Making a list, Checking it twice

A new year often means a time to start fresh. To do that, we set goals for ourselves. Often the goals are the same ones we set the prior year, and failed to accomplish. The only thing we really do, is rewrite them more neatly, on a fresh piece of paper.

Having long ago accepted this as an exercise in futility, at least for me, I no longer bother. But I read an interesting post on another blog that made sense to me. (See it here)

Instead of setting goals like 'lose weight', 'get in shape', or heaven forbid, 'run a marathon', think about the motivation behind these goals. In this case, 'feel good about myself.' Then choose a few words about how you want to feel, or what you want to be.

My list would look something like this:
Patient
Enthusiastic
Hardy
Whimsical
Amiable

Then make choices in 2011 to achieve them. 

It's an interesting concept to think about. Even if you don't write them down, just forming them in your mind is quite insightful.

But should you decide to simply dust off the old list, I have only this to say. Doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result, is a sign of insanity.