New Years Day: Putting Your Goals in Action

So, you survived last year. Congratulations! Today begins a new year, a blank slate, and some leftover baggage from last year. You might have sat down and made out a set of resolutions, things that you want to change about the path taken last year. All of us create the lofty goals on New Year’s Eve, but when the haze is gone, the alarm clock starts blaring, and the headache passes: You are still the same old you with a bunch of resolutions that are destined to fail. How can you take those resolutions and put them into action?

So, it’s New Year’s Day. The family was up late last night and slept in until mid-morning. We always have a tradition on  Christmas and New Year’s Day that I wake up early and make breakfast. Scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, hash browns, maybe some Eglish muffins, blueberry pancakes, and some maple sausage (not the links but the sausage patties). Orange juice is the drink of choice for the kids and coffee for the adults. Usually, one of the kids wakes up with enough sanity to help me out. This year, my daughter is the first one up.

As I an overseeing the hash browns, turkey bacon, pancakes, and eggs on the four gas burners of the stove. The over is set to “warm” so when things get done, I have a place to put them until everything ready.

As I was turning the eggs, I ask my daughter, “So, do you have any plans for this year?”

Her reply is, “Yeah. My plans are to help you with breakfast, then go upstairs and talk to my friends for a while.”

“No, do you have any goals that you are planning in the new year?”

“Yeah, I have a few things written down.”

“How do you plan to put them in action?”

“By taking the list of goals, wadding them into a paper ball, and throwing them into the trash can around December when I think about the next.”

I smile, because I know she’s being a smartass.

I continue, “One of the hardest things about having goals is implementing a plan to get them done. It is easy to write a goal on a piece of paper, but much harder to make a plan and stick to it.”

I explain to my daughter, “Take a sheet of paper, draw out twelve columns, and break down your goals. Each month you accomplish a meaningful part of the goal, thus you’ll be able to complete it by December.”

I can almost hear her eyes rolling around in her head, which usually means ‘parent overreach’, and she will remain quiet until later.

“If you don’t plan this stuff out, it doesn’t happen.”

I turn the hashbrowns over, put some overdone turkey bacon on a plate, and put it in the warming oven.

“Thanks for the advice Dad.”, my daughter goes out of the kitchen to set the table and ensure everyone has silverware and glasses for orange juice.

Once your kids cross the line and become teenagers, they put on an attitude that they have everything figured out and they don’t need your advice. In fact, it is just the opposite and it is hard to balance their need for independence and not lay down a bunch of  ‘life experience’ to ensure they don’t wind up in the same traps you once encountered. All you can do is try to provide ‘lessons learned’ when needed and hope they can make good choices on their own.