Stepping up to Proactive Living

“Think proactively and dynamically.

Be realistic, but set your sights high.” Lorii Myers 

Let's all commit to changing our reactive living to a healthier proactive life. If you've been keeping up with my blog you know I'm taking steps to plan for the year ahead. I began by selecting focus words, then wrote my mission statement, then wrote general goals for each of the categories of my life. I chose an acronym RESEARCH to easier remember those areas. (Relationships, Economics, Spirituality, Environment, Artistry, Recreation, Career and Health)

Now it's time for me to get down to the task of setting specific goals. 
I don't know about you, but I have set plenty of goals in my life and found myself falling short.  Sometimes in my quest to do better and try harder, it feels like I'm going in every direction and don't seem to ever arrive at my planned destination. To help me stay on track I have created and adopted the  'BASICS' principle for the criteria I use when setting specific goals.  So when I create my goals, I make sure I do the following:

B- Begin it now -Be Proactive
A- Attitude of  'I can and I will' - Be Dynamic
S- Simple and Sequential steps - Be Realistic
I-  Internalize it (Imagine and visualize how you'll look, feel and act when you reach your goal)
C- Continue and commit to the goal long term 
S- Share it with others

And it goes without saying that I need to do my 'PART' as I set my goals, which means I need to:
P- Put the goal in writing
A- Action Steps are also written down
R- Review it regularly
T- Take responsibility for its success

I have my sights set high this year. If I'm going to be intentional and inspirational, then I must be proactive, which means setting specific goals. And if I want to be successful in reaching those goals, I must do my 'PART' and make sure my goals pass the 'BASICS' test.

I hope you're taking these steps along with me.
Email me at: smallsteps4bigresults@yahoo.com

Prepping for the Mission



“To Succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal."

Abdul Kalam

“To Succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal."

                                                                                            Abdul Kalam

Have you come up with your mission statement for 2014?  Remember we were first going to come up with one or two words that we wanted to focus on this year.  The words I selected are 'intentional and inspirational'. We were then going to include those focus words in a yearly mission statement. Here is mine: 'In 2014, I will intentionally live each day with a focus on taking positive small steps in order to enrich my life and inspire others to do the same.'

But I'm not yet done planning for the year.  I've only come up with my mission statement...now it's time to start prepping for the mission.  I'm now ready to work on writing my general goals for the year.  When writing these, I will also incorporate my focus words; 'intentional and inspirational'.  

Several years ago I came up with names of categories for my life.  In order to easier remember those categories,  I came up with this 'RESEARCH acronym'.  RESEARCH is actually a great term for me because I believe that the best way to succeed in setting and accomplishing goals is to actually do your research.

So here's what my acronym 'RESEARCH' stands for:
R- Relationships
E- Economics
S- Spirituality
E- Environment
A- Artistry
R- Recreation
C- Career and calling
H- Health

Now, I'll take each of these eight areas and write a general goal for them using my focus words.

Here's a few examples:
Environment: Using my philosophy of small steps, I will intentionally create  a  positive, relaxing, comfortable, organized and clean environment to maximize my enjoyment of life and inspire others to do the same.

Health: I will intentionally focus on incorporating more healthy choices and wellness actions in order to enrich my life, and inspire others to do the same.

.....and then I continue on with the other six other categories of my life.

So how about you? Do you have a mission for 2014? Does this sound like something you would like to do? If not, why not? If you've never been a goal setter, or found that it's never worked for you before, I urge you to be open to the idea and start today.

Summing it up:
Determine your focus words
Write a mission statement to include focus words
Create your main categories of your life
Write general goals for each of your categories, including your focus word/s.

You can email me at: smallsteps4bigresults@yahoo.com

Finding The Right Word

"Words mean more than what is set down on paper
It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning"
Maya Angelou

As I mentioned last week, I like the idea of choosing one or two words that I will focus on throughout the year. I want the words to guide me in setting my goals, and continue to keep me on a positive pathway, moving towards my passion.

Here is last week's word list once again, and thanks to one reader I added even more: thankful, joyful, peaceful, passionate, organized, loving, intense, genuine, determined, spiritual, creative, relaxed, positive, driven, practical, adventurous, intentional, responsible, spontaneous, artistic, inspirational, thoughtful, helpful, sensible, innovative, nurturing, fun-loving, healthy, organized, resourceful, mindful, whimsical........., gracious, communicative, transitional, sparkly, affectionate, humble, rational, friend, wife, mother, worker...

These are all great positive words don't you think? Are there others words that resonate for you; that stand out to describe what you want your focus to be on as you move forward in 2014? 

After giving it a lot of thought, I have decided that two words that I will focus on for 2014 are: 'intentional and inspirational'.  I want to incorporate these words as I create my yearly  'mission statement'.  

Here's what I came up with: In 2014, I will intentionally live each day with a focus on taking positive small steps in order to enrich my life and inspire others to do the same.

I will write this sentence in my journal and post it on my daily calendar.  That provides me with an ongoing reminder of what I want to focus on throughout the year.  I'd love to be able to hear the echo of Maya Angelou's words, and say at the year's end, "My voice and my actions infused these words with deeper meaning."    

Now... it's your turn...choose one or two words and write your own mission statement for 2014.


You can email me at: Smallsteps4bigresults@yahoo.com

New Years Resolutions

"Approach the New Year with resolve to find the opportunities hidden in each new day." 
Michael Josephson

On a four hour airplane ride, heading home after spending three weeks visiting my kids and grand kids, I found myself coming down from the holiday highs, tottering between quiet depression and excited anticipation.  But rather than set and stew....I decided to use my time wisely and to think and write about  my new year's resolutions.

You have made your news years resolutions, haven't you?  Actually I generally take most of January to ponder and consider the goals that I want to focus on for the year. I recently read of one particularly depressing study done by Steven Covey Institute which showed that by February, one third of us will already be termed 'losers', breaking our resolutions and throwing in the towel?   We want to do better, feel better, and be better...right? That doesn't take any motivation to want that, does it?  So why is it that so many of us fall short so soon after making our resolutions?

I think there are several reasons; Our goals are often unrealistic, they are not specific, we are not serious about them, we don't write them down, we don't hold ourselves accountable, we don't believe in the idea of setting goals, we haven't created action plans, we don't have the support we need to accomplish them, and sometimes we just have too many goals going in all different directions (like the list above).

Hmmmm to many goals goings in all different directions? I heard an interview on TV with a guy discussing the importance of focusing on one word for the year, rather than many different ideas.  Although I was only listening with a half of an ear, it resonated with me and I have continued to think about this idea.  So what if I could select one word that I want to incorporate in all of my general goals and focus on that for 2014?

I found myself making a list of words that I might choose from:  Here's what I came up with: thankful, joyful, peaceful, passionate, organized, loving, intense, genuine, determined, spiritual, creative, relaxed, positive, driven, practical, adventurous, intentional,  responsible, spontaneous, artistic, inspirational, thoughtful, helpful, sensible, innovative, nurturing, fun-loving, healthy, organized, resourceful, mindful, whimsical....

So, while soaring up at 30,000 feet and surrounded by the stars, wondering what new opportunities the heavens hold for the coming year, I was reminded that the words I say create my reality.  Why not select a word or words to continually repeat and focus on this year?  It think it kind of sounds like fun!

I'd love for you to join in as well.. Use my list for a starter and then add some words of your own. We can think about them over the week and decide which one/s we'll select.

Email me at: Smallsteps4bigresults@yahoo.com