Creative Goal Setting for 2011

Today may be January 1st, but since Monday is still a couple of days away, we get a few more days to set our goals before we really have to start working on them – a little New Year’s bonus! Just as I proclaimed gratitude for 99-cent coffee, felt, and Taylor Swift on Thanksgiving, today I’m thinking of real-life, practical, creative,  and do-able goals for 2011:

Remembering roller skating (unfortunately without the skirt and leg-warmers)

Remember past passions. I’m not talking about your high school crush here, but activities we used to love and have forgotten.  Knitting, dancing, photography, roller skating, snowboarding.  What have you stopped doing because life has gotten too busy?  Because you’ve gotten too “old”?  Because money’s too tight?  When I stop and think about it, there are quite a few old passions I have let go stale.  In 2011 I will remember these old flames and give them a chance to ignite my interest once again.

Make my heart race. I have a theory: one of the keys to happiness is pushing ourselves to do things that make us nervous – and succeeding in doing them!  And not just a little nervous, but real heart-pounding, palm-sweating experiences.  These heart-racing activities need not be dangerous, but simply challenging to us.  Taking a rock climbing class, joining Toastmasters, doing a live radio interview, or signing up for a half-marathon in June – what will get your heart thumping this year?

Quit trying so hard. In looking for others’ creative resolutions, I landed on one of my favorite blogs, Young House Love.  I was particularly impressed with Resolution #4 for 2011: “Take the people pleasing thing down a notch.“  Isn’t this something with which so many of us struggle?  Trying to be everything to everyone?  Rarely saying no?  Compromising ourselves to make things easier for others?  Sound familiar?  To quote Young House Love:

“…this Bill Cosby gem is our new mantra: ‘I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.’ Here’s hoping we can trust ourselves to share our lives in a way that feels the most authentic & exciting to us.”

Keep track. I’m pretty sure I read over 100 books last year.  The bummer is, I didn’t keep track so I don’t know for sure.  This year I am committing to log everything I read (and maybe even jotting down a couple of notes) so that never again do I start reading a new library book only to discover it is something I’ve already read.

First book of 2011

 

Is there something you could keep better track of?  Recipes you’ve tried?  Movies you’ve seen?

Stay tuned later this week for more tips about how to keep track of things and get organized (once and for all!) in 2011.