A weird year! It’s just seemed like a weird year for New Year’s reflection! Usually I’m all about analyzing my past 12 months, thinking about the future, figuring out my “word,” deciding what I’d do differently in the upcoming months.
This year, I got NUTHIN! Nada! Zip! Zilch! I tried to come up with goals and resolutions and all that stuff, just like the rest of the world. But for reasons I don’t understand, nothing significant came to mind!
Then a friend posted this saying on Instagram, and bam! There it was – the thing that I was looking for. I’ve been journaling lately, writing things I’m grateful for, and trying to be more mindful. I’m adding an item that Pat suggested, over at Retirement Transitions, “What is the most important thing I did [yesterday]?” Brilliant, huh? Thanks, Pat! But now I’ll be also be considering this:
What do I resolve to do TODAY?
I just didn’t want to make great big, year-long goals, that would end up abandoned or forgotten by the third week in January. I may not be able to stick to the resolution to lose a gazillion pounds. But I’m pretty sure I can decide to eat a salad for dinner. Baby steps. Call a friend. Go for a walk. Do some yoga today. Yeah, I can make those resolutions stick! Have a wonderful, mindful weekend!
An Encore Voyage 
Two or three days a week (at work) we have team calls where we each list one accomplishment, one goal and one ‘stuck’ – it’s an interesting approach to figuring out the day.
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That’s a nice way to work, I think. I never was very good at goal setting in the workplace, because it seemed I always hit the door running, with 30+ little bodies demanding my attention, and waaay too much preparation to do! ~ Lynn
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I agree that this is brilliant, Lynn. You offer a “New Year’s Resolution’ that most of us can keep!
Wishing you great days ahead!
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I tried it this morning, this lovely combination of my ideas and Pats, and it felt so right! We’ll see how long it lasts! ~ Lynn
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I converted to this daily method a while back. I would see people gorge on food during the holidays knowing they would have a diet resolution (that never stuck) and other crazy things. I decided that if I need to do something the best time to start is NOW and the best way to accomplish anything is a little bit at a time.
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Isn’t that the case? We’ll see how long I stick with it. Even my journaling efforts have faded in the past. This seems so much more manageable! ~ Lynn
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I resolve… next year I will have more willpower!
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Me too. Except that never works for me because I have NONE! So today it’s “I won’t eat that whole plate of cookies today – only half!” LOL ~ Lynn
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Daily goals are a good way to approach overall goals. It’s kind of like taking a huge task and breaking it down into manageable, bite-sized pieces. Excellent plan!
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We’ll see! Except for right now (the afternoon of the first day) I can’t remember what I wrote this morning! Ummmmmm…better go look! This doesn’t bode well! ~ Lynn
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You may be onto something then here, Lynn. Hourly goals instead of daily ones! 🙂 – Marty
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Yep, with me, they almost need to be hourly! I keep forgetting what I wrote down this morning! LOL ~ Lynn
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Thanks for the comment that I’m brilliant! If only. Anyway, I did the whole enchilada this year – reflection, vision board, word, re-writen affirmations, action plan. One of my reflections was that in 2016, I did use my word of the year – Joy. I got a coffee mug that read “find joy in each day” and in my morning journal, drinking coffee out of that mug, I asked myself almost every day – where will you find joy today? And I became a more positive, happier, less stressed person after 365 days of that thinking. (not no stress, less stress).
This year my word is Soar… (as in soar into the retirement lifestyle you envision) and yup, I asked myself this morning – how will you soar today? Which made me do yoga before heading out to a lunch with old (in time not years) work colleagues. I fit in the yoga… and ordered a salad at lunch, too. See my retirement lifestyle vision is an active, healthy lifestyle… so when I ask that question it reminds me of that.
So maybe your word of the year is RESOLVE! 🙂
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That’s a great system, I like it. Smart to use a coffee mug too!
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Resolutions are stupid (to me). Seems I just set myself up for failure. So instead I trick myself. For example, I recently discovered the grocery store bread we buy for toast in the morning contains glucose. Huh? Why do I need to feed my children glucose for breakfast? So I ‘resolved’ (ha) to go to the bakery around the corner for bread from now on. They’re a little mom-and-pop local business and bake organic, hand-crafted bread every day. AND, what’s more, I will walk there. On foot. (Ha!) Because one thing I should be resolving to do more is exercise. A 20 minute brisk walk and wholesome bread for breakfast.
Does that count be as a resolution?
Happy New Year!
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I figure any way you can get there counts!
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I like the idea of daily resolutions and that’s something I try to do as well. The monthly / yearly goals are just the benchmarks that will help to evaluate success.
Happy New Year!
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Good idea! We had a weird end-of-the-year as well. Other things occupied our minds and all of a sudden, we were a week into January. At that point, I decided to skip the “resolution” part. Not that we ever take that too seriously anyway. My motto is always “Do what you love most and try not to regret things.” So, I guess I’ll just stick to that again for another year. If possible.
I read about finishing the sentence “What is the most important thing I did today” on a friend’s blog about bead journaling over a month ago and have been adding this to my daily diary entries for the whole month of December. It is good to be more mindful and reflect on things like these. In January it is: “Today, I noticed:…”
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