Welcome to the New Year!!!

Well, happy 2010, everybody. I hope you had a great holiday season, and I hope you are ready to greet this new year, and decade, and what opportunities that lie ahead for all of us.

I welcomed the new year with a good night’s sleep, (after watching the ball drop, of course), followed by a relaxing day of watching bowl games, and just being with my hubby. But, I also sat down and did some reflecting on the year just passed….and the one that we are now just starting. And I have a few thoughts to share on that. So, here goes….

So much happened in my own life last year, 90% good, with about 8% so-so, and 2% bad, that it was hard to actually remember what happened and when. One of my daughters got married, the other one found a great guy, and will probably marry him before too long. We all made it through the year with good health, and jobs, and many other blessings. I am so thankful for all of that.

But, that is past, and we now have to focus out thoughts and attentions on the year that is before us. I have a question for you……what are you planning to do with it? No, I mean, seriously, WHAT are you going to DO with the new year? I am not talking about the useless resolutions we all make, buy rarely keep. I am talking about really doing something with your life, that benefits you, or your family, or maybe even someone you don’t know. I did a lot of thinking about that, and here are a few ideas that I came up with.

I have always been a writer. Have always loved to write. And I have written poems since the fourth grade. I keep a journal, (BIG surprise!), in fact, I have three that I write in. One of my dreams has always been to become a published author. Don’t know if I ever will, but, I have decided to work at that this year, and see what happens…..have no idea whether I will try it with poetry, or with a short story, ot what, but, the thing is, I AM going to TRY.

I think we all want to make changes at the beginning of a new year. We want to start fresh, and make a positive difference for our own lives. I know you think like that, because we all do. I have, and still do. I have just learned to set goals, instead of making resolutions. And, one thing I have learned by doing this is that when I set goals, and make them be REALISTIC, that I tend to accomplish a lot more. A friend of mine suggested that method to me, and I decided to give it a try. She also told me to determine my goals, and WRITE THEM DOWN. So, I tried it. And doggone it, if I didn’t make more
progress that way than by must making resolutions.

Now, I won’t bore you by sharing my goals with you this year, save the one that I already did. but I will tell you that by using goal setting (and not just for those big things), you will find that you can get a whole lot more done! Try it. Here is the simplest way to do it. Get yourself a wirebound composition book. And sit down and really THINK about what you want to accomplish in this new year. Don’t go overboard with it, but, jot down your ideas. Then go back and pick out your top 5 or 6, and zero in on them.

After you have done that, write them down on another sheet of paper in your comp book. And start thinking about ways that you can take steps toward reaching them. Do NOT write down 5 things that are not realistic, and don’t pick things that you can easily accomplish in an hour or two, (unless finally cleaning out that garage, or closet, is one of your goals.)
But, try to pick goals that you can accomplish in sections. For instance, one of my goals for 2008 was to get my house painted inside, and get new flooring done. It took some saving, and planning, and it was not something that we got done in a weekend. It took us about two months to get it all done. But, by breaking it down, we did get it done. We had a plan. And we set ourselves a goal of when we wanted it to be done. And it turned out even better than we thought!

Setting goals is not hard, and reaching them is a lot easier than you would think, if you work at them, and don’t try to do them all in a week. If you accomplish all your goals in that period of time, then you really didn’t want to accomplish much.
Sure, setting some that are easy is a must. Just don’t make them all that way. If you do that, you are selling yourself short. I believe that you can accomplish just about anything if you set your mind to it. And that means setting a goal.

Once you have set your goals, jot down ideas of ways you can make it happen. Think of ideas, and jot them down. That is how you begin accomplishing them, because you have set down a plan of action. And then, follow through. Don’t worry if you mess up, just keep on working. Sometimes, you have to walk away from them for a little bit, too, but, that is alright, as long as you don’t forget, or abandon them.

Well, I am sure that I have bored you long enough for this post. I really did not mean to, but, I just think that if you find something that can work, you should share it. If you decide to try this, please let me know how it works for you. I don’t dare assume that it will work for everyone, because some people just aren’t built that way. But, some form of it WILL work for most of us, if we will just do it! So, grab that notebook, and pen, and think about what you want to do this year….and then…….just DO it!!!!