Hey Team,
I want to start today’s post by reminding you, as I often do, that when it comes to your plans/goals/ideas for the year ahead: you are the boss of you.
Yes, yes, there are extenuating circumstances and different pressures and various complications BUT when it comes down to deciding what you are going to take on, what you are going to release, and/or how you will expand/enhance your life, you get to decide the terms.
You can decide what feeling you are going for and what actions you are going to take to get there.
You can take on an audaciously big challenge or take one teensy step at a time.*
You can do detailed tracking or you can put an X on the calendar or you can just keep track in your head.
You can decide what ‘counts’ as done.
You can decide for yourself how and when to fit your plans and ideas into your life.
You can ignore those people who insist that there is only one time/place/approach/technique that works and, instead, you can find your own way towards your goal.
You can forge ahead on your plan for a little while, get sidetracked or take a break, and then come back to it.
You can start with one plan and adjust on the fly and/or you can start with a plan, take a few loopy turns and then adjust things to meet your current needs.
I could go on like this forever (just ask my friends!) but the long and the short of it is that you know yourself best and you are the only one living your life so you get to decide the terms by which you will work toward your goals.
You can start with a big plan or you can start by ambling in the general direction of your goal.
You can start whenever and however you want.
You get as many do-overs as you need and you can change your plans as often as you want.
The only thing that you MUST do is to be kind to yourself in the process.
And, to be fair, since being kind to ourselves is really hard and involves a lot of unlearning, you get lots of do-overs for that, too.
If you realize you are being hard on yourself, please don’t be hard on yourself about that too. Instead, just notice that it happened and try being just a smidge kinder to yourself in the moment. (Self-kindness is a practice, just like everything else.)
So, Team, for your efforts to set your own terms, to be kind to yourselves about them, and for your efforts towards your goals (yes, even if you are in the planning stages like me), here’s today’s gold star.
Go Team Us!
* Different approaches work for different plans, you can figure out which one you need for the situation at hand.
