January is the time of year when we think about making new year’s resolutions. New goals are made because we want to improve our life in some way. We begin with good intentions but often do not have enough resolve.
Goal setting often fails because they are made without careful thought and planning.
If we do not take into consideration how they will impact family, work, relationships or finances, we can easily get discouraged and abandon them.
When goals are too general, we don’t follow through because the end result is too far in the future and we haven’t put in place reasonable steps to reach that end result.
REFLECTION
Before you begin to make new goals, take a moment and reflect on what you have accomplished in the past.
What did you do to make that happen? For example, your goal might have been very specific with well defined action steps.
Did you have a clear picture of what you wanted before you started? Could you visulize it?
What obstacles or insurrmountable odds did you face and how did you overcome them?
What kept you motived when you got discouraged?
Did you modify your large goals into tiny ones that could easily be completed?
Are there goals you have abandoned? Can you develop a new plan of action to complete them?
Did you have the support and help from others?
Reflection helps us to know ourselves better. What are our strengths and our weaknesses? How can we better direct ourselves in order to succeed? Reflection reminds us of what we consider important and can help motivate us to keep going.
When I refelct on what I have been able to accomplish in the past, I am reminded that when I remain focused and motivated, I can accomplish many things. But before I set specific goals, I start by looking at the big picture of what I want, who I want to become and how that will bring meaning and purpose to my life.
Anything is possible if we can dream and visualize it –
but we have to be willing to put in the effort.
“Yes I Can, Three Steps to Empower Your Life
Yes, I can, 3 steps to Empower your Life is a new life coaching program I will be introducing to my readers in the upcoming weeks. It is designed to help you heal old wounds, replace negative and devaluing self talk with positive affirmations and look at the bigger picture of what you want in life.
“Yes I can” is a belief you develop about your abilities and perseverance to complete whatever you set out to do. It says,
I will go on when I am disappointed, discouraged or face what
seems like unresolvable roadblocks. I can find a way. I can make it.
It is a mantra that will allow you to problem solve, review and refine the end goals you want to make to maximize your potential and live a life with meaning and purpose.
So make your first resolution to reflect on what you have accomplished this past year and in the years prior. Ask yourself: what do I you really want to achieve in my lifetime? Are these wants realistic and ones that will have meaning to me in the long term? Do they meet my values and principals?
Then take the information and make an overall plan on how you might accomplish this.
Marlene Anderson
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