"New Year's Day... now is the accepted time to make
your regular annual good resolutions.
your regular annual good resolutions.
Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual."
- Mark Twain
It's a new year! With it comes the promise of new opportunities and changes.
I've never been one to make resolutions each year. Making a resolution to do things differently and then not doing them is great for one's self esteem. WELL, I'm going to do things differently this year.
What happened in 2011? I did make a few goals but not at the beginning of the year. I'm surprised to see that into the new year, I've actually gotten close to those goals. The first was that I wanted to loose weight. To date, I've now lost a little over 50 lbs! I also decided I needed to learn how to swim. A few lessons and some time in my sister's pool, I can now swim 10 feet without splashing around and sinking!
I'm still not going to make any resolutions, but I am going to make some goals.
What is a goal? Well, the official definition for a goal is: "An observable and measurable end result having one or more objectives to be achieved within a more or less fixed time frame." Sounds perfectly reasonable, right?
Remember the old adage, If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time? That's why the idea of having and setting goals makes much more sense that making resolutions. I'm converting ideas and wishes into specific, measurable targets.
What are these goals? I've made a list of 40 for 2012. Why 40? Last year I turned forty years old (that will be a whole different post) and thought it just made sense to make 40 goals!
So here they are: (Some might be repetitive...try coming up with 40 for yourself!)
I've never been one to make resolutions each year. Making a resolution to do things differently and then not doing them is great for one's self esteem. WELL, I'm going to do things differently this year.
What happened in 2011? I did make a few goals but not at the beginning of the year. I'm surprised to see that into the new year, I've actually gotten close to those goals. The first was that I wanted to loose weight. To date, I've now lost a little over 50 lbs! I also decided I needed to learn how to swim. A few lessons and some time in my sister's pool, I can now swim 10 feet without splashing around and sinking!
I'm still not going to make any resolutions, but I am going to make some goals.
What is a goal? Well, the official definition for a goal is: "An observable and measurable end result having one or more objectives to be achieved within a more or less fixed time frame." Sounds perfectly reasonable, right?
Remember the old adage, If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time? That's why the idea of having and setting goals makes much more sense that making resolutions. I'm converting ideas and wishes into specific, measurable targets.
What are these goals? I've made a list of 40 for 2012. Why 40? Last year I turned forty years old (that will be a whole different post) and thought it just made sense to make 40 goals!
So here they are: (Some might be repetitive...try coming up with 40 for yourself!)
- Pursue Happiness! (Currently I'm reading The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama)
- Try harder
- Eat better. More organic, natural, healthy, purposeful.
- Drink more water, less soda
- Exercise again
- Start taking vitamins and supplements again
- Get outdoors more: camping, hiking, sunrises, sunsets, moonrise.
- Run, walk, stroll, take more breaks
- Organize office and work less
- Photograph more, learn more about it, study light and exposure
- Write more and more often
- Handle money better and save more, find more free stuff
- Read more!
- Volunteer and help others
- Organize self, home, life.
- Skydive
- Learn a new skill…
- Continue to practice Swimming
- Find the ONE and fall in love
- Learn to Meditate
- Travel more
- Forget...
- Be more open/honest
- Solve world hunger…tell no one!
- Stop the destructive thoughts that always lead down into depression
- Don’t start smoking
- Make bolder decisions
- Stop procrastinating
- Renew my wardrobe
- Finish a novel/novella
- Buy a Harley Davidson
- Update the blog regularly
- Connect better with friends
- Be carefree
- Hang loose, live free! Shaka!
- Be more tolerant
- Learn French
- Win lottery, BIG
- Garden more, grow more vegetables and fruits
- Have FUN!
Good list. Some very thought provoking. I wish you well on the pursuit.
ReplyDeleteYou see many signs that say "No smoking." Heed them.
Nobody looks back on life and says "I wish I had worked more."
Interesting list! A bit long though... Imagine you have 40 things to do at work and you try to accomplish them all at once. Nothing will get done properly. I'm more into setting one goal, getting started and ahead and maybe done, and then tackling the next one.
ReplyDeleteIf you accomplish #3 you won't need #6. Down to 39 :)
#16 -- wow, I mean why??? Might make the list obsolete though.
#21 -- all for it. Come to Germany :)
#22 -- the hardest
I wish you good luck with all of them. Don't be too strict with yourself and always keep #40 in mind :)
Martina