Resolutions

I keep all my New Years’ resolutions.  How many people do you know who can say that?!?  I know - I’m totally amazing!  Just wait until you hear my secret.

 

 

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions.  I know - crazy! Right?!? Who doesn’t make New Years’ Resolutions?!? I’ve always been a little on the edge that way.

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions because I have a better system for setting and accomplishing goals. Here are three things I do, along with a story to show you how it works.

1. Start now.  Why should the calendar dictate my accomplishments in life?  If I can start on January 1, why can’t I start on December 15? Or January 23? Or July 7? If you’re waiting for the right time to start, it will never come and you’ll never start.  Start now.
2. Take baby steps. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. How do you accomplish a goal? One step at a time. Make a plan. Start with the easy steps. Celebrate when you achieve and use that energy to springboard you to the next step. Keep plugging along until you have created a habit. It does get easier, I promise!
3. Slow and steady wins the prize. I’m one who naturally wants to go like crazy until I crash and burn out. And then I’m not ready to go again for several days. I accomplish more when I do a little at at time and not try to get it done all at once.

Here’s how it looks in real life. Eighteen months ago, my three-year-old started asking for her baby book. All the other kids have their baby books, but I was getting further and further behind in my memory keeping, and her book wasn’t done.

I needed to find a way to catch up. But I knew I couldn’t have a monster marathon and catch up three years at once. The thought of that almost put me right over the edge! So instead of trying to do it all at once, I set a goal to work on it just ten minutes a day. Ten minutes a day. I knew could handle that.

 

I started right then and I’ve worked at least ten minutes most days since then. Sometimes the ten minutes comes early in the morning, before anyone else is up. Usually it comes late at night, when I’m tired and just want to go to sleep. But it’s only ten minutes, right? I can do that little bit every day.

 

And I’m catching up! It feels like I’m moving at a snail’s pace, but in reality, I’m getting ready to finish my third yearbook since I started this 18 months ago! Way to go me! The ultimate payoff is watching my little girl read her own baby book and feel my love for her. That’s pretty sweet.

 

 

What have you been putting off because it seems too daunting? What are you waiting for just the right time to accomplish? What can you do every day to get you where you want to be?

 The Finished Product!