New years tend to be the time when people look back and reflect on their past year to admire and take notes for the year that is graciously waiting to take over. Ambitions are written, shopping lists take on a makeover, and new goals are set in place. Each January looks different, but as soon as the rut of life takes the reins, February reverts to our typical way of life. Writing down goals is great, but it’s the follow-through that lends us complications. New years is a great time to try something, start something, or push ourselves. Starting at a fresh beginning allows one to break away from their typical habits and launch in a different direction. But, sometimes having lists of goals and ambitions can become more of a stress causer than a motivator. Yet again, others thrive off of proving to themselves that they can accomplish their list. It is all in pace and grace.
My Kind Of List
I have written many lists, set many goals, and tried different methods to achieve them. I will say that the ones that I had written with the new year in mind, tended not to last. They became lost in the shuffle of a new year. New years come drenched in exciting beginnings that sweep us away and provide us with an updated version of our year in rewind. There are so many anticipated events that overlap with each year, yet each year holds an entirely new and unexpected hand of cards. I have tried the massive list of personal year goals as well as years to come goals and ambitions. I have also experimented with the idea of dialing back and sticking with a minimalist list of ambitions to allow myself to not become overwhelmed in trying to reach the moon but to climb each stare one at a time. For me, having smaller lists allows me to lose the stress and not become overwhelmed in trying to accomplish everything. Some achievements take time and some take discipline and concentration. I find that when we try to enter into that time of looking back to-then look forward to planning what we want our next steps to be, I begin to become over-ambitious. There is no need to have a list of 10-20 things. The top three most important can be more than enough.
Mine Experiences
When I was younger, I would write year goals as well as life goals. I quite often would lose interest or give up on my new year's new list and repeatedly miss place the second. But, on occasion, I would find my life goal list while cleaning and read the things that I had accomplished without even realizing that I had placed them on a list of dreams. However, the new year's list always fell out of sight. I expected too much of myself without allowing myself the room to acquire a new skill I would try to jump in without warming up. To jump into something cold-turkey might work for some, but for the mass majority it would set us up to fail. Goals, dreams, and ambitions aren’t obtained all in one day, week, or even the first month. It is a slow progression of patience, discipline, and trial and error. I would often workout more, eat healthier, sleep more, and read more of my Bible appear on my lists. Occasionally there were others, but for the most part, those were the recurring cast. And they tended to never show up to practice until I stopped making them a goal on a list written with little to no plan of action trying to perfect it by the first month. I began to treat them as a life goal that I wanted to ease into. I have discovered that, for me, new year's resolutions tend to be more effective when the list is one or two goals that I can focus on to regiment myself enough to efficiently accomplish them. This year, I have two tasks that I am going to easily remember and give myself time and grace to work towards. It might take more than this upcoming year to carry out, but this new year will be my base. Every project needs a sturdy base to then create an environment that is welcoming to challenges and thoughts of giving up.
To Each Their Own
We all have our preferences and each knows our motivators. My condensed list might not be ambitious enough for someone else who needs a full-length list to drive them forward and fuel their upcoming year. Some jump to the basics and run out to receive memberships and meal plans then end up back at square one a month or two later. Others don’t plan at all and let the reset roll over them. Some have charts and photo boards. While others “manifest” for the next race through time. Personally, manifesting to me is a modernized word that people use to be the face of praying for. All of our hopes, dreams, goals, and prayers are our personalized letters for ourselves for the next new year taking ownership of our next steps as we move forward. It shows that we take our lives seriously to try our best each new day that we are given. It is easy to give up and say “oh it’s just my new year's resolutions” allowing a cop-out to evolve. But, how can we adjust the ambitions that we care about enough to place it on the list in the first place?
5, 4, 3, 2, 1… Happy New Year!
Having a list written when the clock strikes 12 just like Cinderella's magic and everything becomes reset won’t matter unless we have the discipline to carry it out. It is not a necessity to have goals waiting for the 365-day encore, but it is helpful to propel us to try to achieve something that we are normally too busy or not ready to start. I always used to fail with long drawn-out lists, but this year I have honed down on the ones that make me excited to step over the threshold of a new year. Amazingly, each year we are given a set of new and fresh 12 months to: carry on, push ourselves, try, celebrate, and share Jesus. Despite whether or not we have designated goals that we discipline ourselves to work on or if we have projects that we expect ourselves to finally finish, we can step into this new year excited. We can learn from the trials of the year that we are stepping out of and look forward to new adventures and trials that will be thrown at us.
I hope that you all had an amazing Christmas. And are looking forward to the countdown headed our way. Although the years seem to be flashing by quicker each year and we just began to write the correct year down, we are so blessed by the opportunity to try again. New years goals and resolutions can look a hundred different ways. Writing them down is only the first step, we have a whole new season to carry them out and not give up. Thank you for joining in on this year's lessons and adventures, I am looking forward to what is to come. As always subscribe, share, follow on Instagram (@theallie.way), and let me know what you want to read more of this upcoming year. Thanks for following along Allie-Cats! Happy New Year!
Dru Allie
Comments