Continuing on with our “Live Life Now!” series…..

Let’s get moving with our goal setting. With these 3 simple steps, you can solidify the goals you want to accomplish for this year.  (Side bar: I am using the word “goals”, but you may want to use another word that resonates better with you. Resolutions? Habits? Routine? Accomplishment? For the sake of this newsletter, I will call them “goals”).

A few things to mention here.  You shouldn’t have too many goals or you won’t be able to achieve them.  I suggest to narrow it down to 3 main goals for now. This makes it manageable and not overwhelming. Consider narrowing it down to one goal in each of the categories of mind, body, and soul.  Of course, you are the master of what you want to achieve, so make the right choices for you.

When goal setting, these 3 simple steps are important:
1.  Decide on what you want.
2.  Write it down as specifically as possible.
3.  Give it a deadline.

Deciding on what you want.  These goals are personal to you.  Don’t worry about what others will think.  What do you want?

Be specific.  Being specific comes from the fact there are so many things fighting for your attention in this world and our brain can’t take them all in at once. Our brain aligns what we see with what we know and what we are looking for.

Write it down.  When you write it down, your brain believes it much more than a simple wish.  Your brain thinks you’re serious about your goal.

Give it a deadline.  Without a deadline, your goal will remain a someday item on your life list and you many never achieve it.  The date you put down motivates you to take action.

My goals for this year:
A1.  Declutter (Decide on what I want)  (Entails mind or body category)

A2.  Closet, garage, and computer (Be specific and write it down)
With my computer, I get way too many emails.  I’m going to stop subscribing to those emails that aren’t productive for me anymore.  Also, I’m going to clean up my email file folders.
In my closet, I plan to separate my clothing and accessories into 3 groups:  save, donate, and sell.
I will be paying it forward by donating my clothing, so it’s a win-win.

A3.  By March 31, 2020 (Give it a deadline)

Another goal I’m considering this year is creating a vegetable garden.
B1. Vegetable garden (Decide on what I want)  (Entails soul and body category)

B2. Growing spinach, radish, tomatoes, and mushrooms (Be specific and write it down)

B3. By August 31,2020 (Give it a deadline)
Having a small vegetable garden is something I’ve thought of for quite sometime.  And yes, living in Las Vegas, you can grow an outdoor vegetable garden in our climate, as crazy as that sounds. I will be reading up on vegetable gardening and reaching out to vegetable gardeners.  I want to continue to have healthy meals, and since I try to eat a salad a day, I thought maybe I can grow my own vegetables.  I will have to research this a bit more.

So, I think you get the idea.  You can always add more to your goal list as you complete each item off your list. I can even give myself a deadline for each of the tasks to get even better with deadlines (such as specific complete dates for reading about vegetable gardening thru blogs or books).  See how easy that was? Easy peasy.

Oh yeah, about failure…..Don’t think about failure.  If your goal was to read a book a month and you didn’t, you didn’t fail at it.  Your’e still at the same place before you started.  If you didn’t hit the mark on the first time, try again, again, and again.

Final thoughts….

• Some goals are ongoing and never really get completed.  A goal of better self care is one you must practice your entire life.
• New goals can be added once you complete any of your main goals.
• You can do this one small step at a time.
• The beauty of goal setting is not only the achievement of the goal, but who you become in the process.