Do you remember back in January at the beginning of 2020? Remember when you made resolutions for yourself. You were thinking ahead to the year that was about to unfold with so much optimism and eagerly anticipating what the year would bring. Little did we know that our lives would shift and change in ways that we couldn't have imagined. 2020 has been quite the ride and honestly a year that many want to put behind them. We are just over half way through 2020 and I was thinking about what I dreamed this year would hold. For me, I anticipated a big move for our family and a new job and then I imagined what that new job would entail. Our move happened, I started a new job, but I am not doing exactly what I imagined. Starting a new job is a humbling experience, because you have learn how things are done in a new position with new coworkers, but let me tell you how humbling it is when you have to start that new position during a pandemic. Then you find yourself doing tasks you didn’t think you would be asked to do. Now, let me say I am extremely thankful for a job. I am just sharing my experience to let you know that it is ok if you feel extremely disappointed by 2020. If you are thinking back to those hopes and dreams you had at the beginning of year and you feel let down.

Acknowledging those feelings and working through that grief is important. From those hurt feelings, we have two choices - we can continue to be depressed or we can work to pick up the pieces and move forward. I can most assuredly say that 2020 is NOTHING like any of us imagined. We have all experienced challenges, disappointments, grief and had to adjust our expectations. Now how are you going to move forward? What are you going to do with the rest of the year? I am here to encourage you to find some positive aspects of 2020. What are some good things that have happened?

We have had SO much more family time and that has been fun to see our boys grow up and change.
We have made some time for some hobbies like disc golf, reading, running and porch sitting.
We are adjusting our goals and plans to move us forward to where we see ourselves in the future. We are finding projects to pursue at work, considering graduate school, studying for exams and trying to salvage a sense of drive/determination in our work.

What items are on your list of positive things to come from 2020? How are you going to adjust your goals? I am not say you need to set unrealistic expectations. Lots of us are worried and stressed about school and work and that is ok. But what are you going to do to fulfill your sense of purpose and find that joy for the rest of the year? I challenge you to look for the joy and find a way to adjust your expectations. Life is too short to just throw up our hands and give up. Here’s the to rest of 2020 and trying to make the best of rough situations!

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The New Year is upon us. 2017 is just about here! That means time to think about your goals for the New Year. What are you wanting to accomplish in 2017? What did you struggle with in 2016 and want to work to improve?

To set yourself up for success it is helpful to make sure that the goals you have for yourself are able to be accomplished. Being able to take the time for write "SMART" goals can help ensure that you are successful.

SMART Goals

Specific - Set a goal that is specific. Avoid something vague or too broad. How else will you be able to tell if you have accomplished your goal, unless it is specific? For example, if you want to work on being more active then make your goal specific by saying what type of activity you want to do. "I want to be increase the number of days per week that I run."
Measurable - After you have determined your specific goal, then plan a time line. Take a moment to figure out over what duration in time you want to work on accomplishing this goal. For example, determine the time you want to meet this goal. "I want to plan on running for 3 days each week for the next 3 months."
Attainable - Whatever goal you have in mind, make sure that is able to be accomplished. Don't set too lofty of a goal or you won't be able to accomplish it. For example, make sure that you are able to meet your goal parameters. Running for 3 days a week is possible for me, because I have done this before, but if I had never run before this might be too much. "I will plan on running 3 days a week for the next 3 months."
Relevant - Make whatever goal you are aiming for to be relevant to what you want to accomplish. This may seem like a no brainer, but if you don't care about your goal, then you will for sure not accomplish it. My goal is about running, now if I didn't like running, then I would make sure that my fitness goal was about something else. That goal should be relevant to what you are interested in and care about. "I will plan on running (outside or at the gym) 3 days a week for the next 3 months."
Time-Based - Make sure that your goal is time-bound. This means that you are able to put a start/stop time on the goal and that will be allow you to re-evaluate your goal and see if was accomplished. For my example the end of the goal is at 3 months from when the goal was set. That gives me 3 months to try to accomplish this goal and then if at the end of the 3 months, I can re-evaluate and determine if I met the goal. "I will plan on running (outside or at the gym) 3 days a week for the next 3 months."

Hopefully some of these tips and tricks are helpful to you as you look forward to the New Year and set some goals for yourself. I am not the biggest fan of New Year's Resolutions, because most of the time they don't stick, but that is often due to the fact they are not SMART goals.

What goals do you have for yourself? How do you want to change and be more healthy this next year?