I set New Year's Resolutions this year. It's been a few years since I've done something that ambitious. You know, set goals. And now we are a week into 2013 and I've done close to nothing about the four simple goals I set. Which is precisely why I stopped setting them at about age 26. Why set myself up for failure? (Wow, if I were licensed to teach Enlgish I'd circle every one of those "sets" and hand myself a thesaurus ... find yourself a new word! But fortunately, since I'm so bad at reaching my goals as of late, I'm not licensed to teach English, oops!)
So now, a week into the New Year, I'm going to spank myself in the butt and earnestly try to do something about these goals of mine. And the best thing I can do is write them down.
Preschool time with Reid (unless you count the several hours I let him play Monkey Lunchbox Preschool this week, I have failed miserably at this goal)
Learn to sew (I signed up for a class at the local Tech ... here's to hoping they don't cancel it because only 2 others have signed up so far)
Renew my teaching license (this is going to be such a headache -- the very reason I've avoided it -- but as Ben points out, having it is like food storage, I may not use it as intended but I need it in case of an emergency)
Daily Special Time with Nell (I spend plenty of one on one time with the child who survives off my breast, but I want to make sure I'm spending 15 minutes each day just trying to make her smile, completely ignoring the toddler that will be screaming for my attention in the background)
Daily spiritual feeding (Ensign, YW Lesson Planning, Scriptures, whatever it takes to make sure I spend a few minutes each day filling my cup)
Exercise 5 times a week (Ideally I'll compete in a Triathlon with some Sisters in the ward ... but I'm not sure I can make that commitment yet. For now I'd take 10 minutes on a bike -- that'd be an improvement from my current state of utter laziness)
Well what da ya know! I thought I only set four goals ... but I have six. I kind of just threw that sewing one on here so that I could feel like I'd made progress on something. And the teaching one wasn't part of the original resolution either, my opening paragraph just reminded me how badly I need to get that done.
So it's true, writing goals down really is the right way to go about making changes. Here's to hoping I keep this enthusiasm up.
So now, a week into the New Year, I'm going to spank myself in the butt and earnestly try to do something about these goals of mine. And the best thing I can do is write them down.
Preschool time with Reid (unless you count the several hours I let him play Monkey Lunchbox Preschool this week, I have failed miserably at this goal)
Learn to sew (I signed up for a class at the local Tech ... here's to hoping they don't cancel it because only 2 others have signed up so far)
Renew my teaching license (this is going to be such a headache -- the very reason I've avoided it -- but as Ben points out, having it is like food storage, I may not use it as intended but I need it in case of an emergency)
Daily Special Time with Nell (I spend plenty of one on one time with the child who survives off my breast, but I want to make sure I'm spending 15 minutes each day just trying to make her smile, completely ignoring the toddler that will be screaming for my attention in the background)
Daily spiritual feeding (Ensign, YW Lesson Planning, Scriptures, whatever it takes to make sure I spend a few minutes each day filling my cup)
Exercise 5 times a week (Ideally I'll compete in a Triathlon with some Sisters in the ward ... but I'm not sure I can make that commitment yet. For now I'd take 10 minutes on a bike -- that'd be an improvement from my current state of utter laziness)
Well what da ya know! I thought I only set four goals ... but I have six. I kind of just threw that sewing one on here so that I could feel like I'd made progress on something. And the teaching one wasn't part of the original resolution either, my opening paragraph just reminded me how badly I need to get that done.
So it's true, writing goals down really is the right way to go about making changes. Here's to hoping I keep this enthusiasm up.
3 comments:
You go girl!!! Especially with that renewal of your teaching license. I know you'll do the others because you want to -- but with the teaching license I'm not so sure! Keep at her Ben. She is the best procrastinator I know!!!
Love, Pa
Go girl. go! Especially with the daily scriptural feast! Love, Ma
I am not a huge goal setter either. I like to keep things simple. Sometimes my new year resolution is just "do my best" or just finding a theme scripture for the year. I also have one thought for you on preschool time that might help. I preschooled my little Allie from home, and I started off by being very structured. I had lesson plans, themes, activities, and I even used the laminator (gasp). That eventually wore off since life doesn't work that way at my house. I got super down on myself and felt like I was failing. Then I read a homeschool blog that talked about how learning at home is based much more on experiences than actual lessons and structure. I took that idea and ran with it. I started to notice all of the ways that Allie was learning through natural experiences at home. So I would have her do things like sort the bath toys into different shapes or colors, count and measure with me as I cooked, go to the park and gather things in a bucket, name letters out the window while driving, cross off the grocery list, etc. This simplified my life so much, and I feel it was just as effective. And there is also nothing wrong with a little Super Why or Cat in the Hat ;). I also let her freely explore coloring with markers, pencils, crayons, stickers etc. I even let her use scissors and glue, scary I know. She started kindergarten right on track, and I didn't go totally nuts preparing her for it. And if there is a sane Mommy at the end, mission accomplished ;). Sorry, I know this is long! I just find that we are much more successful at fulfilling our goals than we think sometimes :). Good luck1
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