Throw those resolutions out! (Making goals that work)

alice_whichway

With 09 under our belt, I know many of you are hard at work keeping your New Years resolutions. I view NYE resolutions as a pact with too much pressure. So often we are hard on ourselves when making them, without trying to understand why it is hard. I mean honestly, how often in July do you hear about people still working on their nye resolutions?

I am going to share an exercise with you that helped me learn alot about myself and helped me to meet personal goals at my own pace. This was an exercise that appeared in the blog the simple dollar about how to get out of debt. I didn’t use it for that particular purpose and and just sort of picked the exercise apart and made it my own. Though the simple dollar post is great and I highly recommend it I am going to share with you my own re-worked version of this plan. This version is about becoming a better, healthier and happier you by defining your values, stating your goals and then living them. This exercise is just meant to help you know yourself better and make thought out decisions.

1. Get calm and relaxed. Sit and get comfy. Breathe deeply, count 1-2-3 on the in breath, and 1-2-3 on the out breath. Try to breathe into your inner most self, the strong part within you that is wise, that knows you.

2. Once you are feeling pretty centered, ask yourself what it really important in life. When do you feel most whole, most yourself?

3. As you discover these answers, write them down. No one has to see this list you will make, so write what really comes from within.
It doesn’t have to be ordered, just write them as they come. Keep going until you feel done. If you have more than 6 values, ask yourself if any are similar and can be combined. If yes, do so. If you have fewer than 4, take your time and think about this some more. You may take all the time you need.

Save this list! It can come in handy later as a powerful force in your life. Remember that living virtuously is all about living your values. Finding healthy and great relationships is about finding someone who shares your values and also lives them.

The next step is about goals:

1. Try to clear your mind of what you think your goals may be. You can come back for them later if you wish. We are just trying to align your core values with your life.

2. For each value on your list, ask yourself where you want to be in terms of that value in 25 years.
EX: If my value is honesty, my goal could be to have only loving and honest relationships.
Now turn that dream into a goal, write it down.

3. Once you’ve turned your values into long term goals, go through them again and ask yourself where you want to be in terms of these values in one year.

Next we figure out what we can do to get us to these goals.

For each short term goal you came up with write down 5 specific actions you can take:

I will do this in the next three days.
I will do this in the next week.
I will do this every week.
I will do this in the next month.
I will do this in the next six months.

Now, for each of the long term goals, define five specific actions:

I will do this in the next week.
I will do this in the next month.
I will do this every month.
I will do this in the next year.
I will do this in three years.

For me this was a very powerful exercise. I hope others can get as much out of it as I did! xo

Rabbit Write