Goals & Planning

Santa's sleigh has come and gone and so has the delusional feeling that I have been good all year, and that I deserve all the stuff.

After the novelty of Christmas wears off - usually Christmas morning if I'm being totally honest - it is time to reflect on the prior year and how badly I botched things up:  how much weight I gained; how many times I let people down; how cluttered my home is; how much time I wasted; and, in general, how little I accomplished.   

However pessimistic and depressing this sounds, it usually does prove to be a worthwhile exercise as long as things don't get out of control.  It is an opportunity to look back, assess the current position, and gauge where I am capable of going. Typically results are born from a harsher, more critical viewpoint, than from comfortably contented one.  

Seven days after Santa abandons us, we are blessed with a new year.  I can't call it a blank slate; after all, what's been done can't be undone.  To me, the new year is more of an object hurled in my path to get my attention.  It urges me to stop for a moment, to look around in all directions and to make a decision if I like the path that I am on.  

This year, since I've committed to keeping this blog as a journal of sorts, I've decided to take a more constructive approach, by memorializing what's gone right and wrong in the past, taking an honest look at where I am today, and finally setting goals and expectations in writing, in the hopes of adding in an extra layer of accountability.  

Over the past year, I have determined that I:

1. Have a terrible attention span and am very easily distracted. 

2. Really enjoy taking photographs.

3. Find solace and comfort in writing down my thoughts.

4. Still love to cook.

5. Can get very depressed. 

6. Have an amazing family and wonderful friends that I do not interact with enough. 

7. Have a desire to create. 

8. Am capable of making changes in my life.

9. Am often too lazy to affect change in my life. 

10. Cannot eat and drink whatever I want and still maintain my weight.

11. Do not feel good mentally, emotionally or physically if I don't exercise. 

12. Spend entirely too much time pursuing empty google searches and websites.

13. I spend entirely too much time on chairs and couches.  

13. I waste entirely too much time distracted, googling and sitting on the couch. 

Based on my review of the past year's discoveries, I've decided on the following focus categories for 2017.  They are not listed in any order of importance.  Goals will be added to each category. 

1. Health 

2. Friends and Family

3. Passion and Creativity

4. Order and Organization

In conjunction with the goals, I have also decided to do a better job of keeping my calendar updated. I've determined that there are 4 calendar entries that I need to see each day, in order to stay on track:

1. Daily Exercise Requirements

2. Breakfast and Lunch

3. Dinner

4. Chores

5. (BONUS!) Passion and Creativity Activity

Finally, a note on manageability.  Here are some things that I need to remind myself as I move forward with my goals:

1. I have a tendency to decide on everything I would like to change and try, and attempt to do everything all at once.  This is a short-cut to failure (and not the good kind of failure).  

2. I question everything, and need to make the purpose, goal and benefit very clear to myself in order to meet my expectations and the expectations of others. 

3. For big results, make small changes and be consistent.

4.  I am making these changes for me, and only me; I do not need approval or applause from anyone but myself.    

Tomorrow I tackle my first health goals and corresponding calendar entries.