New Year, New Me! Take the 2019 Challenge!

“New Year, New Me!” If you’re anything like me every single January (since I was in middle school) I have proclaim these exact words…yearly. Only to fail on most of my goals by March. With a lifetime of failed goals; how and why would someone (i.e. ME) continue to convince herself to sit down with pen and paper and make yearly resolutions? Well that’s easy, I actually want to achieve them! Every year we are faced with new challenges yet everyDAY we have the opportunity to actually make a change and achieve our goals! So, we plan what we want out of each year and while (again if you're anything like me) you have failed in the past that is NO reason to fail in the future! You’ve probably read, or even posted on social media that “2019 is MY Year!” This year, I fully intend to NOT let myself fail on my goals.

         The only New Year’s resolution I ever kept was my first. I remember sitting at my bedroom desk, middle school student -seventh grade- in 1997 (oh no, I’m aging myself!) looking around at the total chaos that was my bedroom and thinking “Hey I’m gonna get organized.” Little did I know that as I decided that one little sentence that it would become a lifelong obsession. I have to say that my messy childhood days are long behind me, with my daily color-coded To-Do lists, a color-coded desk calendar, and well I won’t bore you with all of the details, but I organize to the extreme! Little did I know the major life curveballs that would follow this insignificant event over the next two years- but that’s a story for another time!

         2019, twenty-two years later (OMG I’m old!), sitting in a very similar situation, at a desk, facing a (much nicer and amazingly faster, sorry dial-up internet!) computer telling myself it is time for change. Which begs to be answered, what are my goals?

Academic

·      Finish my current semester (2) ASAP

·      Maintain current (or better) GPA

·      Rock my clinical externship (Vet Tech)

·      Start semester 4 by the end of the year

·      Attend live webinars at least once a week

·      Grow my social media and community influence

Personal

·      No fast food or soda (my “I’m stressed” foods)

·      Exercise at least 4 times a week

·      Write more (one of my favorite things to do- can you tell?)

·      Enjoy every moment

·      Love myself and others more

·      Don’t blame myself for my failures- Learn from them

·      Succeed!

Since it is so easy to write these out and then go on with life without ever thinking of them again. I have done two things to maintain my progress: (1) Set a calendar reminder in my phone every month on the last day to “grade myself” on the months progress and (2) scheduled (on my desk calendar) exam dates and deadlines, times to exercise, this month’s webinars as well as a time to sign up for each following months, etc. (each in a different color ink, of course)--- told you, I’m obsessively organized!  

The problem with goals is that life happens, things come up, and challenges present themselves daily. I truly believe that my biggest challenge is myself. We all get through every single day, all the ups and downs anyways but the only thing that stands in our way in the end is OURSELVES. How we handle each daily task and test proves to ourselves who we really are. If we can overcome those down falls, then we can achieve our goals and truly succeed. Be proactive NOT reactive!!

After all this blah blah blah, are you still with me? If so here’s a challenge for you! (And it will NOT involve eating laundry detergent or pouring ice water on your head!) Make yourself a list include short term (weekly/ monthly), extended term (yearly), and long term (5-10 years) of everything you want in your life and everything you KNOW you can achieve when you put your mind to it, and then set reminders in your smart phone to check up on yourself.  AND post at least one goal in the comments below!!

Let’s do this!!