Happy New Year my faithful followers. With the holidays, I’ve been a bit distracted and allowed too much time to pass since my last posted.
With the New Year, you hear a lot about people making “New Year’s resolutions.” I prefer to call them goals. I have done my best to be a goal-oriented person. I usually set goals in the areas of: physical, mental, spiritual, financial, reading, art, and writing. The battle I’ve had the past three years with foot ulcers and becoming wheelchair bound, I’ve found it difficult to set goals.
This year, many of my stresses have been resolved. Many have not. I’m still wheelchair bound, and I still have a foot ulcer right now, but my outlook and mental state has improved. I finally feel at peace with my present situation in life. As a result, I felt able to set some goals.
Not wanting to overload myself with a high number of goals, I just set about six that I want to work on this month. I have found it helpful to create a checklist. I list my goals in a row at the top of a page, and write the date in the far left and right margins; this creates boxes where I can check off each goal as I accomplish it throughout the day.
Putting the goal checklist someplace where it can be seen all the time helps remind me to accomplish them. Though it’s only been seventeen days since the New Year began, I’m doing pretty well at staying on target.
Setting and accomplishing goals can really boost your morale and self-worth; at least I find this to be true. It feels good to know you are growing as a person and developing your talents. It can be hard in the beginning to stay on track in your goals. I’ve heard it said that it takes twenty-one days to make or break a habit. So if you, or I, can stick with something for three weeks, it will then become part of your daily routine.
Yesterday, somebody said something that stood out, “If you don’t step out of your comfort zone, you will never grow as a person.” If goals aren’t/haven’t been your thing, step out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself. Start small and remain committed. Large wonderful changes in life can come about through small and simple means. Also, remember to reward yourself for accomplishing your goals. That’s very important.
I hope your New Year is great.
