And here I am again (and so are you), at the beginning of a New Year contemplating goals for the year ahead.
I do make New Year’s resolutions but I like to call them goals that I’d like to achieve in a fixed year time frame. I believe it’s important to have goals because they are something to focus towards and as the saying goes “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”.
I think the problem with why so many people dislike making resolutions is because they make resolutions they can’t keep. Often the resolution is too high to attain in the first place. Resolutions aren’t meant to put extra pressure on an already busy schedule. Resolutions or goals need to be achievable and the only way to do this is by setting small goals that will enable you to achieve the big goal you wish to achieve.
For me, I have a fair few goals that I want to achieve this year and as I was making my list I forgot (well nearly) that I had one BIG EXCITING interruption to my year that will probably delay my goals being achieved. I can’t wait for our baby number 2 to arrive, but in writing my list of goals, I did not allow for the arrival of my baby! The bump is there, but the brain has been elsewhere!! So I changed my list and cut it short because who knows how I will cope with a second child. I might handle it fabulously or I might find it difficult. I don’t want to add pressure to myself either way so here are my goals (in no particular order):
- Set up a schedule for my blog posts – this will be difficult until I get into a routine with the second bub and this will also need to be adjusted as we all know (well parents anyway!) babies like to change their routine to keep you on your feet!
- Increase my readership on my plumbing blog. I would love to have over 100 likes and followers on Facebook and Twitter by the end of the year.
- Invest in quality friendships and relationships. I am a people person. I love meeting people and connecting with a large group of friends, but the problem with this is that I have missed out on true intimacy with close friends. There have been moments last year where I felt lonely. My husband and I have reached out to a number of people and we haven’t had love and support reciprocated back. Rather than be bitter, we are looking forward to investing time into quality friendships this year. I recently read this quote ‘Don’t make an effort for people who don’t make an effort for you… Respect, value, honour & love yourself enough to not waste your time & energy on those who don’t appreciate it…’ and it resonated with me. I look forward to socialising with all my friends, but I have made a list of close friends that I will schedule phone calls, coffee catch-ups and regular contact with.
- Being involved in an activity or ministry that serves others. I have a few ideas but don’t want to concrete anything in until I have our baby. I don’t like organizing something that I can’t commit to.
- Be a fun mum to my kids and organise a date night once a month with my husband.
- Edit my book and get it ready for publishing.
- Maintain my relationship with God through praying daily and reading my bible.
I have various financial and health goals that I would like to see come into fruition in 2013, but with a newborn, I don’t want to be frugal and not enjoy life with our children, nor do I want to bust my butt to lose weight unhealthily in a short time frame to get my body back to it’s pre-baby weight. Both would be ideal, but are not essential goals to achieve this year. I just want to enjoy the new addition to our family, keep up to date with what is going on in the plumbing world (possibly returning to work in 6 months) and enjoy life! If I can keep these three goals, everything else above is a bonus! The undercurrent that threads all these goals together is God. God has to be apart of everything I do because if He’s not, then I’m wasting my time. If you’re unsure of what goals you want to achieve this year, why not pray and ask God what He desires for you?
