Goals For The New Year

Resolutions never work. Never. There's too much pressure. So, I've decided to have goals for the year. Which just happen to coincide with the start of a new year.

There are some resolutions that we set for ourselves because we know them to be good for us, but we don't really want to do. Such as quit smoking or stop drinking. Those are things that you do because you want to do them (for most of us anyway--There is always the 2% that actually need these things to survive. That's called addiction. There are meetings for that. We'll go into that in another post though...). It would be healthier, and better for our wallet, if we stopped smoking but unless we really, really want to do that there's no way we're just magically going to stop. And we're certainly not going to cease and desist just because January 1st happened to come around. The stopping, or starting, of behaviors are usually the basis of most resolutions. Which brings me back to the theory that unless you really want to change behaviors you're not going to succeed at your resolution.

So, goals instead. There are things I want to accomplish, things I should be doing, and things that I would like to do. There's no pressure to do them and knowing that, I'm more inclined to do it. It's not some behavior or thing that I do that I want to change, but things that I want to accomplish. I work better when there's an end goal. When it's finished and accomplished. Changing behavior means I have to do it for the rest of my life and I don't think I'm ready for that kind of change yet.

I have a bad habit of having all these great ideas but never acting on them (or finishing them). I usually get bored midway, or have a better idea 1/4 way in, and abandon mission. I have several unfinished projects so my goal is to finally finish them this year. I need to stop being distracted by facebook and netflix and daydreaming and actually finish what I started. That's the theme of the year--finish what I start.

I've also decided that I'm going to do more selfless work. I'm going to try to go out of my way and help people without benefiting from it in some way. Again, I'm not gonna go crazy so if I happen to accomplish and finish one or two projects this year, then I'm good to go. So far I'm organizing a group to take part in the Unity Walk to raise money for Parkinson's Disease in April. I've involved the kids at school and set a monetary goal. Knowing that there are others involved and that there is a date of completion (the actual Unity Walk in Central Park on April 28th) I'll be more inclined to complete my mission.

So far 2012 is off to a good start. I had a lot of time to think about the last year during my week off from work (too much time probably) and I realized a lot of things. I just have to remember my goals and what I want from this year and myself. No half assing it, no more 80%, from myself and from others. I won't settle for anything but the best.