New You for a New Year :: Day 3

Welcome back for Day 3 of this 7-day series of review and resolutions. If you’re just joining us, you’ve picked the perfect place to jump in! Here’s what we’ve covered so far …

:: Day 1

:: Day 2

My review has me thinking about what I’ve accomplished, and it’s given me some clear perspective about where I’m headed. My New Year’s resolutions are beginning to take shape. I truly hope it’s offering the same amount of clarity for you!

Day 3

Can you think of any time in the last year where a setback forced you to slow down?
In what areas of life are you being asked to step it up a notch?

I refuse to think of resolutions as a list of self-imposed expectations. Ugh. Instead, I think ahead to the coming year, and I ask myself one simple question:

What do you want?

Put pen to paper and allow the answer to this question to spill out of you. Trust me, it will. Follow up on that response with:

What are some things you can do to make it happen {all that stuff you want}?
What habits might you adopt to see it all come true?

Here are my results for 2012:

Where have I been forced to slow down or asked to step it up a notch?

This is my last year in New Zealand, and I have to say, there’s a feeling of productivity in the air. Days pass surprisingly fast, and here I don’t have the rewards I typically enjoy at home (i.e., Target, day spas, a DVR, etc.). I can almost hear the wind chanting, “Get it done.” However, a couple of years ago as I was doing a reflection, I realized that I had illnesses and an injury which required major bed rest. That year, I felt like I got benched from the game, and I wondered, “I’m being asked to slow down; what have I been passing up?”

I think Life {or God, Jesus, the Universe, or Spirit … whichever feels most true} is always sending you important signals to help guide your way. In going into the New Year, it’s important to heed those messages.

What do I want?

I freaking love this question. Would you believe that for years, it never occurred to me to ask it?

I want to invite more role models into my Life and harbor close, friendly relationships with them. I love a good role model!
I want to walk into every room and every situation feeling the affirmation, “For this is where I belong.”
I want to get paid to be me. I want to contribute to a comfortable lifestyle for my family.
I want to LOVE and TRUST everyone around me. I mean, BIG. I want a true inner circle that’s full of support and respect.
I want a book contract.

What are some things you can do to create it? What are some habits you can adopt?

I have two major habits that I’m trying to adopt right now:

Finish the 2 most important things before doing ANYTHING else that day.
Avoid the self-sabotage train.

I’m very gentle with myself when it comes to adopting new habits. For example, I really want to cut out some sugar from my diet and exercise more often. But, quite honestly, putting those expectations on myself is a guaranteed ticket to the self-sabotage train. All aboard!

When change-of-habits are too extreme for me, I make a martini, put on some Real Housewives, and eat a box of chocolates. It’s my only defense. The martini leads to a bottle of a wine, which inevitably makes my stomach sour the next day. Therefore, I don’t want to exercise; I want to eat a solid McDonald’s breakfast … a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit and hash brown is the only thing that will do me right in that situation.

It’s a downward spiral. A couple of days later, I’ll get off the self-sabotage train and find I’ve taken 1-step forward and 2-steps back.

That said, I’d like to explain that finishing the 2 most important things before doing ANYTHING else that day is damn hard on me. Typically, I wake up and check email, and all emails have crumbs that lead to different little online paths and trails, and I follow all of those different trails for an hour or two. It’s not productive, but I really love doing it. I like email a lot.

Therefore, I’m trying to adopt that habit for at least one day every week, but my goal is to do it two days per week. Ultimately, I’d like to be in the habit of doing the 2 most important things first for all five working days of the week. That will be one of my New Year’s resolutions, but if I tried to adopt the entire expert level of that habit tomorrow, well, I’d need a martini by noon.

Let me just say, though, doing the 2 most important things first is the recipe for uber-productivity. My light commitment to the practice has proven me that.