I hate New Years Resolutions. I hate the whole idea of them (it’s like, we come out of every year focusing on all the things we hate about ourselves and want to change. Gross). I hate that we always make them nearly impossible, so we’re just setting ourselves up for disappointment. I just hate them. But still, every year, we all do it. I don’t say it out loud, but there, in the back of my head, there’s that voice “You really need to lose 25 pounds this year”. I hate that voice too.
Something I love though? Lists. I am good with a list. If I write it on paper, it gets done, and I only write things on paper that I can do within a day, or a week. That’s how my lists work. This got me to thinking. Screw the whole “New Years Resolution” way of thinking, where we decide on day one what it is we’re going to do better, ALL YEAR LONG, to be happier.
Instead, I started a list of things that would make me happy today, and that I would still be happy about a year from now. These are my 12 GOALS FOR 2015.
You know what? I don’t care if I lose 25 pounds. Buying smaller jeans next December isn’t going to make me a happier person. What would though: being able to go for an hour long bike ride with my kids next summer, and coming home NOT tired.
Something else: I would be really happy if the girls bathroom was finished (we’ve been sitting on it for two years now, ugh). We’ve got some plumbing to hook-up, and I’d like to repaint it. Maybe Oliver’s too. And the master bedroom, I’ve hated the wallpaper and paint since I put it up a year ago. Walking in to those three rooms, finished, that would make me happy.
I’d be happier if I blogged more often too. It’s a nice break from everything else.
Then I had this crazy idea. I asked the kids what would make them happier, because knowing my kids are happy, makes me happy. Oliver, well, he’d just like me to play with him a bit more, just he and I. That was awfully easy. Anna, she’d like me to do more crafts with her. So simple, and those two things will make a big difference (and lots of memories) in their lives and mine.
So, I had a way to lay out my “biggish” ideas. I’d choose 12 goals for 2015. I’m not choosing them all today. Today, I wrote down the ones that I’ve had in my mind for the last 6 months, the things that I know I’ll still be happy about a year from now, then I tacked it up in the office.
Keep your 12 goals simple! Little steps that will lead the way for you. I try to keep them in my head as one month goals. Something that I can accomplish in 30 days, so that I see the result and feel good about it. I hate feeling overwhelmed. Now it was time to break it down again for me. I needed a weekly list, so I could fit these little steps in to the life I’m already living. If I focused only on the big goal, I’d always be too “busy” to attempt it.
So, My Weekly Resolutions has begin. It’s simple, a little chart to keep track of what it is I need to do each day. Then, I throw in a few extra things, like 20 minutes on the elliptical, building Lego with Oliver, or making a craft with Anna. Just little reminders, 30 minute blocks of time that I can find a few times a week, to do something that will make me happy.
Then, at the top there, see it. Just under the “My Weekly Resolutions”? There’s my monthly goal. This month, it’s planning Sophie’s first birthday party so it doesn’t sneak up on me. Just a little reminder to get that done this month, because I can. It’s doable, and I’ll feel so good by the 31st when all my organizing is done. And, before I even have all 12 goals set, I’ll be crossing one off.
Think of how good that will feel: crossing off a New Years Resolution at the end of January. I’m really liking this way of thinking.
I hope it works for you. If you’ve found any other little secrets for sticking to your resolutions, share them in the comments!
Here are the pdf downloads for you:
Katie @ The Perfect Brownie
Tami