Setting Myself Up For Success

Every year January 1st rolls around, and every year I roll my eyes at idea of making a "New Years Resolution". I do NOT make NY resolutions. Why? Because they are most often broken, and result in feelings of guilt or inadequacies or both. I think the statistics are something like 80% of people make a resolution and only 8% of those people keep them. A New Years Resolution is a lot of pressure, people! It's making your goals HUGE and usually unattainable. So why not set yourself up for success? Smaller, attainable goals that get you going in the direction of what you would like to achieve.

Think of these small goals like stepping stones over a river. You want to get to the other side, but if you proclaim that you are going to jump, in one leap, to the other side, you likely will end up wet. So instead, you plan on crossing that river one stone at a time. Every day you move a little closer to the other side (to what you ultimately would like to achieve). It may be slower, but you are less likely to stumble. And even if you do, you only need to step back onto the last stepping stone, instead of starting all the way back on the side of the river.


So how can I set myself up for success? I will set 3 small goals every month, and work my way towards those goals. The goals will be to better myself in some way, under the broader categories of HEALTH, FAMILY, MIND.  I want to achieve these goals by the end of the month. They do not need to be big, they do not always have to require a crazy amount of effort. They do have to challenge me in some way or another

 

January Goals

HEALTH: "Scrap The Crap" - By the end of this month I would like all of the junk food out of the house. I want all of the temptation food and snacks and drinks gone. If it's not here, I can't be tempted by it.
FAMILY: "1 on 1 Time for T" - By the end of this month I would like to take Trent out on a mommy/son date without the baby, to do something fun (not grocery shopping or running errands).
MIND: "Memory Jar" - I will start a memory jar for 2013. I want to cherish this time with my sons and my husband, but those happy little moments can sometimes get lost along the way. So we will write down whenever we have a happy little something we want to remember, put it in the jar, and we'll review then on NYE next year. (and by then I should think of a cute way to save those little memories to look at later). See it here!

And what, you may ask, if on the other side of my river? A healthy, happy family. What's on the other side of your river?