Are you working towards your goals?

We’re one month into the New Year. A lot of people’s new year’s resolutions are nothing but a memory. But not for us. We’re making GOALS that we can start (and restart) any time. So how are your goals coming along? 2 of my goals are going very well. 1 has crashed and burned. It involved another person and I found out it wasn’t a realistic goal. That happens. Maybe I will be able to revamp it some day. But for now, I’m going to focus on other things. And my 4th goal is making a small amount of progress. I’ve decided it’s time to develop new strategies to kick that goal into gear.

Let’s talk about a few strategies for goal success.
1. What would you tell a friend to do? Sometimes we don’t know what to tell ourselves to do towards working on our goals. But if you think about a friend asking you for your advice if they had the same goal, you just might have a bunch of ideas pop into your head. Also, we often treat other people better than we treat ourselves. If someone else was struggling with a goal, would you give them a hard time or would you offer encouragement and ideas for improvement? Be a good friend to yourself!

2. Lists, lists, lists. I am a total list person. Write down your goal, and the steps you plan to take towards that goal. Make a “to do” list that you can cross things off as you complete them. It will give you a great sense of accomplishment. Some goals may require a daily list.

3. Don’t give up, just readjust. This is true if one of your goals is going slowly, or not going at all, but it’s still something you would like to work on. Think about what is working and try to figure out what’s not working.

You might be thinking that this sounds like a lot of work. In 2 words…it is! If you don’t want anything in your life to change, then do nothing different and that’s what you’ll get. But if want things to change, you will have to do things differently, and that does take work. The rewards far outweigh the effort though! And remember small steps lead you to the same destination.

I’d love to hear how your goals are coming. Please feel free to comment and share.

Roads...

Highways
Country roads
Dirt roads
One way streets
Bicycle paths
Mountain trails

What kind of road represents your life?

Do you go through life so fast that you sometimes forget to enjoy it?
Are you passive and lose your focus or drive?
Are you type of person who really appreciates the simple, important things in life?
Do you have a hard time learning from your mistakes and keep doing the same things hoping for different results?
Do you shortchange yourself and not give yourself credit for all you can do?
Do you like a challenge?

Getting in touch with what makes you tick, so to speak, will be important in helping you achieve your goals. Are you on the road you want to be on? Do you need to add a little bit of mountain trail mentality to your country road personality?

Just wanted to give you some things to think about on the road to your goals.

The Infamous New Year's Resolution

The infamous New Year’s resolution... How many have you ever made? How many have you ever kept? I actually prefer to think about life’s goals rather than New Year’s resolutions. It may seem like a little thing, but somehow the idea of a New Year’s resolution has to start on January 1st and as soon as I “mess up”, I feel defeated and that’s the end of that resolution until next January. But goals do not have a specific start date. And when I get off track, I can just set my course straight again at any time.

While we are making goals of things we want to work on, it is important to take the time to recognize and appreciate those things we have accomplished and the things we do well. It's easy to find positive things about others, but it can sometimes be easier to find our faults than our strengths. It's important, however, to take the time to find and acknowledge what is positive about ourselves. If we made a list I bet there would be a lot more strengths than we might expect to find.

As this New Year begins, let us take the time to reflect on how far we have come and where we want to go. There are so many areas of life to focus on. Where will your goals take you? I'd love for you to comment and share what some of your goals are for the coming year.