It’s the anticipation and start of a new year, a clean slate, renewed hopes that this year will be the best year ever! And, list-making freak that I am, time to create new schedules and list out goals. YES!!!
I do not make resolutions, however. I really don’t like that word – resolution. It’s a harsh word. Conjures up “do it or die”, finality and absolution. It doesn’t allow for setbacks, mistakes or even changing your mind.
Basically, if you make a resolution and you aren’t able to keep up with it, then you really didn’t ‘resolve’ anything. It both discounts anything that you did before you made the resolution, like you were some horrible piece of shit, and if you break it, you are a failure.
I know I seem to be giving one word a ton of power, but they DO have power. Your subconscious picks up on these things. How many people do you know that have actually kept a resolution past March?
No matter how hard the previous year has been and no matter what you think of yourself after that last year, you’ve grown. You have learned things and experienced things and endured an entire year. That experience has taught you something, even if it’s something negative.
Goal, on the other hand, is a BEAUTIFUL word!! You are striving and working towards something. You have a purpose. That concept is full of hope and determination and isn’t concrete.
Goals can change and they can evolve with what you learn while trying to achieve them. Make a mistake, suffer a setback, or change the final destination? Goals are totally okay with this.
So, if you are already struggling in life’s journey, don’t drift through another year. Take some time for reflection and figure out what would make your life better and come up with a goal and a plan to get there.
Write it down, hang it on the wall, put it somewhere you will see it constantly.
There are many aspects to your life, so the goal can be related to your physical appearance, your ability to cope, your finances or your social life. Shit, go ahead and set a goal for each one. Better to be focused and busy, then pissed off or depressed.
Your goals shouldn’t be a major overhaul though. I’m really over that marketing bullshit that says “New Year, New You”. There are things about you that are perfect and unique. You don’t need to change everything.
This first year of my blog I have covered a wide variety of ways to learn to love yourself and how to set goals. Being an admitted self-help addict, I am constantly looking for new methods. Some are crap, but some are good. The goodies I have been doing my best to pass on to you.
Here are a few posts that may help:
Simple Ways to Sneak in Self Love
Not in Love With Your Job: Find Your Passion
23 Ways to Sneak More Exercise Into Your Day
“Will You Be My Friend?”: Adult Version
You know my goals for the new year are already written down in a nice list and with ink in my favorite color. (Yes, I know I have a problem.) Here are some of my goals:
Write a book
Launch an online shop
Eat anti-inflammation, gluten-free 80% of the time.
Increase my retirement contribution
I’ll be pretty busy, how about you? What are your goals for the new year? What are you hoping to accomplish and have you made a plan to achieve it?
Wishing you success in each and every goal you set!
Traci
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