Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Resolving at New Years....

Back to my blog home page: http://travelingotr.blogspot.com

People are quite divided on the topic of setting resolutions for New Year's Eve. How about shifting the "I have to lose 30 pounds this year" at New Year's Eve to

"I'm going to track my progress
toward living life as fully as possible
right now."

Think of it like you're writing a Plan of Care for your patients, only you're writing your Plan of Care for your life.

Set a goal!

Worried that you're not going to reach it already? Set more than one! I set goals for health, family, financial, travel, spiritual and professional every year. At the end of the year, if I have reached half of them, I'm pretty happy!

Part of my list this year: become a better kayaker, gut and renovate a small cottage near my parents, plant a huge garden, walk El Camino de Santiago in Spain, finish writing a CEU course on rehab in long term care, and meditate more. Oh, and take a little more time off between assignments....

Write it down.

I've heard promotional speakers say that 5% of the population sets goals every year and only 3% write them down. That's like signing a contract. It ties you more closely to what you want. I can tell you that during years that I have written goals down, I have made them happen far better than years when I have not.

Make it happen.

Do it! Keep your eye on your prize. We attract that which on which we put our focus. Really. Try it. It's that simple.

Review the list regularly.

Each month, I pull the list off the fridge. Sometimes, I have checked off when I have accomplished a goal. Sometimes I don't. The important thing is that I turn my vision to what I want to accomplish. My brain starts ticking about the steps needed to reach the goals.

It's not work!  It's fun. It's life.

Don't beat yourself up if you don't reach certain goals. It's counter-productive. In fact, think of it like this (in the words of my favorite poet, Kahlil Gibran)

The significance of a man
is not in what he attains
but in what he longs to attain.

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