As we approach the new year it seemed like a good opportunity to look back at my 2018. This has been a fairly significant year for me, there have been so many milestones and changes. My friend who is in to numerology would tell me that it is because I am in a whatever number year (I can never remember the formula to figure out what # year you are in). Whatever number year this was, a lot has happened.
I was flipping through a notebook that I’ve been using this year for various notes and lists and I found a list that I had made for myself in January. I’m not a big “new year’s resolutions” girl, but I remember wanting to give myself some things to focus on for the year. I called it “2018 Suggestions”.
I had forgotten that I had written these things down (the way that most of us forget about our new year’s resolutions) and it made me smile to read it with fresh eyes. Even if my handwriting makes me cringe.
I recently participated in a webinar about goal setting. The presenter said that there are three levels of increasing effectiveness. The first is to think it. The second is to write it down and share it.
A few of the items that I had written down penetrated my subconscious and have gathered some steam over the year, specifically:
- Wear less black
- Walk more
- Less shopping
- Write some things down (tada!)
Some rattled around in my brain but didn’t really gain much traction:
- Be pulled together (my cheat for this is wearing lipstick)
- Send birthday cards (it’s hit-and-miss)
- I need a better reminder to make more cream puffs!
“Spend some time on abs” didn’t get off the ground although Mondays with Adam has been helping that whole issue. This will be a topic for another day.
That I was able to get four of my nine suggestions to stick makes me happy. The good thing about good habits is that they become easier to maintain which frees up some mental energy to add new ones. I think that I’ll try giving myself some suggestions again for 2019. I’m going to replay a few, think about what else I might want to add and see what I can get to stick (hopefully cream puffs and birthday cards at least).
The third effectiveness boost for accomplishing goals is to report your status regularly. It doesn’t matter who you are reporting to. Just the fact that there is someone who you are going to tell how (or what) you are doing to make progress on your goals makes you more likely to take some action.
So, I was thinking that I will share my 2019 suggestions here with you in January. And if you have something that you want to suggest for yourself, you can put it in the comments. Then every so often, we can have a check-in and share what/how we are doing. What do you think? Do you want to play?