I don't make New Year's resolutions and haven't in a very long time. My experience has been--at least when it comes to me--that whenever I make them, they quickly fall by the wayside. That's not to say that I don't have goals for the year. I do. But goals are different.
Resolutions (and I make the caveat that I speak only for myself) are rather vague and difficult to quantify. This year I'm going to exercise more. Okay, great, but how do you do anything with "more?" Goals, on the other hand, should be measurable. My goal is to walk 3 miles five days a week. This is so much more doable. Of course, the actual doing requires forcing new habits, but there's a measurable target here.
This year I bought three different goal-setting workbooks in addition to the goals section in the front of my Start Planner. I know, overkill, but that's just me. :-) I have an Author Life planner, Powersheets, and Your Best Year 2017. One is for writing, one for personal, and the third more business oriented.
Of course, making time to work on these three different systems is a problem. Life is busy and time to think hard to come by sometimes. I'm determined, though, to use them and get myself on track for 2017. Some of the questions aren't easy, but maybe that's what I need.
And I did manage to make one of my 2017 goals early. Like I did it in December 2016 early. I wanted to do a 5K race this year and there was one particular race I was interested in. Lots of pink stuff for entrants and it looks like it's for people who want to have fun. I'd hate to end up in a group of serious runners. :-) Anyway, I thought this 5K would be in Atlanta in fall of 2017, so I set my goal (with measurable milestones) and then found out they weren't coming until spring 2018.
Very disappointing. Then they offered a virtual race! I still received some pink stuff for entering, although not everything I'd get for a live race, and I needed to complete the 5K by Dec 31, 2016. I finished on Dec 18th. Yea! And I did my 5K in 37 minutes which is average for a beginner which is a huge achievement for me. Of course, I did it on a treadmill, so if I'd been outside, I probably wouldn't have gone that fast, but hey, now I have my first goal for 2018!
