START the New Year

Written by Kimberly Campbell

image

The word start is one of the most anticipatory words and also one of the most terrifying.  But, every January millions of people vow to start many projects, attain goals, or project the outcome of the new calendar year with words like “resolution” and “goals”.  

What is most exciting about January is the prospects of what this new year can hold: will it bring success or failure, love or separation, weight gain or weight loss, or any other possibility that avails itself to you.  What is most terrifying is pretty much the same as the above.  But, with it comes a sense of failure.

I personally love the start of a new year.  It allows me to get a new calendar for blogging, cooking, photography, writing, and weight goals and plans.  It allows me to set attainable plans for the coming year.  Also, it is my birthday in January, so I not only have a new calendar year, but a new year of life!  It is very exciting to start January!

How do you plan on starting (and continuing what you start) the New Year?  Do you plan to start a new exercise routine, new cooking goals, continuing education classes, or maybe you are going to start doing less.  Having goals is not about filling your life and schedule with more things to do.  Some of us are completely too busy in life; we need to orient our lives to be less busy and focus on what is most important.

How do you make these plans and goals?

 
  1. Start by reviewing the past.  What did you like about yourself in 2013?  What do you wish you could change about what happened in this last year?  In order to view the new year with correct lenses, you need to look back at last year.
  2. Start by asking your heart what is important to you.  This is important.  Especially when you spend a lot of time on blogs and other forms of social network, your heart can get pulled in so many directions that you lose sight of who you are.  Look at yourself in the mirror and journal; spend some time by a fire or with a cup of coffee.  Explore your mind, desires, and what drives you!
     
  3. Start by seeking the advice of others.  It is clearly important to have a supportive community around you.  These are friends or family that can help you attain these goals by first helping you plan the goals.  These are people who may see some things in you that you might not see in yourself.  These insights will help you in your planning.
     
  4. Start writing attainable goals.  Goals are not easy to accomplish if they are too grandiose or too vague.  Make them specific and time sensitive.  Here is an example:
    • A bad goal for a blogger would be: I want to be blog more
    • A good goal for a blogger would be: I want to post three blogs a week
    • A great goal for a blogger would be: I want to blog 3 times a week and include a photograph that I’ve taken with each one and post each post on social media sites to increase my blogger influence
    • See the difference?

 

So, what are you going to start doing in this New Year?  And if you don’t get all of your goals started on January 1 – it’s ok.  Any day of any year is a GREAT time to START living and being who you are Designed to be!

Kimberly Campbell is a wife and mom in Little Rock, AR. Her husband is a worship pastor and she has two boys less than 2 years – adorable!  She loves to blog over at http://kd316.com and enjoys living creatively with cooking, writing, and photography.  She loves being outdoors with her family and running!

3 comments

Comments are closed.