2007 personal goal

I have been thinking a lot about goals for next year. As a couple/family, NBA and I have already decided that debt reduction is our goal. [see previous posts] Although this will encompass all aspects of our lives and require much from me as an individual, I still need to set a personal goal.

I have been looking at my life recently and beginning to articulate the areas bugging me and in need of improvement. Here are the main ones: the stress I feel, the state of my house, the pressure of school, my lack of involvement in Leo’s school, disorganized state of preschool materials, my inability to break free from fast food, my lack of progress in Pilates. There is one common thread linking them together and preventing me from making progress in any of them. It is procrastination. I have written briefly about my struggles before, but I really only scratched the surface. This is a MAJOR problem in my life, and one that will take a long time to overcome.

Procrastination has been with me for as long as I can remember. It is my M.O. Until recently, I have always thought of it as a part of who I am, not as I habit I have that can be unlearned. Well, beginning today and continuing throughout 2007, I will be unlearning my procrastination habits and learning healthier, more productive ways of living.

My purpose in doing this is to “make new habits that bring me closer to the life I want to live.” http://encouragingcoach.com/newhabit/index.htm I want to be able to enjoy watching my kids play and ride bikes in the park without worrying that I won’t have time to study for my exam, even though I had 15 hours at work to do it throughout the week. I want to be able to sleep normally. I want to have time to enjoy learning new crafts. I really want to make curtains for my house.

One of my biggest challenges is going to be taking back power from deadlines and giving it to myself. I mean, making my self-imposed deadlines as powerful, important, and non-negotiable as those created by others. I am great with making outlines and plans for projects and ignoring them because they are not imposed from without.

This plan ties into my ultimate goal of living more simply in ways that I will discuss in a future post.