Goals & Resolutions

 

Have you set goals for 2023?  Are you a New Year’s resolution person?  Is change on your horizon?  So here is the thing about goals and resolutions…

 

Nothing changes if nothing changes.  That sounds simple and obvious right?  Well it is, but it is not so simple to put into action.

• You will not improve your relationships if you do not change your behavior and/or expectations.
• The weight will not simply fall off of you without you modifying your diet and/or exercise.
• Do you want to quit smoking?  You better have a very specific plan of exactly how to do that and be ready for the pain.
• Is a higher income your goal?  What are your plans to sell more, increase margins, start a new business or change jobs?
• Maybe there is a personal life or faith resolution you have in mind.  Those can be really tough.  They take real discipline to achieve.
• You won’t save more money without spending less!
• You can’t run, cycle or swim in the mornings without getting up earlier.

Change and personal growth is hard.  It takes work, dedication and discipline.  Most importantly it requires a change in behavior.  Nothing changes if nothing changes…

 

Happy New Year and good luck with your 2023 goals!

Wet Blanket Feeling

Four months into the pandemic and I have had enough.  We are just now seeing it peak here in Texas and I am so over it.  I feel like there is this wet blanket hanging over all of us.  It is depressing us in ways that we are unaware of and, making it worse, there is no end in sight. It is clouding our future plans and hampering decision making.  The negative impact on our outlook and mental health is something we have never dealt with before.  Sure, we are putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward.  We are adapting and surviving. But, I feel like it is just hanging over us and weighing on us more than we know. 

Early in the pandemic one MMM was about the fact that it is okay to not be okay.  As the pandemic drags on and hangs over us, we need to be reminded of that.  There is a reason we may not feel motivated.  There are days we will be in a funk.  Until the COVID-19 wet blanket is gone we will not feel totally normal. 

We must peek out from under the blanket and take positive steps.  Don’t be suffocated by the circumstances.  We don’t know when, but there will be an end to this, and we will get there! 

Life Plan

Do you have plans and goals?  Do you methodically plan out the direction of your life?  I have to say that I am not very good at this.  Too many of us just let life come at us.  We take what life brings us.  The problem with that is that you never know where you are going or where you might end up.  Setting priorities based on goals and objective gives us structure and direction.  It allows us to measure progress and impact the trajectory of our lives.  It is how we grow, change and improve.  We just have to learn to be flexible, knowing that plans will always changes.  What is that saying?  Man plans, God laughs!  God has given each of us a unique skill set and He wants us to use those gifts.  We just have to be open to the fact that our plans may not always match His!  Goals and plans are good proactive life tools, just be sure and be open to the influence of God in those plans.  I do not known Jim Rohn, but his quote below is on point for this topic.

“If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's, and guess what they might have planned for you? Not much.”

--Jim Rohn