This is the time of year when many of us write down our plans for the new year. For me, the plan is usually a combination of a lot of things that cover both the personal and professional domains of my life. And as I think about what worked and what didn't work in 2009, and use what I've learned to create the new plan, I find myself surrounded by hundreds of "shoulds".
I should lose weight. We all know that diets begun on January 1 of any year are doomed to failure, and I'm trying to create a plan that is "should-less". I think I will call Margaret Rome, who I saw today and who looks just stunning, minus about 25 pounds.
I should stop playing computer games. Yeah, like making it a should is going to help me cut out this one. Fat freakin' chance! So maybe if I figure out a way to start each morning off with a conversation with my Sweetie where I swear to him that I will avoid Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook for an entire day, and if I break my solemn oath I will have to tell him about it - hmmm. That could work!
And the should list could go on and on. You know, keeping my office organized, de-cluttering my house, cleaning out the trunk of my car, getting a better system for keeping in touch with clients, figuring out the Tweet thing and revising my book.
But it's really not about the shoulds.
It's about remembering what works and mastering new skills. And it's writing a plan for what works and then just doing it.
Ah, and the just doing it thing! That's the rub, for me at least.
Something tells me that most of the Active Rain bloggers know all about the importance of writing it down. A written plan is so much more powerful that some airy fairy ideas floating around our little brains.
So I'm spending the next three weeks setting goals - goals with specific, measurable results - and writing out each one how I am going to go about meeting them.
And it's all going to be "should free".
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