Well it's the beginning of February.
We've all been at our New Years Resolutions for a month now!
How are you doing with your goals? Have you been keeping up?
Have you quit going to the gym yet? Haha.
Did you even make New Years Resolutions?
We all know January is a time for making New Years Resolutions.
But we also all know that by the time March, April, May roll around... that ship has sailed, am I right?
And by the time December comes around, that ship is loooooong gone. I would be willing to bet most people don't even remember what their New Years Resolutions were.
I don't know about you, but at the beginning of the year it is always a little overwhelming for me to pick goals that I want to work on for an entire year. I know there are lots of things I need to work on, but I can't work on all of them at the same time. That's just asking to get burned out before February even rolls around. And it's hard for me to think of goals that I am WILLING to work on for a whole year!! I don't want to be one of the "quitters" so I want to pick realistic goals, but if you are going to work on some for the entire year - you gotta be pretty committed! And you can't pick too many or you'll get burned out.
Why am I talking about New Years Resolutions in February? (That was so last month right!? haha)
Well because if I had written this post in January when everyone was thinking about goals, it would have drowned in the sea of the hopeful goal-making season. But now, we have all been at our goals for a month. The excitement has died down a little (not that making resolutions is all that exciting...) But now that it's February, we can really take the opportunity to evaluate how our New Years Goals are working out so far, if they were realistic, and if we are really doing them, if they were too much, too little, etc.
So I wanted to share my little twist on goals that I am doing this year.
I got this idea from my aunt Tami, who I always say I am a "Wanna-be-Tami." I want to be like her when I grow up! In 2012, she picked one goal to work on each month. I really loved that idea. Instead of trying to work on lots of goals for 12 months straight, she just worked on one each month. I feel like that is much more effective. She told me this when we were at Lake Powell, and I've been thinking about it ever since :)
I put my own little twist to her idea, and this is what it is:
I'm calling them the "Rest-of-the-year Resolutions" so we remember to work on our goals all year long and continue to get better each month! I decided to pick 3 goals to work on each month.
One physical, one spiritual, and one personal.
I work on those 3 for that month, and then pick 3 more to work on the next month.
As for physical goals, I pick one thing I want to work on physically that month (obviously)- for example my goal this month (February) is to work on my legs! I'm going to get a leg-up (get it? I'm so dumb haha) on swim suit season! I gotta get my legs tougher and that's just the bottom line. I need to get my whole body tougher but thats overwhelming right? We take baby steps in this household. Let's not make this harder than it needs to be!) In January my goal was to go to the gym three times a week.
Did I fail miserably?
Yes.
And that is why there are 11 more months to work on that.
As for spiritual goals, Trent and I decided that we wanted to focus our scripture study on one topic a month. This year is spiritual boot camp for us! So in January, we decided to study the "first principle of the gospel" - faith! Baby steps I tell you. And I'm happy to say we didn't fail miserably in that. We either read scriptures, quotes, conference talks (part of them at least, they are long!), or listened to conference talks or mormon messages about faith every night of the month (well - almost every night.) It was good! I even had a good experience with faith that helped me learn a lot about faith - I would write it but it would be long and you would all probably think I'm dumb because it is a simple and kind of dumb story, haha, but it taught me a lot :) You think you've learned about it your whole life, I have, but there is always more to learn. Personal experience is always good. Anyways.
Then there are the personal goals.
These are things like writing in your journal every day (which I did, but that wasn't my goal, but should have been cause I did it!), being on time to work (which was my goal but shouldn't have been because I failed miserably - ask my coworkers. But, like I say, that's why there are 11 more months in the year :) I kinda feel bad and embarrassed writing about how bad I did with some of my goals, but I guess that helps you guys see that I'm not some perfect person at what I'm preaching here. We are all working on this together!) Anyways, personal goals are things like figuring out your finances better, budgeting better, organizing a closet or room, drinking enough water every day, not biting your nails all month, etc. I like these ones. I feel like there are tons we could all work on.
This all begs the question, do you still work on the previous months goals the next month, so do you work on February's goals in March? I asked my aunt Tami this same question and I loved her answer:
NOPE! We sure don't.
And these are my thoughts on that:
Let's say you made a goal to floss your teeth every day (I like this one haha). If you really made it a habit that month (which they say it takes 21 days to create a habit) then you would already be doing it the next month and you wouldn't have to focus on doing it so much the next month. But if you made it a goal to write in your journal every day that month, and wanted to work on a different goal the next month, you can do that! (Side note: Being in the dental field, I do think you should floss every day of every month. Just sayin.) Another example is like if you wanted to organize your closet, you wouldn't work on that every month. You just make it a goal to get it done that month and be done! Or if you work on your legs one month, focus on your arms the next, etc!
Anyways, that is my twist on making goals.
One physical, one spiritual, and one personal.
I invite you all to join me and pick 3 goals you want to work on for February. I also recommend writing them down! Then you see them every day and remember to do them! Also, if you are reading this and it isn't February or it isn't the beginning of the month - that's okay!! Make some goals for the rest of the month :)
These are my 3 goals this month: working on my legs, Trent and I are going to study repentance every day, and my personal goal is I am going to watch the Bachelor faithfully every week. Haha kidding. Although I am going to do that (guilty pleasure), I also am going to have the dishes done before I go to bed every night (this is gonna be a stretch for me).
Keep in mind that I don't suck at everything. I only make goals for the things I need to get better at so I have told you a few things I am NOT good at. Just needed to make that clear, for my ego's sake. Haha.
If any of you decide to do this, I would love to hear about it! Tell me what you're goals are and then you will feel more accountable! :)
How are you doing with your goals? Have you been keeping up?
