So obviously it is a new year...right. I mean, yesterday I did put a check in the mail to XM and realized right before I sent it that I had put on the check 2010 instead of 2011. I hate wasting stamps, but there wasn't much I could do but open the envelope and fix my mistake. I am sure this will happen to me another 20 times before I get it right.
That should probably be the least of my worries though, because that is a habit that is easily broken. 2010 has been an eventful year for us as a family, and for me as an individual. There were a couple of goals I set for myself last year that I feel like I have accomplished, first - learning to sew and second - learning to cook (or learning to cook better, at least). There are other goals however that I know I did not accomplish. Which is what I face each year. Andy and I were talking about goals the other night. I told him that I figured out what my problem is. Instead of really thinking about the things I want to accomplish, I just write goals down without committing myself to them. Therefore, by January 3rd I am already off to a horrible start. So this year I am doing something different. Instead of writing a list of goals that I know I have no real desire to accomplish, I am picking
ONE focus for the year. One thing I can and really want to focus on. Something I can look back on and realize that,
yes, I can accomplish
something I put my mind to! I can set a goal for myself and achieve that goal.
I read this story once...instead of me paraphrasing it I will just give it to you word for word (don't report me)...
When President Spencer W. Kimball was fifteen years old, he heard a speaker at stake conference ask how many people had read the Bible from cover to cover. Only five or six hands went up, so the speaker urged the people to go home and begin. “The meeting over, Spencer walked the block home, took down the family Bible, climbed the stairs to his attic room, lit the coal-oil lamp with a match, and began at Genesis. Night after night, by the flickering light of a kerosene lamp in the unfinished attic where he slept, … he plowed through the pages. At some points Spencer had only half an idea what he was reading, but he had made up his mind. It did not matter if long stretches were boring; he plodded on. He was sure it was a worthwhile project. At least he would have some idea what the Bible contained. He kept at it for about a year until he could shut the book with great pride, finished. The experience built his confidence. He had learned he could count on his own resolution”
(Edward L. Kimball and Andrew E. Kimball, Jr., Spencer W. Kimball [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1977], p. 56).
Isn't that what goal setting is really about? Learning that we can
count on our own resolution? Maybe it isn't really about what the goal is, but more about what we put our mind to?
Flakiness and unreliability are two of my least favorite qualities that someone may posses...but really, am I flaky and unreliable myself? If I can't count on my own resolve to do something, how can anyone else count on me? As I type that, maybe that should be my focus for the year....or maybe that will come with actually achieving my goals. We will see.
Anyway, what is my
said focus for the year? Simply this:
Be more diligent in studying the scriptures and applying them to my life. I understand that at the end of the year this may be hard to gauge, it may be different for some than for others...but I feel that not only with this help me to grow and become a better person but it is something I feel is certainly worth the time and effort I put into it.
So there you have it...and here is to 2011. Hopefully I can learn to
count on my own resolution.
