A new year

A new year: time to set goals and reflect on the past. Isn't that right? -- the god Janus looked both forward and backward? OK, have to check Wikipedia... yes, the god of transitions, of beginnings and passages, and also of doors and portals. Such an interesting concept.

The way I do this is to bring out my old clipboard with my lists of goals and successes dating all the way back to 1983/84. That's right: 30 years I've been doing this. It's amazing that I haven't lost the clipboard in all that time -- says something about loss, actually. We're less likely to lose what we REALLY want to keep.

On a new piece of lined paper (this year's is pale purple), I draw a line down the middle of the page. At the top, on the left I write "2013 Accomplishments" and on the right I write "2014 Resolutions" (or whatever year it is). Then I turn to last year's list and look at what I had planned to do. If any of my goals became reality, I write that down. If any of them even vaguely came to pass, I write that down. I go through diaries and blogs, emails and photos. For me, an "accomplishment" can be almost anything: a trip to visit family, a concert or play I attended, a story I wrote. We're not talking grand, earth-shattering achievements here (maybe once in a while). It's just a list of the positive things I did during the year.

This past year, 2013, was notable in that I did many of the things I planned to do. I often don't. For one thing, after I make these lists, I put them away and usually don't look at them again until next New Year's Day. But this year it was as though I'd memorized the list. Move back to Boulder, get the twins settled in kindergarten, go to the doctor, go to the dentist, find a job. Check, check, check, check, check. Not very inspiring, but it all needed to be done and I did it.

One key to getting it right, to achieving a goal, is to set the right goal in the first place. Figure out what you REALLY want to do, think about how you might do it, and then commit to it.

Of course, some goals never seem to see the light. Lose Weight -- that one's on my list year in and year out, with very little success. But it needs to stay on the list so that I remember how important it is. Let's be honest: I don't want to do the work required to make it happen. I'm lazy and I like chocolate. But I want the result, so it stays on the list.

Today, for some reason, I'm having trouble coming up with any major new resolutions. Find a different job? Find Rocket Boy a job? (That's his resolution, not mine, though it would make me happy too.) I need to sit down and think about this -- maybe while I'm on the bus tomorrow, riding to and from downtown Denver. What do I want to do this year? I need to know. If you don't know where you want to go, it's pretty hard to get started.

Once I figure it out, I can fill out the right side of my pale purple piece of paper and put the clipboard away for another year.