Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Holiday Recovery

I love Halloween--the candy, the costumes, the creepy decorations. I love Thanksgiving--the focus on gratitude, the days off with family, the food. Then comes the depression. I'm never ready for it, but I'm always grateful for January and the routine and normalcy it provides. I feel pretty good this year that it hasn't taken the whole month to recover.

Resolutions? Haven't set any for many years. It isn't that I don't believe in them or that I'm so far gone by January 1 that I can't even change a habit. It's that goal setting is a habit. A weekly habit. A monthly habit. This week my goal was to write 200 words per day. Not quite making it, but hope to make up for some of that today.

Some things I find that work:

Set small, manageable goals. Especially goals that take 10-15 minutes (because some days that's what's manageable).

Know yourself. If larger blocks of time are more manageable for difficult tasks, go for it.

Have a punishment for not working on the goal. Some things that have worked for me: delete an app from my phone or iPad if I don't meet the goal; take a 3:00 a.m. 'walk with God' to discuss with Him why you didn't meet the goal (who wants to get up at 3:00 a.m. let alone grovel and try to explain away three hours on Pinterest or Facebook? You get the idea.)

Don't give up. If you miss a day, commit to restart the next day.

Have Accountability Partners. For my writing, it's my critique group. For my personal life, it's my husband. They truly make all the difference.

What are some things that work for you in staying commited to a resolution or goal? Leave me a comment! (because, you know, I need all the help I can get)

2 comments:

  1. Haha. I like the punishment! I just feel guilty and call it good. I do get up at 3 in the morning but it's usually because the dog is dreaming and woke me up with sounds of scratching the wall or carpet as she's running in her sleep. I usually set resolutions every year but this year never got around to it. No guilt ;-)

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