A Second Chance at 2012 Goal-Setting

By now, almost Feb. of 2012, most New Year's resolutions are already by the wayside.  Even though I don't really make resolutions, I do make goals for the year and I try to make my list during the quiet week between Christmas and New Year's.  I made my goals this year, like every year, but somehow they didn't feel real to me this time around.  A couple of goals had been on my list yearly for about 15 years.  I don't know what made me think I was going to accomplish them this year, if I didn't the other 15 years.

All month long, my 2012 goals had nagged at me and didn't seem real.  Do you ever have those feelings?  To achieve any goal, you have to believe you can actually do it!  One of my goals had been to write a certain book.  I had wanted to write this particular book for many years.  I had the title, I had the chapter headlines, everything but the actual content.  A few days ago, I was going to write a blog post about one of the topics within the book and I realized I didn't have anything new or interesting to say about it!  Boy, was that an eye-opener!  If I couldn't even write a blog post about it, what made me think I could write an entire book about it? 

So what did I do?  I spent this weekend revisiting my 2012 goals and realizing why some of them didn't work for me and never would.  I was making goals of things I thought I should want, or maybe had wanted in the past, but not what I actually wanted right now.  I gave myself permission to tell myself I was never going to write that particular book that had been on my goal list for 15 years.  I now have another one, a better one for me, to take its place.  I am now fairly bursting with energy and excitement about the year!

I also have reframed my other goals to better fit my current lifestyle and values.  I know sometimes I have to percolate on things for awhile to see them clearly.  With all the hoopla around the holidays, it is really hard to do that.  I think I may have to change my goal-setting calendar to Feb. 1 instead of Jan. 1.  I need the quiet month of January to listen to my thoughts and my heart.  I now have some very big, audacious goals that I want to have accomplished by this time next year and I feel in my heart, finally, that I will.

How are you doing so far with your goals for 2012?  Let me know.