It's only ten days into the new year so I think it's still okay to talk about resolutions and goals. Although I'm a firm believer that every day is an opportunity for change, for resolve, or to just get off our behinds and do whatever it is that we've always wanted to do, there is something about a new year that strongly inspires that. Even if the inspiration tends to lose its momentum after a few days or weeks, I believe that jolt, aspiration, for a new beginning, a better tomorrow, is a necessary step. And maybe just one day, you will make the physical step towards the life that had been burning inside your heart.
I had always been a resolutions person. During the last week of December, I would usually write down my resolutions, and year after year, by February, those resolutions would be forgotten. Then, in the last couple of years, I decided to do something different. Write out goals instead: goals for the year and goals for each month. At the end, I'm happy to report that I fared much better at accomplishing at least a quarter of my goals. I found that setting monthly goals forced me to focus and the shorter deadlines worked for the procrastinator in me. In the latter half of last year, I decided to start setting weekly goals. Again, I didn't accomplish most of them, most would move to the next week and the next. But, by the end of the month, I saw that the things that mattered or I deemed more important were done, and thus, although I didn't reach perfection, I made progress.
Then, about two months ago, I heard the buzz about Lara Casey's PowerSheets. I started looking into them, and thought, well, that's what I've been doing this last year, writing down my goals, and so, I must be doing something right since everyone on Instagram seemed to be hyped about these PowerSheets. I decided against purchasing them since I'm also on the thrifty side and didn't want to spend money on something I can write out in a $2.00 notebook.
But, two weeks into December, I was still stalking Lara Casey's online shop, and reading up on everyone's comments on Instagram about how wonderful these PowerSheets were. On a slow December workday, I made a hasty decision and ordered them. I was amazed how they arrived in two days, but I still waited more than a week to actually look at them. In fact, aside from buying and putting them into a fancy notebook, I didn't look at the sheets until December 31st, the day I always reserve for reflection and planning.
I went to a cafe I had always been meaning to go to, fell in love with the place, and sat there for three hours working through the PowerSheets. That hasty decision I made a few weeks earlier turned out to be a great one. I know it's too early to say whether I actually accomplish any of the ten goals I set, but whether I do or not, the process that the PowerSheets took me through made me realize why certain goals were important to me, and why I had not accomplished some of the same goals year after year. I learned quite a bit about myself going through those sheets, and thus, even if I don't accomplish half the things I wrote, I know that at the very least my I'm acting and living a life with more intention.
So, how about those goals for this year? Well, here are a few:
1. Saturate myself in Scripture. I kept telling myself every year for the last few that I will read the Bible. And every year, I only opened it when I was in church or Bible study. This year, I started a Bible reading plan to read the entire Bible in a year. And so far, so good. No matter how tired I feel or busy I think I am, I open up my Bible and I read. I've already learned so much in just nine days.
2. Organize my finances and be in a better financial state. This is a work in progress. But, I have been more mindful and intentional with my spending. I'm being more consistent with tracking my profit and loss, and knowing that I can control my finances rather than have it control me feels liberating. I paid off a credit card two days and that felt especially great.
3. Finish and edit my novel / immerse myself in writing consistently. Another work in progress, but I am writing more. I set a daily goal of writing at least an hour a day - using writing prompts or just journal writing or simply novel scribbling (where I just purge novel scene ideas onto the page). I have yet to reach the hour a day, but I have been writing at least 15-20 minutes, and each time I sit down to write the words seem to flow more easily out of me. I feel that my creative side has come to life. I woke up at 2:00 this morning, and this sentence I thought I should add to my novel just kept nagging at me that I got up, picked up my notebook and pen, and wrote for half an hour. I was so excited that I wanted to keep writing but I had a hike scheduled for 7:00 a.m., so I forced myself to go back to sleep.
4. Organize the back end of my practice. This means filing things away and keeping my desk tidy. The goal is to spend time working and not scrambling for documents and files that are either in the back seat of my car or buried under a stack of mail. I also needed to make sure that I wasn't always overwhelmed with busy work that I didn't take the time to evaluate my business, network to make sure I had consistent work flow coming in, and continue to update myself on the law and learn something new. Those were important things for the growth of my practice. And so, I'm working on being more organized not only with my space but my time.
5. Learn something new every day. This is one of my daily goals each month. I believe it's important to learn something new every day. It not only exercises our brain but for me, it makes me feel more alive and young and fulfilled. Young children are curious and learning every day, so I thought, why not continue to be like that? The other day I learned different chess strategies so that hopefully one day this year, I will beat my nine-year-old nephew. Then, the next day I read up on expungements as a refresher, and I learned something new. The Bible teaches me something new everyday, so this goal has been successful so far.
What are your goals for 2015? Do you go through a specific ritual of reflecting and goal setting? I'd love to hear your ideas!
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