Winding Down in January

With January winding down, it is a good time to put our goal action plan into place and work toward achieving our goals.

Keep your action plan within sight every day so it is not forgotten. Work toward goals by taking steps day by day to bring you closer to them. Put the steps you have recorded in your action plan on your daily to-do list, and see how many you can complete in a week.

As you make strides in your action plan, congratulate yourself and remind yourself why you are working toward the goal. For instance, if you want to save money, write down why you want to save. Is it for security? a vacation? a new car? a major purchase?

Once you reach a goal, celebrate your victory in a meaningful way.

Happy New Year

Here we are at the start of a new year. What a great time to look back and celebrate the past year’s successes and see where we could use some improvement. It’s also the best time to set and/or revise goals for 2009.

Goal Setting Tips

• Goals should be attainable but challenging enough to excite you.
• Goals should be as specific as possible.
• Goals should be measurable so you will know when you have reached them.
• Set goals for multiple areas of your life—personal, professional, and spiritual.
• Set a deadline for your goals.
• Put together a workable plan to reach your goals.
• Create both short- and long-term goals.
• Use your strengths when considering goals and developing your plan of action.

Happy goal setting!

Merry Christmas

Hope all of you have a safe, happy holiday season and a Merry Christmas. Make sure to take time to enjoy the beauty of this season by spending quality time with family and friends.

Holidays

The holiday season is upon us once again. It seems it comes around faster and faster each year. That should be a clue that our lives are perhaps too busy. Remember to take some time to be with family and friends and just enjoy their companionship. Listen to carols and enjoy the festive decorations. Instead of thinking of all you have to do to prepare for the holidays as a chore, enjoy the beauty of the season and the fun that the corresponding activities are meant to bring.

Balancing work, play, spirituality, and physical well-being is the best way to enjoy the holiday season and life in general.

Tis the season. Slow down and enjoy!

Relax

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I thought it would be a good time to remind you to take care of yourself and keep the stress to a minimum. Try these stress-reducing techniques:

• Pause at the beginning of each day and give thanks for all the things that are going right in your life.
• Take a break when you feel yourself getting overwhelmed.
• Remember, the holiday season is about being with family.
• Don't let the idea of having the perfect holiday stress you to the point that you cannot enjoy yourself.
• Take a mini vacation in your mind.
• Burn a candle with a stress-reducing fragrance like lavender or vanilla.
• Don’t let the little things overshadow the important things.
• Enjoy yourself and the company of those you love.
  

Reflections

As we draw closer to Thanksgiving, we should be more aware of all those things for which we should offer thanks, and we should be writing them in our gratitude journal. If you do not have a journal, a mental thank you would be appropriate.

Don’t forget to think about all areas of life when giving thanks—spiritual, physical, mental, social. Include family, friends, pets, health and well-being, talents, peace of mind, etc. You get the picture. Take some time within the next couple of weeks, get centered, and open yourself to all of God’s blessings.

Leaving the Comfort Zone

I have been blogging about learning something new, and this week, taking my own advice, I started a new venture—teaching an online typing class. To prepare for teaching this class, I had to take two online classes dealing with online instruction.

After posting an online welcome and learning a little about all of my students, the class was off to a good start. The students are progressing well, and I managed to post their grades, start a forum discussion, and reply to student emails. This has been a totally new experience for me, and I have to admit a bit of anxiety about leaving my comfort zone and being thrown into something so unfamiliar.

I am happy to report all has gone well the first week, and I see things only getting better in the future as I master this “new” experience. My advice—learn something new, and by all means, get out of your comfort zone.