Last week, I shared some of my ideas for my 2012 goals (listed in a separate tab above).  The list is lengthy and more than one person has asked me how I will get all that done this year.

I won’t.  I make up the list of everything that I could possibly want to accomplish.  It’s a reminder and a help in prioritizing my free time. But there is no way that I can physically get them all done.

Here’s the short list of how I will get things done in 2012:

• Review the list each month
• Set short term objectives (sub-goals)
• Look for opportunities to present themselves
• Use momentum to keep my goals moving forward

At the beginning of each month, I look over my list of goals.  Some are in process and I need to set a goal of what to accomplish for the next few weeks.  I realize that some goals aren’t going to get done and move them to the bottom of my list.  Some will come off because they are either done, done enough, or turned out to not be worthy of my efforts.

I believe in having sub-goals as they are the milestones to completion.  When I review my goals, I list the steps I will need to complete them.  Or at least the steps I think I need, as it is subject to constant adjustment.

For January, I plan to:

• Do my daily devotional using Jesus Calling
• Blog daily, Monday through Friday
• Spend 3 hours a week in decluttering the house, either a little each night or at once on the weekends
• Do my scrapbooking assignment for this month
• Start organizing my notes for my e-book, looking into some software to help do it
• Spend quality time with the dogs

Opportunities have already begun to present themselves.  NaNoWriMo (writing a novel in a month) was on my list last year.  I have to write 50,000 words in the 30 days of November.  That means about 2,000 words a day or six double spaced pages.  I decided that to do it, I’d need to develop 50 chapter ideas, even if later they got combined.  By late September, I barely had 15.  I knew in October that it simply would not happen.

So it’s on the list again this year.  I’ve been reading a great book on outlining your book before you write it called, “Outlining Your Novel:  Mapping Your Way to Success” by K.M. Weiland.  She takes three months to outline her books.  Three months!  And I was whining about doing it in a couple of week in September.  My goal for this month is to complete her book.  Next month, I will start working the various suggestions that she has, probably doing it sequentially in the order she has in the book.

The scrapbooking class has a topic each month for recording our life.  The goal is to do a two page spread each month.  I’d love to do more than that, but realistically, two pages a month is doable.  More is not.  So far, I’ve downloaded the course materials and listened to them.  Next weekend, I will select the pictures I want to use.  The weekend after, I’ll create the pages.

One of my goals is contradictory to other goals – that of spending quality time with the dogs.  I’ve not given them as much attention since moving to Virginia.  The dog parks here are terrible, being not much bigger than our backyard.  I tried walking them more frequently, but the beagle’s back won’t take much walking and my back won’t take the three of them yanking me around.

They’re all getting older – as we all are – but I don’t want regrets.  When we got dog #1 as a puppy, I spent so much time with him that I failed to give cat #1 as much attention as he was used to.  I’m not sure I could have done it much differently as the puppy was high energy and needed lots of exercise.  But I still am sorry that I failed to give cat #1 as much attention as he needed.  I don’t want to repeat that.

For this week, I’ve been going to the couch after supper to give out hugs and cuddles.  All three dogs are showing up for that!  If I’m giving out love, there are volunteers lining up.  But it’s taking up my quality blogging and reading time.  If I give them the attention they need, I might be going right to bed afterwards.  Tonight I’m writing my blog post first, and dog #1 is under the kitchen table, resting his head on my leg and poking my hip when I stop petting him.  He wants me to stop paying attention to the computer and go in the family room.

I’ve done a few one-on-one walks during this nice weather.  The dogs have enjoyed that, although it’s getting harder to sneak out just one without the other one getting upset.  If the miniature pinscher could talk, it would be all over.  He gets excited and then frustrated when I leave him behind, but he can’t communicate to the other one that there’s a walk happening and they weren’t invited to go with!

So I’m still working that goal out as I type one-handed while rubbing a dog’s face.

How about you?  How do you get your goals done?  What do you plan to accomplish in January 2012?

The recent post at A Daily Life is a book review by guest Ellen Olinger, of “Breath For The Bones” by Luci Shaw.

I took this picture the other day along the canal.  The interplay of the light and dark is what attracted me to it, although the shadows could use some lightening.

Today’s small stones:

We had tostadas for supper tonight.  The flat yellow shells were so crispy!  I love the gritty, slightly greasy feel as I lift it to my mouth.  It snaps off as I bite down, then crunches as it mixes with the soft ground beef and refried beans.  The sharp edges scrap the inside of my mouth as my molars grind it into smaller pieces before I finally swallow it.

Goals & Resolutions Life Lessons Uncategorized 2012 goals digital scrapbooking riverofstones2012 setting goals small stones