New Year's Goal Setting

New Year's Resolutions.  New Year Goals.  Plans, bucket lists, Thing to Do Before I Die.  May as well keep it un-morbid.

Making plans for the new year, in one form or another, is something that will occupy many of us in the next week.  The very concept of a new year seems to lend us a time to figure out all the things we want to do better and try to fix them in one fell swoop, full of motivation and verve.

I actually do this about three times a year, give or take.  January 1st.  June 15th, and September 1st.  In effect, it can sometimes feel like a futile activity.  Many years, I've lined out complex plans to achieve the 20+ goals I've set out for myself that have completely gone by the wayside by April.  Was the goal-setting then pointless?

I think no.

There's something almost comforting about taking a break from the doing and participating in just a little bit of self-examination.  What have I done wrong in the last year, and what have I done right?  What do I have in my life that I want to keep, and what do I have that I want to get rid of?  Where can I cull and where do I want to add?  What are the things that I'd like to get better at, and what are the things that I'd like to get worse at?

It takes different forms in different years... sometimes it's a grand to-do list.  Sometimes, it's nothing more than a vague theme.  But, it's always something, and I don't think it's pointless, even if I don't stick with it for the whole year.  For those days or weeks or months that I DO, I've got a plan and a direction.  I've slowed down long enough to take stock of who I am, where I am, and where I'm going.  I've turned around, gotten my bearings, and set off on the right course.  And maybe in a few months, I'll turn around and realize I've veered off the path I want to be on once again.  There will be time, then, to again turn around and get my bearings.

But, for now, I'm setting off on the way I want to go.  I think there's point in that.