Are You Ready to Set Goals for 2023???

 So this year is over and what have we done..... 

I tend to turn everything into songs, making up words to old tunes and a colleague once said to me, "Carolanne, you don't have to turn everything into a song." But I do. My students love it and the aide in my room will deliberately start humming a tune because he knows it will get into my head. Sometimes my students even sing along or make up their own songs.

But seriously, we've made it through the school year and if you're anything like me, you'll be feeling: exhausted, relieved, looking forward to next year, looking forward to sleeping in, looking forward to Christmas, reflecting on what happened over the year, wondering what next year will look like.... mixed emotions and quite frankly, wondering "What have I done, another year is over and I'm on the verge of a new year..."

So, I'm going to mix a few recent emails and conversations together and this is what I want to share with you.

First of all, one person shared how to set goals in a practical way that really resonated within me.

She separated her goals into 3 major categories:

 Predictable goals: things I believe I can do in 2023. For me I will make time to ride my horse/bike each week in order to keep a balance on my stress levels, or at least, help to alleviate them.

 

Growth goals: things I believe are possible for me but I need to grow into them.

 

"It would be amazing if" goals: things that are outside of my current reality and thus, are less believable but also give me hope that I can fly....

Each of those categories are important. 

1. The predictable goals are good for me and are achievable.
2. The growth goals encourage me to stretch myself, have a focus that includes me making an effort; further study, reading, stepping forward etc.
3. The "it would be amazing if" goal inspires me to dream big, think outside the box, "what if?" and be creative.

 

When I check a goal off, I'm going to celebrate each one, no matter which category it comes from! 

I was reading about a lady who had a goal to see the Grand Canyon and when she mentioned it to a friend, she was encouraged not to bother making the trip because it wasn't worth it. When she got there, she was in awe of how amazing it was and she was thankful that she hadn't listened to that friend.

She said, "Sometimes we miss out on even the greatest wonders not because they’re “not that great,” but because we are distracted. Or cynical. Or hurt. Or burnt out. Or entitled. Or just actually hungry.... Maybe the awe gets swallowed up in exhaustion. Maybe we feel like we’ve been there, done that and just stop looking for it. Or maybe we are just looking at it all wrong."

As I consider making goals for 2023, I wonder if I am ready for the next adventure or if I am too exhausted to make meaningful goals. If you relate to that, I want to encourage you to think about the categories and start with the predictable goals - it's taking one step at a time. If you're not ready, then I encourage you to wait until after Christmas before you set your goals in stone. I think that's what I am going to do. I have an idea of what goals I want to set but before then, I want to enjoy Christmas without being distracted by what next year holds. (or might hold)

I am deliberately setting aside thoughts of work, 2023 and all that it encompasses in order to rest, re-set and enjoy my family and the season of Christmas. Those goals are in the back of my mind and over the next couple weeks, they will take shape and perhaps the coming days will influence/impact my goals for 2023.

You can come back to this blog post after Christmas - it will still be here but if you're ready, open your notebook and record what your predictable goals, growth goals, and dream big goals are. Feel free to share your goals for 2023 in the comment space below - I'd love to read them! (Might give me ideas for what my goals might be.)

River Reflections

Be Kind To Yourself

 It is really important that at this busy time of year, you are kind to yourself.

This year I set a goal to walk/ride X amount of kilometres and signed up to Conqueror challenges to ensure I got a medal for my efforts. This would be the 3rd year running (pardon the pun) and every year I've increased the goal a little bit further. Last term, I didn't keep a daily record to keep myself accountable and quite frankly used every excuse I could to excuse my 'slack weeks'. Accordingly, towards the end of Term 3 when I updated my records, I realised how far behind I was and subsequently, had to work hard to get back on track. According to Conqueror records, I am now 40kms ahead of what I would need to be at this point, to reach my end of year goal.

For the past 5 or so weeks, I have been getting up at least 30 minutes earlier to go for a morning walk and get my steps up at the start of the day. While this is beneficial for my mental physical health, it had its drawbacks too. The last couple of weeks have been very busy at school yet, despite being very tired and getting to bed late at night, I still got up early in the mornings and pushed myself to get everything done before I fell exhausted into bed at the end of the day.

Last night as I was going to bed I gave my 'routine and lack of sleep' some serious evaluation. I told myself I will still set the alarm early but choose whether to stay in bed for another half an hour when I woke up.  This morning the alarm went off, I reset it and got up half an hour later.

As I showered and got ready for school, I began scolding myself for my laziness and not getting up early enough to go for a walk. I did this for quite some time and then I stopped and had an epiphany.

I need to be kind to myself.

If I was talking to a friend in the same situation as me, I would advise them to be kind to themselves and not push themselves too hard at this time of year. I need to be kind to myself.

I need to remember that this is an extremely busy time of year, I am ahead in my distances and I don't have to push myself so much.

There is only one week to go before I am on a break so I need to be kind to myself. I need to pace myself to make it in one piece at the end. There are some things I can catch up on after this week.

I need to be kind to myself so that I can be kind to others. When I am tired, stressed and pushing myself, I can be less tolerant and gracious than usual and more sensitive when others are speaking to me.

I need to be kind to myself so that I can be kind to others.

Be kind to yourself.