Off to a Good Start

Now that the first full week of January is behind us, how did you do? Did you make any progress toward your goals? If not, what kept you from moving ahead? Did you lapse back into the same old bad habits? What can you do differently to avoid falling into that trap again?

I did pretty well this week. I made a plan for writing a certain amount of time each day and I stuck to it. I promised myself that I would not use my writing time for laundry, dishes, cleaning or any of the other distractions I face working at home. I fell short in a couple of places too, mainly because I had a vague objective with no plan to achieve it.

For example, I want to master this social networking thing. I have pages on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Live Journal, CafeMom, etc. I signed up for these to promote my writing, but I find I am overwhelmed by the thought of dealing with so many websites and constantly updating each. So this week I will visit each site and evaluate which sites are worth keeping and which to chuck. Then next week, I will post a blog or comment on each site I decide to keep. I will set aside a specific time each day to do this and I will succeed.

This week try setting a specific task for yourself and make a plan to accomplish that task. Write it down - committing something to paper can be powerful - and check your plan each day to see how you are doing. Drop me a line at the end of the week and let me know how you did.

You can do it! You can eat less, exercise more, argue less, study more, stop procrastinating. You can change your life! Good luck!

Happy New Year!

It's New year's Eve and I hope each and every one of you has a safe, fun and memorable celebration.

Sometimes we make beginning a new year very hard on ourselves. We pledge to make numerous changes in our lives, to lose those extra pounds, to get that promotion, to take that trip we've been planning for years. We swear that this year will be different than the rest, better than before. It doesn't matter that we've made these promises to ourselves for years now; somehow we believe that this year will be different.

And yet somehow it isn't. Why is that? Because:

1) We have too many goals. Change is hard, so trying to change multiple facets of your life all at once is extremely difficult. Prioritize your goals and work on one or two at a time. The others will keep for another day.

2) Our goals are unreasonable. I don't care how much you love horses, if you are a 6 foot tall, 250lb. man, you are not going to be a jockey. Don't give up on your dreams, simply put aside unattainable goals and work on those you have a real chance of achieving.

3) We don't have a plan of action to achieve our goals. You need to map out a plan for reaching your goals on a day-by-day, week-by-week, month-by-month schedule, with firm dates for reaching your goals and milestones to mark your progress.

This year I plan to put these three steps into action. This year I will succeed, because I will follow a plan for focusing my energy on accomplishing what I need to do in order to reach my goals.

May you reach your goals in 2009! Happy New Year!

Back-to-School: Goal Setting Time

For those of you with younger children, your back-to-school experience will no doubt include a parent-teacher conference and a chance to set some goals for your child this year. However, many middle and high schools forego this process. After all, the kids rotate from classroom to classroom and work with several different teachers. You can't have a conference with each one.

In lieu of the parent-teacher conference, you should sit down with your student and come up with your own set of goals. These should include expectations regarding study time, recreation time, and after-school activities. What kind of grades should he strive for, what social and behavioral goals should he have? Make the goals realistic and agree upon rewards for achieving those goals. Write up a contract with your child and check it throughout the year to see how he's doing.

This is a great tool for keeping your child on track and helping him to succeed in school.