I’ll have to say, I did a great job with my goal for September. I’m very happy with the progress I’ve made on the literary journal this month.
When I started this 12 months’ challenge, I hopped on the bandwagon a bit late. I didn’t really take the time to plan things out or question what I wanted to accomplish in 2012. I saw a lot of people who set concrete goals for themselves, and knew exactly what they planned on accomplishing in each month. I personally thought that was an impractical approach, just because plans change, life changes, things don’t always work out the way you expect them to. However, as I get deeper into 2012, I do wish that I had set up a more concrete approach to my goals. If I choose to do this again in 2013, which I probably will, I’d like to go into the year with a plan. I think what I will do is set up a list of 12-24 goals that I’d truly like to work on and then just pick a new one every month. In 2012, sometimes I had no clue what I would choose as a goal for the month, and before I decided I already wasted 7 days of the month. Sometimes I knew what my goal would be for the following month, but when the time came to focus in on the goal, I was disinterested. If I’m going to make these goals work for me, I’d like to at least enjoy them. So in 2013, I’d like to be better prepared. That’s it.
Which leads me to announcing my October goal. This month I would like to work on organization. I truly need to be organized to live. I will fail at home and work and everything else if things aren’t organized in some way. I need an agenda or things won’t get done. I need a process at work or things won’t get done. I need a system at home or things won’t get done. Basically, I’m doing okay in general, but I feel a steady anxiety lately, because there is so much to do and remember. So I know when I get like this, I need to take a step back and simply put things in order. I desperately need to do this at work and with Spry, because there is just so much happening at once for both of those commitments. At home, I just need to portion time to organize. I need to find a way to make it less of a chore and more of an activity. Wish me luck.
I hear this. I like to think of myself as an organized person, but it’s is only in comparison to other people — you know, people who open the door to their car and sheaves of paper go sliding into the street, or classmates who email you the same day of class wondering what that night’s reading is because they lost their syllabus. But my own little bubble of chaos is only more well-concealed. I need a better system than Post-its.
Agreed! I like to be organized as well, but at the same time, I find post-its and such as my arch enemy!
I really like this approach to the New Year’s Resolutions; it seems like this would have much more of a lasting impact. One goal per month gives you the time to incorporate new practices until they become habits (I read somewhere that it take 21 consecutive days of repetition for something to become a habit), and it also give your time to figure out the best way for you PERSONALLY to integrate each change into your life. Plus, it’s not overwhelming — with standard resolutions, you try to implement a gaggle of changes all at once and very quickly it becomes more than any sane person can handle.
I REALLY LIKE THIS. I think I will do this for myself for 2013, and maybe even for the last three months of 2012. (Wow, I can’t believe it’s already fall!) We can be planning buddies, because I definitely want to work out a plan for 2013.
I definitely could use a planning buddy, so lets team up! I think it is also important to have people to hold you accountable too. Which is partially why I post my goals on here.
Also, I really have liked the monthly goal approach so far in 2012. I’m going to do it again in 2013.
Organization is a huuuuuuge goal for me this Fall, so I can totally relate! Good luck 🙂
Thanks! We can lean on each other for support! So far I’m not doing so well with this goal 🙁