By: Liz Queen
Dear Liz Queen:
OK, I’ve stuck to my New Year’s resolutions for nearly three weeks now. But January is almost over and I’m afraid I’m going to fall off the cliff! I really want to stay on track this year. I don’t want to lose ground and I don’t want to get discouraged.
RESPONSE:
So you’re afraid you’re about to spend another year reading your book that someone else wrote? The best way to keep from falling off the cliff is to slowly back away from the ledge.
Assuming your goals are realistic, try shifting your focus from fear and diminish your discouragement by doing! Supplement your passive “To Do” list with your active “Look What I’ve Accomplished!” inventory. The former focuses on the stream of “stuff” that literally never ends – has there ever been a time in your life when there was absolutely nothing you needed to do? Turning your attention to what you’ve actually done is a real-time acknowledgement of the progress you’re making.
Try it: as you wind down each day, consider what you’ve done, both big feats and small tasks. Going to the grocery store today may not have resulted in a page being written. But it let you stock up on healthy snacks to munch on when you write those two paragraphs tomorrow (and yes, you can record all that as accomplishments!). Didn’t get something done today? Look forward to that as one of tomorrow’s accomplishments.
And don’t forget to applaud your biggest accomplishment of every day:
#KeepingYourFootOnTheRock