Its January… again.
I know, I know already what ya’ll are thinking. Oh boy, time flies and what are the “plans” for this next year. January, like no other month, always pressures me to make promises to myself and others that by September I realize should have never been made in the first place due to realistic schedules and just plain LIFE…. ARGHHHH!
This year my biggest goal was to commit to keeping the goals set in such a way so as not to find myself as in years past with things left unfinished or undone as the year closed. Last year, I wanted to learn to speak a third language, play games every Friday with my children and have “down” time to just chill. I was very good at the usual things….running the business, house and all the other stuff. However, based on the original goal list I made with earnest and with the best of intentions, I had failed miserably in the keeping of those original goals.
This January, I took time to make a list of my top ten personal goals and the list looked something like this:
- Spend more time with my family
- Take more time for myself
- Learn how to speak Italian
- Schedule out vacations before the business schedules out itself with none for the year
- Exercise three times a week
- Read to my children every night before bed
- Complete the sculptures and paintings I’ve had set up to do for three years!
- Do lunch at least once a week with my husband, where no business can be discussed
- Have a set date night where not even my best client can change
- Learn how to relax
Now that those ten tasks for 2008 were written down I thought on them awhile. Instead of filing them somewhere to be found mid-year, well I took out my calendar and began making appointments for those things. An amazing thing happened, having to actually place into a calendar the goals made it more difficult to complete. This is exactly how these things never got done in the first place! So, I figured that to be able to do the list, well the old saying “make the plan and work the plan” was the most probable way of ending 2008 accomplished in these goals. After working the plan my list began to look very different…
1. Monday, Thursday and Sunday from 6-8 “Share Time” with my children
2. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8-9 Yoga and Meditation
3. Tuesday, and Thursday during lunch study Italian
4. I did not know how to schedule vacation…. many of you will find this hysterically funny!!! ( Hey… go easy on me I did go last year!!!!)
5. Yoga and Meditation for three days a week will have to suffice for #2, #5 and #10!!!!! Also kind of funny…..
6. Easy to do and got scheduled… but I have a feeling it will be one book with my lap full of children, instead of a book for each while tucked sleepily in their own beds! Hey, You have to start somewhere!
???????
We’ll see.
We’ll try…..
Read #5.
January always has a bad rap because it comes first in a new year and ends up carrying the brunt of a hopeful long list of plans with a 12 month supply of days to fill those goals. Well, I feel better about January and the goals are realistic, each have times and days…. It looks good on pa- per! All activities have a “repeat” in my iPhone and mac… It’s there at least starring back at me every day of all 12 months! Now will come the biggest test….me! We’ll see if in September I’m irritated with myself for having ignored these goals, at least 2008 starts with a splendid plan of well thought out intentions and an unusual sense of personal organization like no other year before!
Happy New Year!
