January's Notable Words

Quotes and Sayings I found inspiring and thought-provoking throughout January

Until Next Time ~ Be Well

New Goals for the New Year

Welcome to 2014!

Is your mind realing over all the prospects 2014 may bring, If you’re like me, you can quickly name about 25 things you wish to do, not do, learn to do, manage better, balance better, modify, eliminate, or incorporate into your life. We usually start January 1 with high hopes, high motivations, highly developed plans, and within a few days have had high failures. I’m usually pretty good at picking myself up after these tumbles, but why repeat the same pattern when I know it just simply doesn’t work. Focusing on too many goals is not effective. It’s nearly impossible to remember all the goals I'm so actively working on let alone actually be “working” to achieve them.

For me, planning is half the fun, I’m definitely a planner, I enjoy it far more than most yet this level of planning only sets me up for quick failure. I can’t remember all the plans I made to reach my goals. Learning from my experience I employ you to slow things down a bit this year, cut yourself some slack. Rome wasn’t built in a day and diving into the chaos of your life head first in one day isn’t going to accomplish your goals. One step at a time, one goal at a time.

Simply speaking, we can learn new habits in about 30 days (yes many more things go into this length, it can be shorter and absolutely longer). Luckily for us, a month is the perfect equivalent and easy to track. So for 2014, we’re only going to work on 10 goals. No it may not be all 30 you had in mind but trust me these 10 will be far more than most of us reach doing it the way we normally do.

We have 10 goals in the next 12 months. Allow January to be your planning month. “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail”.  Make a list of all those things you wish to do, not do, learn to do, manage better, balance better, modify, eliminate, or incorporate into your life.

Group or combine goals that seem pretty similar. For example eating healthier and eliminating late night snacking can be grouped together; this may get your list of 30 down to a more manageable number.

Prioritize those goals: one goal a month.  Our overall theme for 2014 is to work on a new goal each month while still maintaining the goal of the previous month. We also have an extra month built in as a buffer, there will be a month that you struggle meeting your goals, for whatever reason, maybe poor planning, maybe you lacked motivation, whatever the reason is, start over with the goal the next month. No self criticism, no excuses, just move on.

For help with your planning month, see my previous post on "Setting Smart Goals"

"The Journey of 1000 Miles Begins With The One Step" Lao Tzu

"To Get Through The Hardest Journey We Need Take Only One Step At A Time, But We Must Keep On Stepping"  Chinese Proverb

Until Next Time ~ Be Well