Firstly, happy new year!!
I arrived back in Johannesburg from Brazil 4 days ago. It was truly the experience of a lifetime; the lessons from those 6 weeks alone could fuel several blog posts. And they will, in due time. For now, it seems more appropriate to simply share my goals for 2014.
I don't like the term "New Year's Resolution"... perhaps because of the generally accepted notion that they don't last beyond a few weeks, or simply, that resolutions are nothing more than folly adopted by people needing to make a change in their lives but don't have the discipline to do so (I know because I was that person for approximately 19 years!). I like to look at them as goals, rather than simply saying I will "never do this" or "stop doing that" in 2014. I try to make them quantifiable so that I can keep track of them, although that is not always possible. Unfortunately this year, very few of my goals are quantifiable, but I will try my best to monitor them as the year progresses.
My goals for 2014:
(1) Improve bold decisiveness (nurture the habit of making fast decisions, and being slow to change mind) [Challenging to monitor quantitatively]
> Make instinctive decisions in all situations to build the habit; fight the use of "maybe" and "I don't know"
(2) Commitment to being up to date on current affairs and world news
> Watch the news at least 3 times a week
> Read daily news blog as part of morning routine
> Form opinions on current affairs
(3) Say nothing bad about people behind their back [Challenging to monitor quantitatively]
> If there is a conflict with someone, discuss it with them personally and not to others
> Try always look for the positive aspects of people and look to learn from them, even when difficult (Emerson's: "Every man is my superior in some way, in that I learn of him")
(4) Commitment to daily productive morning routines
> Bible reading
> Prayer time
> Read
> Blogs
> TED Talks
(5) Continue learning Portuguese
> Finish Duolingo course
> Read 2 Portuguese children's / teenagers books by June
> Practice with Portuguese friends
(6) Read 20-24 books
> 2 books per month
Last year was the first year in which I adopted a goal-based mentality to new year’s resolutions, and it worked well. Having personal goals on a daily, weekly or monthly basis give greater context to the everyday rat race of life; no matter how busy things get, there are still personal challenges we can seek to become better people and grow in areas we may be weak. Our goals for this year should be seen as an exciting challenge to grow as people, and an opportunity for us to nurture our discipline. We will almost certainly slip up along the way (I know for a fact that I will), but that's part of the fun challenge - we can always restart and try again :) Let’s do this!
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