It takes resolve....
I have spent the last 48 hours thinking about resolutions. Should I make a NY Resolution? Should I not and save myself the typical failure? Tough call! Add to this thought process that I am a big procrastinator, it shouldn't surprise you that I finally have made my resolution - a day late!
I considered many different ones.
In actuality, as I spent the last 24 hours thinking about both of them, I realized that they both hit the same vein - the whole procrastination thing.
And so a resolution for 2009 was born.
Stop using procrastination as a method of avoidance for getting things done by writing one non-negotiable thing on my to do list each day and accomplishing it - thereby accomplishing 365 things in the year to come.
Whew. Aren't you glad that is over?? I am. And I will count the creation of this resolution as #1 on the list of 365. (We procrastinators are good at taking something already done and calling it "yesterday's work" in a method of avoidance of today's work).
I considered many different ones.
- Over at The Girl Next Door, I read that she has plastered her mirrors, fridge and the like in a resolve to lose some excess baggage - but her excess baggage is more like an overnight makeup bag compared to my steamer trunk, two "must be checked into the baggage hold" suitcases, two overhead bin compatible flight cases, and six suit bags. Losing the junk in the trunk as a resolution? Nahhhhhhhhh.
- On Facebook, I noted that a friend in Paris resolved to Create this year. Hmm. I am pretty creative. I found this interesting, as this gent has a unique ability in this world to create no matter what he does. Of late, he has been taking black and white photos of random things in Paris. These photos are genuinely professional quality, and could be exhibited in a gallery. Dude also cooks with the best of them, owns a 24 hour fitness center in the States, manages the schedule of 4 busy girls, stands side by side with his Fortune 500 Vice President Wife (whom he never fails to show love to distraction). And is a closet musician. Create? This guy is the definition of create. Hmmm. Yeah, I could do that. Wait - does creating excuses to play online all day count? Nahhhhh.
- Also on facebook yesterday (see, I am "Creating!), by beeee-you-tiful niece threw out resolutions that are well focused. Hitting the Dave Ramsey program, drinking more water, sticking to a budget, reducing clutter, composting, recycling, planting a summer garden...all this when she is pregnant with her second (her first is 18 mos). Ah youth - you gotta be young to accomplish that! Of course this is a girl that received her bachelor's degree within a year of obtaining her high school diploma. (Just thinking about her and her accomplishments makes me freaking tired!!). I am not silly enough to think I can keep up with the youth of today. So....Nahhhhhhhh.
- Stop using Procrastination as a method of avoidance
OR - Write one non-negotiable thing on my to do list each day and accomplish it - thereby accomplishing 365 things in the year to come.
In actuality, as I spent the last 24 hours thinking about both of them, I realized that they both hit the same vein - the whole procrastination thing.
And so a resolution for 2009 was born.
Stop using procrastination as a method of avoidance for getting things done by writing one non-negotiable thing on my to do list each day and accomplishing it - thereby accomplishing 365 things in the year to come.
Whew. Aren't you glad that is over?? I am. And I will count the creation of this resolution as #1 on the list of 365. (We procrastinators are good at taking something already done and calling it "yesterday's work" in a method of avoidance of today's work).
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Let us then be up and doing
With a heart for any fate
Still achieving, still pursuing
Learn to labor and to wait
Remember that last line: part of doing is waiting, and for me one of the hardest things I ever learned was when not to take action. That's not procrastination, even if the outward appearance is the same. Many things resolve themselves on their own without my help.
I never manage to make resolutions (plus I'm of the opinion that every day is a new opportunity to start a resolution since it's the first day of a new year), and I'm still too busy getting stuff done to finish Getting Things Done (even if I like the program because it appeals to the organized geek in me.
That said, don't forget that you accomplish plenty in a day. Most of it goes unrecognized and often unappreciated ("Thanks for the clean clothes!" "Thanks for teaching me how to clean bathrooms!" "Thanks for modelling not losing it when I left all my toys in the living room! You've taught me a life skill I'll never forget" Hahahahaha). But setting a goal and taking one step toward it each day is a very good thing.