Thoughts About the New Year... and the Old

A new year is upon us. A fresh beginning. A new chance for change, for making yourself better, for making your home and life better. Maybe you'd like to make new friends this year? Maybe you'd like to have a baby? To get a better job? To lose a few pounds?

As I begin this new year, I can't help but think about the old. How did I grow in my walk with God this past year? How did I treat my children? My husband? Others? Myself?

I stopped making New Year's Resolutions a long time ago. I was never able to stick to them. I'd make them on December 31st while waiting for the new year to arrive, I'd work on them the first few weeks of the year... but by the middle of February, I'd forget about them again. Things come up, I'd get sidetracked, I'd never go back to it. So this year, I decided to do things a little differently.

I got myself a notebook. A pretty one I wouldn't mind having near me all year. On the first page of this pretty notebook, I wrote my goals for this year. (Not resolutions, goals.) These are general. For example, "Lose weight and keep it off." See? Not too specific.

The next pages are dedicated to plans to help me accomplish these goals. Using the above example, I'd write things like "Replace 1 cup of pop with water," or "Work up to 20 minutes a day on the treadmill," or "Make healthier eating choices."

The rest of the notebook is for progress notes. Each goal has a different section for notes. (I thought about getting a divided notebook, but I thought Pos-It Flags would work out better for me.) So, following our example above, the progress notes might read something like "Walked briskly for 5 minutes on the treadmill today" or "I'm up to 6 glasses of water a day!" or "It's been over a month since I've had chocolate."

I thought this way would be better to help me accomplish my goals. I've written them down so I don't forget what I wanted to accomplish this year. I'll keep the notebook at my desk so I don't forget about it. The larger goal is general enough that I can make changes or tweaks if I need to. The smaller plans are like step-by-step guides. It's a lot easier to accomplish a smaller goal than a larger one. And once I have all my smaller plans accomplished, I've accomplished my bigger goal. Yay me. :)

By the way, the example used above is not from my notebook. Those goals are very personal to me and I don't choose to share them with anyone at this time. I hope you understand. :)

So... all that said...

I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year! I hope and pray for nothing but the best for all of you!
And don't forget to go through your checkbook and write 2013 on all your checks. ;)