Friday, January 1, 2010

Two thousand & Ten, Begin Again.

On January 1st, every year, I do the same exact thing. I write down my goals for the coming year and assess the ones from the previous year to see how I've done. Now, perhaps if I had a peek at them at any other point during the year, I might actually be reminded and act towards them. And then again, likely not.
Year after year after year after year, they are, for the most part, exactly the same. They all revolve around writing, photographs, purging and getting a handle on various aspects of my life. Last year I pared down the expectations and tried to be more specific. Instead of the 'Write family history' from the '08 list (and '07 & 6 & 5 etc), I put: 'Write at least 3 chapters of family history.' Did I? Nope. Did I organize my photos, which has been on my list since 1979? Nope. Did I get to tick off a single one of the things that I had listed. Nope. Did paring it down to 9 from the previous year's 20 help? Nope. Knowing that I will do my list today & will most likely have the same exact result, will I scrap the exercise. Nope. Will I put down some fresh ideas instead of carrying the same ones that I've been carting along for two decades. Highly unlikely. They are important things that I really, truly do need to & want to accomplish. Yes, I am quite aware that I am not getting any younger & I am not going to be here forever. To be sure, I will be right ticked if they have to bury me with my same To Do list.
So ... today is not to focus on Goals, but on Strategy.

3 comments:

LDahl said...

I only made two resolutions last year, get off the computer more and get rid of 20 pounds of junk! I kept them both... in fact I got rid of a ton of junk! 20 pounds at a time!
This year I have only made one resolution, be creative in whatever way that seems fun at the moment.
The boring work is always there, so no more wasted resolutions on it!

Anonymous said...
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EvScott said...

Good for you! That's a great way to think of it/deal with it. I'm thinking I need to adopt that strategy - and start with my body!!

Ev:)