Renew

Its 2016 and while I am a month plus behind, there is still time in the year that you can still make 2016 a new direction in your life, to change your story, to change your children's story, your partner's story, and take your life to a whole new level.

How?  That is a question I have struggled with, frustrated over, haggled over, become burnt out with and had to start over so many times I have lost count.  How do I change the situation that I have found myself in, change my dead end job, fix my broken relationship with my spouse, family, friend?  HOW do I change my story?

Well, first off, WRITE IT ALL DOWN!!!!!!  I am horrible about this and I struggle with this constantly, it is probably my biggest weakness.  The reason for writing down what you want to change is the help hold yourself accountable, and to also allow you to share with others so they can help encourage you along the way.  Write down what you want to change and WHY you want to change that aspect of your life. WHY is important!!!

Secondly, make sure your changes are for the POSITIVE and that is BOTH REALISTIC and ACCOUNTABLE.   Positive changes are ones that you are more likely to sacrifice for and work harder to achieve.  A realistic goal on a realistic timetable will allow you to set small goals to help you reach allow the way to allow you to measure your progress along the way.  A goal that you can measure and see the small changes allows you and others to hold yourself accountable to help maintain you towards your main goal.

An example for me is that I am trying to lose 100 lbs this year.  Given the fact that I am starting about 6 weeks late, that leaves me 46 weeks to lose the weight before next year.  So breaking it down, I need to lose, on average 2.5 lbs per week for the rest of the year.  I say on average, because everyone stumbles along the way, and everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, has a bad day every once in a while.  Life happens, no life is perfect. Do not think that one mistake, one bad day, one setback is the end of the world.

Lastly, I follow Zig Ziglar's wheel of goal setting because when you change your story or life, there are 7 aspects, or pieces of a pie, or spokes on a wheel that affect your life.  If you focus too much on one spoke or aspect, you end up with a flat tire because you neglect other parts of your life.  For example, if you focus too much on work, your family and friends suffer.  Too much focus on physical goals might cause you to sacrifice your educational or emotional parts of your life.  A balance between all the aspects with small bursts of focus in one area is best for achieving long term goals.

So, I am going to start blogging more and answering questions on my viewpoint on world events, life aspects, and how I am learning to better the world around me.  I will reply to questions ask of me and share my story along the way.