Have you quit going to the gym yet? Haha.
Did you even make New Years Resolutions?
We all know January is a time for making New Years Resolutions.
But we also all know that by the time March, April, May roll around... that ship has sailed, am I right?
And by the time December comes around, that ship is loooooong gone. I would be willing to bet most people don't even remember what their New Years Resolutions were.
I don't know about you, but at the beginning of the year it is always a little overwhelming for me to pick goals that I want to work on for an entire year. I know there are lots of things I need to work on, but I can't work on all of them at the same time. That's just asking to get burned out before February even rolls around. And it's hard for me to think of goals that I am WILLING to work on for a whole year!! I don't want to be one of the "quitters" so I want to pick realistic goals, but if you are going to work on some for the entire year - you gotta be pretty committed! And you can't pick too many or you'll get burned out.
Why am I talking about New Years Resolutions in February? (That was so last month right!? haha)
Well because if I had written this post in January when everyone was thinking about goals, it would have drowned in the sea of the hopeful goal-making season. But now, we have all been at our goals for a month. The excitement has died down a little (not that making resolutions is all that exciting...) But now that it's February, we can really take the opportunity to evaluate how our New Years Goals are working out so far, if they were realistic, and if we are really doing them, if they were too much, too little, etc.
So I wanted to share my little twist on goals that I am doing this year.
I got this idea from my aunt Tami, who I always say I am a "Wanna-be-Tami." I want to be like her when I grow up! In 2012, she picked one goal to work on each month. I really loved that idea. Instead of trying to work on lots of goals for 12 months straight, she just worked on one each month. I feel like that is much more effective. She told me this when we were at Lake Powell, and I've been thinking about it ever since :)
I put my own little twist to her idea, and this is what it is:
One physical, one spiritual, and one personal.
I work on those 3 for that month, and then pick 3 more to work on the next month.
As for physical goals, I pick one thing I want to work on physically that month (obviously)- for example my goal this month (February) is to work on my legs! I'm going to get a leg-up (get it? I'm so dumb haha) on swim suit season! I gotta get my legs tougher and that's just the bottom line. I need to get my whole body tougher but thats overwhelming right? We take baby steps in this household. Let's not make this harder than it needs to be!) In January my goal was to go to the gym three times a week.
Did I fail miserably?
Yes.
And that is why there are 11 more months to work on that.
As for spiritual goals, Trent and I decided that we wanted to focus our scripture study on one topic a month. This year is spiritual boot camp for us! So in January, we decided to study the "first principle of the gospel" - faith! Baby steps I tell you. And I'm happy to say we didn't fail miserably in that. We either read scriptures, quotes, conference talks (part of them at least, they are long!), or listened to conference talks or mormon messages about faith every night of the month (well - almost every night.) It was good! I even had a good experience with faith that helped me learn a lot about faith - I would write it but it would be long and you would all probably think I'm dumb because it is a simple and kind of dumb story, haha, but it taught me a lot :) You think you've learned about it your whole life, I have, but there is always more to learn. Personal experience is always good. Anyways.
Then there are the personal goals.
These are things like writing in your journal every day (which I did, but that wasn't my goal, but should have been cause I did it!), being on time to work (which was my goal but shouldn't have been because I failed miserably - ask my coworkers. But, like I say, that's why there are 11 more months in the year :) I kinda feel bad and embarrassed writing about how bad I did with some of my goals, but I guess that helps you guys see that I'm not some perfect person at what I'm preaching here. We are all working on this together!) Anyways, personal goals are things like figuring out your finances better, budgeting better, organizing a closet or room, drinking enough water every day, not biting your nails all month, etc. I like these ones. I feel like there are tons we could all work on.
This all begs the question, do you still work on the previous months goals the next month, so do you work on February's goals in March? I asked my aunt Tami this same question and I loved her answer:
NOPE! We sure don't.
And these are my thoughts on that:
Let's say you made a goal to floss your teeth every day (I like this one haha). If you really made it a habit that month (which they say it takes 21 days to create a habit) then you would already be doing it the next month and you wouldn't have to focus on doing it so much the next month. But if you made it a goal to write in your journal every day that month, and wanted to work on a different goal the next month, you can do that! (Side note: Being in the dental field, I do think you should floss every day of every month. Just sayin.) Another example is like if you wanted to organize your closet, you wouldn't work on that every month. You just make it a goal to get it done that month and be done! Or if you work on your legs one month, focus on your arms the next, etc!
Anyways, that is my twist on making goals.
One physical, one spiritual, and one personal.
I invite you all to join me and pick 3 goals you want to work on for February. I also recommend writing them down! Then you see them every day and remember to do them! Also, if you are reading this and it isn't February or it isn't the beginning of the month - that's okay!! Make some goals for the rest of the month :)
These are my 3 goals this month: working on my legs, Trent and I are going to study repentance every day, and my personal goal is I am going to watch the Bachelor faithfully every week. Haha kidding. Although I am going to do that (guilty pleasure), I also am going to have the dishes done before I go to bed every night (this is gonna be a stretch for me).
Keep in mind that I don't suck at everything. I only make goals for the things I need to get better at so I have told you a few things I am NOT good at. Just needed to make that clear, for my ego's sake. Haha.
If any of you decide to do this, I would love to hear about it! Tell me what you're goals are and then you will feel more accountable! :)
ha ha, "i don't suck at everything." but that's true, we only make goals on things we need to work on.
ReplyDeletei like this idea, really cool!
and don't worry about not being on time to work. you can set that goal again one month down the road, and again another month if you have too. :)