Day i - Goals Post

In which we shall see: ...nothing at all to do with football (sorry, sports fans).

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I know I haven't posted in a while, and to make up for it you will have a GLUT of entries to sort through in the next month... because I'm doing a "30-Days Post"! The idea is to get something up every day for a month - I'll try for journaling, pictures, links, jokes, quippage, etc. Stay tuned. As a prep, I'm posting today about several goals and changes that are scheduled to happen IMMEDIATELY. Now, according to John Tesh (that Evening Radio Guru of Wisdom and Knowledge), changes are more effective when they happen all at once, en masse, rather than gradually. For example, your efforts are more likely to stick when you quit smoking, change your diet, and begin an exercise program all at the same time instead of trying to add a new lifestyle shift every couple of weeks. I'm not entirely sure of the psychology behind this summation, but my current methods aren't working so I'm willing to give it a try (plus, JOHN TESH. The ERGWK. Also, the smoking thing isn't going to be a problem). And so, the GOALS:

BE ON TIME (TO EVERYTHING). I recently found out that in the family I have the reputation of always being late. Which... is almost true. I'm never late to rehearsals, and close enough to never to count for concerts and shows and the like - but I am pretty much consistently late to things like church, work, and family gatherings (insert own analysis here). I don't like this aspect of myself, and so it will now stop. I WILL be on time, with the target being 10 minutes early. Today I was on time to EVERYTHING (church, recital, choir practice) - although almost immediately after I managed to find a seat in the chapel 3 minutes before the Sacrament Meeting started I was asked to fill in for the chorister, and also ended up helping out the Primary Program on the fly. So, potential downsides to punctuality... ;-)

COMMUNICATE ABOUT IMPORTANT THINGS (SCHEDULING, ISSUES, ANYTHING INVOLVING MY FAMILY) BY PHONE, NOT EMAIL. In my family, we have some difficulties with communication, and I've come to realize that many of those problems could potentially be solved if we just TALKED to each other, and aided communication with tone-of-voice and things like that. In a sad case of "Telephone" I recently heard that one sister-in-law talked to another sister-in-law, who then proceded to ask my brother's fiance if I had been bad-mouthing initial sister-in-law to fiance in order to give fiance a poor impression of said sister-in-law (not because she'd heard I'd said something, just because she thought I would). URRGHP?!? There are at least two extraneous people involved in this conversation that I can see, and a direct line could have avoided all kinds of hurt feelings (on my part) and misunderstandings (on hers). Additionally, I have never figured out a way to find out exactly why this particular sister-in-law has such a miserable opinion of me - and it may very well come down to a PHONE CALL and a DIRECT QUESTION. Strange concept, I know.

EXERCISE. EVERY DAY. ROUTINE TO INCLUDE CARDIO, STRETCHING, PILATES, OR ANY COMBINATION THEREOF, AS WELL AS WATER AND VITAMINS. Sigh. Just gotta be done. I was determined to lose weight before the upcoming wedding, and at this point it looks like the only weight I'll drop will be when I get my hair trimmed. IT IS TIME.

STOP GIVING ADVICE, SUGGESTIONS, "GENTLE NUDGES", ETC. I can occasionally be a know-it-all busybody (or at least I play one on TV) and while my intentions are always for the best they can sometimes be misread (see above goal re: COMMUNICATION). There will be no more parenting or relationship advice (see the irony?); no more fashion, decorating, or gift suggestions, and no life-coaching. It's time to use my powers for actual good by turning them on myself, since for the most part people treat advice with a "getting what they paid for" attitude. Free is free, people, but no more pearls will be tossed to mingle with the asphalt in local construction zones. I will now operate on the assumption that I am surrounded by capable adults who are actually (if subconsciously) cognizant of the solutions to their dilemmas, and don't need me pointing them out. Maybe I can spend the time I save on internal pursuits, and get MY life in order. (I... think there might be a LITTLE flexibility built into this particular goal, but in general, if you ask for my help - over the phone, natch - please expect that my answer will be "I think you should pray about it. So, how's the [insert hobby/class/family project here] coming?")

GET MORE SLEEP. In bed by 10:30, so as to get up by 6:30 to do the daily workout. This means the post is just about done, as I now have approximately 4 minutes (ignore the time stamp below, it's a bit wonky).

I'll report back, and look for something new (and different!) tomorrow and for the next month! Please feel free to comment lots!

Watch out for falling turtles (and [insert relevant accomplished goal here]),

Cyd



P.S. I have, in fact, flossed my teeth nearly every day this year. It's now habit. Obviously, I can achieve anything I set my mind to.