Resolution skipping and short term goals (Guest post)

Every year I work on the New Year’s resolutions, with S.M.A.R.T. (but lofty) goals so I can start January with the right attitude and a plan. Like most people, by February, I’ve lost the plan in a sea of papers that I never got around to decluttering and by March, I’m stuffing pizza in my face and wondering why my pants are still tight.

After a year that ended in complete burn-out, with just a few goals met, I’ve decided that I’ll start my January a bit differently. I will still identify some personal and professional goals, but will keep them relatively modest. But I’m going to spend time reflecting on what went sideways last year that took me over the edge to total burnout. I joke that I broke my feet on purpose to get some time off in December, but there’s some element of truth in that statement. I wasn’t able to schedule my surgery myself, but the timing couldn’t have been better. I needed the time off and apparently needed a week to just lie in bed, stoned on opiates, with my feet propped up and Ted Talks and Netflix entertaining me.

Now that I’ve had a few weeks off with a few more days to go, I feel like I can tackle the new year. I realize that I’m in a much better head space now. I ended the year at work with a really great team where we can redistribute work moving forward, and I feel that I’m finally in a place where I can take tighter control of my calendar. My goal for January is to focus on cleaning up the backlog of projects that went sideways in 2015 (3 of them!) and solve some process problems so I can reengage in February with my clients.

I feel like solving these issues with work will help me to focus again on the basics: eating clean and healthy and working out regularly. Once my feet are healed, I’ll go back to running, back to yoga and just by virtue of the fact that I can’t drive or walk far in January will force me to take lunches to work. Other than that, I’m not setting big lofty goals, I’m not setting my goal to become a concert violinist, hit top 5 in the highland games or lose 40lbs but am interested this year in balancing my work and life. I would hope that finding that balance will open up all kinds of possibilities and ensure I’m not so exhausted I can’t play or even notice the opportunities.