Evaluating the Past Year and Setting Goals Moving Forward

My apologies for the silence for the past 2 weeks!  It's been a very busy time!

I stopped making resolutions years ago.  

There!  I said it!

I kept thinking to myself, "Why am I making these rediculous resolutions, breaking them by the 2nd week, and they're ancient history by March?"  This was leaving behind such pangs of guilt that would rival the highest peaks of the Himalayas!!

Instead I said to myself, "Goals are much easier!  Let's set some good, affirming, life giving goals!"

So I began!  

Or...rather....I began again, and again, and again!

But this time, I wasn't breaking resolutions.  I was looking at my goals realistically, reviewing my progress, reassessing any needs I may have and making needed changes to help with my progress.

Did I fail?!  

YES!!!! 

Did I give up?!  No!

Sometimes when I came to a difficult realization, I had to reassess all things about these particular goals.  For example, I made the goal of getting up before everyone and reading my Bible every day.  It was a wonderful goal.  It called for discipline to get up around 6AM and get my Bible read.  Interestingly, sleep, or the lack thereof got in the way.  So, I looked at the situation and reassessed my own needs and desires.  As much as I wanted to marinade in the Word for a couple of hours, it just wasn't realistic.  I had to deal with pangs of guilt and ask for forgiveness, but I came up with a plan that worked well.  I read for 10 minutes after lunch while the kids cleaned up the kitchen.  Ten minutes was better than Zero!  So at that point in my life, that worked.

What about now?

Now, my husband and I are teetering on the precipice of being completely emtpy nesters.  What a new and novel thing for us to be faced with!  

What will happen?  I don't know, but I have 7 areas that I will be working on in the coming weeks because this will be happening before we know it!  

1). Fitness

2). Finance

3). Family

4). Field

5). Faith

6). Friends

7). Fun

You can find these concepts in the Oola books.  There is their flagship book called Oola:  Finding Balance in an Unbalanced World.  There is Oola for Women, Oola for Christians, and a couple Oola books for business.  

I have 3 of their books and I do love them.  I'm finding that, like everything else, I'm tweaking their thoughts just a wee bit with regard to my own.  

With these areas I've found with other trainings I've attended that they touch on very similar topics.  Balance!  If one area does not get the right amount of attention, it's going to suffer.  So, I need to become stronger in that area to not just succeed, but to bring in a good balance to my life.  

I could tell you my own personal goals for each of the 7 areas, but I have one other concern:  accountability.  To whom can I be accountable?

A mentor...

My husband...

My best friend...

My dog...

...ok, that last one was supposed to be funny! LOL  

Well, anyway, who can be a mentor to me in all of those areas combined?  Truth is that usually only one person can be a mentor in one to three areas...

...usually...

Do I have a mentor?  Truthfully, No, I do not.  I would like to find one.  I've been praying for a Titus 2 Godly mentor for years.  I do have someone in mind, but I'm waiting for God to confirm that to me.

As for evaluating this past year, I look at the 7 areas I listed above and truthfully look at every area, scrutinizing them honestly and say, "Did I put forth my all in this area?  Could I have done better?  What specifically could I improve?  How do I do that?  What tools do I need to accomplish that?"  and so forth.  I started looking at the acronymn SMART. 

So many of us, I know, are just spinning our wheels in life, not truly working toward a goal or a target in any area, just hoping to hit something when we shoot that arrow.  Is it any wonder there is no progress?!   

I learned a long time ago that in order to make progress in my life, I had to make a concerted effort daily in small chunks of time, to hit the larger goal of "XYZ" in any given area.  

It takes focus, determination, and grit to persevere toward those goals!  Setting goals, I need to be SMART about it.  

Did I hit all my goals this year?  No.  But, I'm not giving up!  I've made progress toward a greater goal in many areas of my life.  I'm improving steadily, adjusting my goals and making tweaks as I go.  

What about you?  Let me know how you're coming with your goals!  I'd love to hear from you!

Love & God Bless,

Regina