I set new year's resolutions every year. Sometimes I keep them, sometimes I don't. Sometimes, around April or May of a given year, I find myself racking my brains to even remember what those resolutions were.
It's a process.
But I plan to keep making resolutions, and here's why:
I think setting goals and not meeting them is better than no goal-setting. I also believe that writing down one's goals (note to self: writing them on post-it notes you then proceed to lose is not a good methodology) helps you achieve those goals, even if you never look at that piece of paper or blog post again. I am a case in point, see my note to self above. I couldn't tell you why that works, but it does.
Whether you set those goals on January 1st or August 14 doesn't matter. It's the setting of them, writing them down, and then taking specific actions to move in the direction of achieving them that matters.
So what are my goals for 2011? I have a few, in a few different categories.
Blog-Related
1. Blog more. I certainly did better than in 2009, but I'd like to manage 5-7 blog posts a week. I think it's achievable, but it will take a commitment to do so.
2. In conjunction with that, a redesign of my site and a concerted effort to move more traffic to it.
Personal
1. Spend more time in the garden. This is also a way to add focused family time to our lives, as well as increasing our food yields and improving our landscaping.
2. Exercise more. Between work, which is rarely just 40 hours, commuting 2+ hours a day most weekdays, family life, friends, and external commitments, this is just one thing I have not managed to fit in. But I need to figure this one out, because it's having a detrimental effect on my life.
3. Less TV. Because we're so tired so much of the time, TV is the default entertainment most nights. Because of that, we've pushed off other things that may be just as enjoyable. I'll shoot for 1 night a week free of TV.
4. Spend more time with friends. Sadly, because of the reasons in #2, friends often get bumped to the bottom of the list. I need to work on that.
Professional
1. Start work on my PMP. It's something I've pushed off
2. Use my network to continue to try and drum up both clients for my company and work for my husband
Sustainability
1. Plant more fruit trees and perennials, such as berries.
2. Enlarge the garden
3. Insulate and re-side our house, which will help with how much heating oil we burn.
4. Grow and/or find more sources of local food, and spend more time preserving it.
Well, it's a long list, but even if I only get it half done, that's pretty good. It will be interesting to see how the list turns out.
Happy New Year!!
How about you? Do you make resolutions? Why or why not?
1 comment:
I have been trying to move away from making New Year's resolutions since I find that I never follow through on them consistently enough throughout the year. Instead, I want to make constant progress no matter what the goal :-) If I call them long term goals, I find that it's easier for me to check them off my list. Heh. Happy New Year!
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