Well 2007 is over and now we open the book on 2008
Well 2007 is over and now we open the book on 2008. Story unwritten, only the prologue from last year on the pages. What will you be filling the pages with on yours?
I have done a lot of thinking. I have been through so much in the last few years, that I really want to push my effort through, to make this year the year I run down the path to something better instead of crawling. In the last year I was on the road to constant worry over everything. Worrying robbed my spoons and made each new obstacle harder.
In effect, I was letting the stressers win. I realize I can't worry about things that haven't come yet. I can't let the agony over something else coming up, as life likes to hand a person, bother me till it happens and I have options. I also realized that the quickest way to see my progress is making a checklist for the year and looking at it often. Not resolutions, but things I want to accomplish in the coming year.
For instance, I can say I'll lose 20 pounds, but not say I will exercise x times a week or do x amount of sit-ups everyday. I set the goals, but not the means. I think this is where people get caught up in resolutions versus goals. The difference is between end results you can measure, compared to getting so specific you are bound to break out of the cycle during the ebb and flow of a normal year of life.
Goals are definite things. They are measurable to a large degree. Goals have time limits (in this case a year's time,) are reasonable (say 20 lbs. versus 100 lbs.,) specific enough to be measurable and can be broken down into steps to achieve, but yet are still flexibly focused on the end result. They are also positively worded and are goals you can feel great about checking off at some point.
Goals might not be constantly fought for, but one week where you didn't advance on one isn't an issue, because you have a year to achieve it and jump right back to the path you are trying to run down. You never have to feel guilty on a goal to lose weight, when you had a single slice of cake at some party, but a resolution to give up cake will kill you. It's about figuring what you want, instead of exactly how to get there.
So as you pour over last year and look to the next, take a moment on where you want to be on New Year's Eve next year and get there. It's just like getting into a car and driving to some exotic locale. Pick the place, but leave the route open to adventure and the day. The journey is just as worthy as the destination and it should always be left open to the fun of life's possabilities and stop stressing over things you can't control! If you have only one goal, let it be that!
Happy New Year!
Jennifer Altherr, Butyoudontlooksick.com, © 2008
