(Almost) Year End Resolutions

And suddenly, it’s the first week in December. How did that happen? Even though I’ve thought in academic years for most of my life, I still like the idea of taking time at the end of the calendar year to reflect on the months past and those to come. At the first of this year, I decided to work on a series of very specific goals modeled on author, teacher, Matthew Dicks’ version of goal setting. While the year isn’t completely over, I’ve already started thinking about the coming year.

First, I forgot to share my goals in November, probably because I didn’t do so well with tracking in October since I was down with a cold for a bit. And then we traveled and had a second Thanksgiving at our house on Saturday so not good tracking or progress this past week. Second, I want to think about whether I want to use this method again, and if so what would be on the list. If I don’t want to do this, what might I do? Traditional resolutions, one word, or something completely new. While I don’t yet know what I’ll do, I know I’ll do something for the year. So, what lessons have I learned?

And that’s my first lesson, though it’s not all that new. I do better when I have a list to work from or toward. I get more done in a busy day if I have a clear list of priorities for that day. Even more importantly, I get more done when the day is not busy if I have a list to remind me, there are some tasks to accomplish. The same is true for the entire year. By just giving myself a thing to check-off daily, I’ve been more thoughtful about my reading this year. Oh, I can hit high numbers of books in a year if I immerse myself in fiction and old favorites. This year, I’ve read a better balance of fiction and non-fiction by just thinking more about reading each day rather than just grabbing something off the shelf. And I’ve enjoyed it just as much. This also works for reminding me to get up and move at least 30 minutes a day. Not 100%, but I get out of my chair and move a lot more often than I would have without the daily goal.

This particular style of goal setting worked for me – sort of. And that’s my second lesson – also not an earthshaking revelation. Putting stuff on a detailed list isn’t magic. If I’m not really all that interested in memorizing poetry, putting it on the list doesn’t make it happen. I still have to do the work. And while I love the idea of having memorized many poems, I clearly don’t love it enough. I haven’t memorized a single poem all year. I’ve just ignored that goal. Same with memorizing songs on the piano. I enjoy playing the piano, but right now anyway, I don’t want to work at it. I just play around and that’s good enough. So, a shorter list of things I really want to accomplish has a better chance of success.

And then there are the big goals, the ones that don’t get worked on daily, but that I want to keep in front of me. Things like thinking about what to do with this newsletter, and should I make a book from all of these newsletters, making sure to get out and about with Peter at least once a month. All of these are items that I don’t want to ‘lose’ over the course of a year. Each of them is easy to put off until they end in the ‘never got around to it’ pile. But they are still alive, in part because they are important, but also because at least once a month, I have to stop and think about them and make an active decision to do something or not to do something. Both are intentional acts which means the idea is still alive on some level. Sooner or later, I’ll get my thoughts sorted and take steps or I’ll actively take the item off the list. Again, both are intentional and that’s the point.

That’s the point of the entire exercise. In the press of full lives, it is easy to lose track of ideas, goals, things we’d like to do, even things we need to do. Taking the time to decide where we want to spend our time on items large and small and writing them down increases the likelihood of progress. (As always I go back to the lesson I learned from Margaret Wheatley, “Writing it down captures the thought.”)

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be thinking about this year’s list and deciding on next year’s. Then, usually in the week between Christmas and New Year’s, I’ll write it down and be ready to start. I hope this newsletter serves as an encouragement for you to do the same.

Take care,

Gage