I thought a lot about New Year’s resolutions, and this year I’m not making any at all. That doesn’t mean I have no goals. I probably have too many. But instead of making resolutions I’ll break on January 5 or look back on next Christmas and wonder where the train jumped the track I’m trying something new in 2011: focusing on daily goals instead of long-term ones.
You can’t reach the end of a long road in a single day but you can’t reach it at all if you don’t keep moving forward one step at a time. All of my current long-term goals require daily effort to achieve. Time spent writing. Time spent working. Time spent in many ways. It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the larger goals, even on the days when they don’t seem far away. Yet in my focus on the forest I often fail to see the trees. Big pictures are nice, but it’s easy to forget that they’re made up of details.
This year, I’m focused on details.
One day at a time. One task at a time. One word at a time. Success will be quantified in baby steps. Failures reset when the sun goes down. When 2011 draws to a close, I’ll let you know how that worked out for me. Hopefully, we’ll know even before then.
What goals did you set for 2011? Are you ready to take on the new year?