It is new year’s resolution time and most of us will be setting goals to improve our health and well-being. Statistically, we keep our new year’s pledges only until late January, but with a good goal-setting plan and some measured success in the first few weeks, you can make 2012 one of your best years ever. We are entering the Year of the Dragon and that can mean a year of dragon-like qualities: extroverted bundle of energy, flamboyant, fearless and creative. And I thought the Year of the Rat had potential.
My new year’s wish for you is that you put more “joy” in your life. Make time on your calendar each week for a large or small joyful experience. If you look at a smiling baby or a young child actively playing, that sense of joy and living in the moment is something that we don’t do enough.
I’m always looking for that extra “shot in the arm” to keep my goals and resolutions successful, so I asked a few of our previous speakers and motivators for a few of their personal tips.
Dr. Art Hister:
1: Do it.
2: Better to do it with someone else.
3: Best to pick someone more disciplined (and maybe good-looking, too) than you.
4: And if you fall off course for a while, don’t worry about it, but try to get back on course as soon as you can.
Hugh Culver: “Create a Stop Doing list.”
Here’s a way to get more of the right stuff done in 2012: stop doing the wrong stuff. We all have tasks on our To-Do lists that are not worthy of our time. When we make a better choice about these tasks (like: do it now, delegate it, defer it to later, or dump it forever) we free up our time and energy for more important work. Some tasks to look at are: routine typing that someone can do, reading all your email (instead take one half-hour and unsubscribe to anything you have lost interest in or don’t have time for), allowing interruptions to break your focus in the first 90 minutes of the day, and checking email after hours. To get started, just pick one thing you want to stop doing, make the decision and then notice what happens — you might be surprised how easy this is and the results you enjoy.
Jeff Goreski from CoreHealth: “watch with awareness”.
The key ingredient to achieving one’s goals is to watch the negative thoughts that prevent one from taking action towards achieving one’s goals. By observing the negative thoughts and not being identified with them (meaning that one allows the negative thoughts to be there and simply observes those thoughts without allowing those thoughts to influence one’s actions) then one is free from the mind and free to choose an action that is in alignment with one’s goals.
Carol Flynn, Oliver recreation champion:
1. Tell someone what you plan to do.
2. Assemble your “team”. These are the people who will help you reach your goal. Choose people who are knowledgeable, experienced or just care about you and your success. Involve them whenever possible.
One Last Tip from Bob: go to “Try it for Free Week” on page 4 and 5 in our Winter Rec Guide to try anything from Zumba and yoga to drawing or get into the pool for water running, swim fit core and more.
In closing, nothing says it better than Jack Layton’s message to Canadians: Love is better than anger. Hope is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we will change the world.
Happy new year everyone.
Bob Pope is the recreation co-ordinator with the City of Penticton.