ToDo list + Goals = Opportunity
I've been thinking a lot about goals these days. Have you noticed how much of life is focused around goals? Or rather, have you noticed how much of life SHOULD be focused around goals? 
I am always making new goals, updating old ones, or throwing ones out the window that no longer matter. Goals are everywhere! And I'm starting to see why: because they get us places, they take us places and they bring us what we are looking or yearning for.
This time of year we are bombarded with new year resolutions. Oh those lovely resolutions. I can't say I have a real opinion on them actually. They have worked for me in the past but some years they have created more frustration or pressure than I expected. So instead of resolutions at the beginning of the year, I set goals all the time! Everyday I have goals. Some are immediate goals that I can complete by the end of the day, some might be in the near future but I expect to make significant progress on them in the next month, and others are my long term goals. These are the goals that I am focusing my life towards. The big ones that we all think about when we imagine our dreams and where we want to take our life.
Now, I say that I make goals everyday but that hasn't always been the case. This is a rather new behavior for me and has taken a heck of a lot of effort to establish! You see, I used to never have goals nor did I do much with them. Well, I take a portion of that back. I had goals but they were always in my mind and that is where they stayed. I used to have all of these ideas, dreams, plans brewing and cooking in my head all the time. I would come up with the perfect plan to do X or Y but then…nada. Nothing much would really happen. I might have taken 2 steps towards one, I might have gone out and bought all of the food for my gorgeous home cooked meal but I would never actually cook it. Notice what I was missing? Follow through. I was missing all the elements to success: written and clearly described goals, a plan, motivation behind the plan, a commitment and then ACTION! Who else is guilty of this? Who has all of the great ideas that might even save the world but then doesn't do a whole lot with those gorgeous thoughts? I know you're there!
So, what changed for me? I began to notice how unhappy I was. Deep down I was unhappy. Life was great on the outside. I had my job, stable income, had a lovely home, great friends, amazing family, and a gorgeous man. You name it, life felt wonderful. But deep down, things were missing. I never could put my finger on it but it was there. It's like the mosquito who flies around your ear in the summertime, man can you rarely catch those guys but they are always there! Bothering you and messing with ya:)
And I was tired of feeling that way. I was tired of not feeling dependable and reliable, to myself. So, I did what big girls are supposed to do…I read. I started talking to people I could learn from and I began to understand the power of a few simple things: a todo list and setting goals on paper. It's been about 3 months and it took a long time to really establish this new behavior. But now, I wake up and I make a todo list. That is the start of my day and the beginning of my morning routine. It is when I focus on what I want today to be. What goals will I be working on and what action steps will I take to move towards them. And the final piece, the end all piece of success: I refer to that stinking list all day long. That is how I check back in, look at my progress and remind myself what I am headed towards.
I have to say folks. It is down right incredible how empowering this behavior is. I have started to feel that fire in my stomach again, that motivation and that desire to have everything. To have it all and the feeling that everyday I'm that much closer. This process comes down to such basic, easy-to-do behavior. The hard part is the doing. So, start today! Right now, make a list. Who cares what's on it today but make it! And then keep looking at it today. Do it! See what starts to happen. I promise you'll be amazed.
Want to read about someone else who taught me a great deal about this? Read me !!!
I'm thinking of re-evaluating my goals for the next 6 months leading up to my wedding. Like many brides, I have quite the set of goals in mind for this wedding that are a combination of small and some very big goals. But don't you worry, I'll get there. I will get them all. Tune in tomorrow (or maybe later today if I get crazy) for my new goal list!
'Till then!
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