This Year Will Be Different, I Swear: Making Goals and Resolutions that Work

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine,
and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon,
'Yes.'"
~ Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Beginning in January, I am participating in the One Page a Day Challenge.  Hopefully by the end of the year, I'll have 365 pages worth editing.

I

t happens: days when nothing seems to go right.  When you desperately need a do-over.  Just go back to bed, pull up the covers, and try again tomorrow. 

For me, 2013 was whole year of days where I should have just slept in.

Okay, that might be a bit of an overstatement.

The entire year didn’t go to hell in a hand basket.  But there were days, days that seemed to last for weeks.  So many missed opportunities, silence when words would have been healing; words when silence should have prevailed.

I know I’m not the only one.  I’m sure you had days like that too.

Out with the Old Canvas

Of course, the year wasn’t an entire loss. 

I celebrated the weddings of two dear friends, visited Alaska for the first (and hopefully not last) time, discovered three new places to buy vintage hats, made new friends, reconnected with old friends, helped a friend plant her first garden, cooked Thanksgiving dinner and shared the meal o’ meat with other friends, and became a godmother for the second time.

But those were the golden splashes that brighten an otherwise dark canvas.

Now it’s past time to put that painting away, stretch a new canvas, and paint a more colourful 2014.

Same Paint, Different Landscape

Everyone makes resolutions this time of year and we all know how most of those end:

Image credit: Facebook

The longest I’ve kept my resolutions was a month.  The shortest was about two weeks.  Sometimes it’s a question of will ~ or lack thereof.  Sometimes it’s a question of self-discipline.  And sometimes it’s a question of word play.

Words have power.

Words have meaning.

Words matter.

So this year, I don’t have resolutions.  I don’t have goals.  I have...a plan.  Maybe thinking of my self-improvement as a plan will fake me out enough to actually follow through. 

The Plan

The plan is simple, because the more complicated it becomes, the less likely I will be to adopt it, follow through with it, and achieve it.  So here it is in all its simplicity:

Image credit: M. D’Eigh, 2013

And part of my dastardly plan is to post my progress here.  This will ~ in theory ~ hold me accountable and make it easier to stay on track.  But this year I will also be kinder to myself.  While the major objectives will remain the same, the specific measures may change.  And that’s okay, as long as the end goal is still met at the end of the year.

So….will you keep me accountable?

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

What are your plans and goals for 2014?  How do you stay on track to realize your dreams?