Carly's Ramblings Blog - Style

Resolutions? Goals For 2019 Are Far Better

30 Day Blogging Challenge

What is your opinion of New Year’s Resolutions? Do you make them? Do you keep them?

I am not a big fan of New Year's Resolutions. I tend to make goals for the year, that way I can reassess and pick myself up and start again if I fall. My goals are similar to resolutions in that they are set at the new year and are hopeful, but unlike resolutions, I don't beat myself up if I 'fail' at them. I expect their will be days when I topple and don't measure up, but I pick myself up and try again. Each day is a new day. By making goals instead of resolutions I can track my progress in a way. I don't just let an unmet resolution go, I reassess and try again. Goals set them in my mind. Resolutions feel flat to me - like they are unattainable wisps in the air. They are something said each year without real power behind them.

For instance, staring a new workout regime is not good at this time of year. Everybody is doing it and gyms become clogged with new comers that will not be there in a month.... hence, I find ways to workout that don't include any huge crowds and go later when things get back to 'normal'.

I tend to prefer to make small changes and build on them. A radical change, that resolutions tend to encompass are easy to overwhelm the system.... I have found I get a wicket cold whenever I start some new nutritional or workout program and I get sidetracked when I take time to get better. That is why smaller, more manageable goals work for me.

Yes, I want to loose weight. Yes, I want to get in better shape and be healthier. But I find making generalities tend to lose there power. It is better to make smaller, more concrete or measurable goals, like drinking 2 liters of water a day. This way I can DO the goal and track the progress.

I also want to write and review more. Get my writing out there. But those are far too general. I need to keep them more specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound - SMART.

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/smart-goals.htm

I like to take this time of year to reflect on the past year, then refocus my intentions and remind myself what is important to me.... as a complete individual.

This is a selection of questions put for by Sarah Selecky. I will be working on this over the next few days.

Writing Inventory, Intentions and Reminders for the New Year
– Sarah Selecky

https://www.sarahseleckywritingschool.com/set-intentions-for-your-writing-in-the...

Set intentions for your writing in the new year
DECEMBER 30, 2018 BY SARAH SELECKY
These are the same reflections I ask my teachers to do every year at our Intensive retreat. My dear friend Hannah shared these questions with me for my 40th birthday, and I still use them every year. They’re kind of like a first aid kit for for my life.
And if you share your answers on your own blog, please let me know and leave a link in the comments below. I’d love to see what you’re up to.

Writing Inventory, Intentions, and Reminders for the New Year
LAST YEAR
A pitfall from this year, and how going through it made me into the writer I am now:

A success from this year, and how going through it made me into the writer I am now:

Writing milestones. What actually happened, that mattered? What am I proud of doing this year?
(Get out your diary/notebooks and reflect, month by month.)

NEXT YEAR
Next year, I’ll stop:

Next year, I’ll start:

I want more of:

I want less of:

I am totally done with:

I am ready, so ready for:

I expect…

I believe…

I desire…

REMINDERS ABOUT MYSELF AND MY WRITING
What inspires me, without fail?

What grounds me, always?

What strengthens me, reliably?

What softens me, in just the right way?

Happy New Year my friends. May 2019 be another step up the ladder of enlightenment and development of you as a productive, prolific writer and as a complete individual who contributes to this great world of ours.

Blog City - Day 1842

“A child can teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires.” Paulo Coelho
How much of that child do you have inside you? Do you know anyone who does? Do you wish to be that child in 2019?/b}

I think I try to keep this child alive and well in my life. Being demanding is not as strong as the other two.... that is the part I need to work on in 2019. It's okay to demand a little attention, especailly when it is in regads to writing or teaching. Pretending to hide your light and not shining as brightly is not a cool thing to do and I often find I tend to take a back seat and let others have the limelight when sometimes it's my turn.