Dance

Set a New Year Goal That Is Not Beyond Your Reach

New Year’s resolutions are made every year by millions of people.  Unfortunately, many if not most of them are never completed.  If you plan to make a resolution, you may want to set a New Year goal that is not beyond your reach.

Your ultimate New Year’s resolution may be to learn a new language or how to dance all forms of ballroom dance.  However, an unreasonable goal is to assume you could do either of those in a short period of time.  Some goals are possible within a month, such as losing five pounds, but learning how to speak fluent Chinese in that amount of time absolutely is not.

It is important for us to plan for the future so we’re not aimlessly wandering through life.  Sometimes setting long-range goals can be overwhelming because they’re so far out in the future that we doubt if we’ll ever meet them.  If there aren’t intermediate goals along the way to your ultimate goal, it will be too easy for you to lose focus and give up.

Instead of having just the one, long-range goal, consider having small goals that you can work on – even on a daily basis.  This will help you by allowing you to feel a sense of accomplishment when you meet one of the smaller goals, as well as letting you know you’re on the right track to reach your goal.

How do you break down one big goal into several smaller goals?  That all depends upon what your goal is.  You can choose best what you need to do each day to help keep you on track.  Don’t let your gaze go too far down the trail that you have laid out for yourself.  If you don’t stay focused on the day at hand, you might miss something wonderful along the way.

Remember that reaching a goal is much like going on a journey.  If you’re too focused on the destination, you’ll miss the beauty along the way.  You can stop along the way and smell the roses rather than speeding along the path you’re on and missing them entirely.  By setting smaller goals that you can reach, you’ll be moving toward your goal and be much more likely to actually reach it.

Don’t give up if things don’t work out exactly like you’ve planned.  Things in life happen that may keep you from reaching a small goal in the time you had hoped.  When things settle back down you can pick up where you left off.  It may take longer to reach your goal than you wanted, but that’s no reason to give up.

Give yourself a reward when you’ve reached a smaller goal, rather than waiting to complete the large goal.  Knowing you’ll have a small reward when you have met a goal may be the impetus you need to keep going when you feel discouraged.

When you have a goal in mind, consider the steps you can take.  Set New Year’s goals that are not beyond your reach.  Reward yourself when you’ve reached a small goal and then keep going to the next one.

Dance

Set a New Year Goal That Is Not Beyond Your Reach

New Year’s resolutions are made every year by millions of people.  Unfortunately, many if not most of them are never completed.  If you plan to make a resolution, you may want to set a New Year goal that is not beyond your reach.

Your ultimate New Year’s resolution may be to learn a new language or how to dance all forms of ballroom dance.  However, an unreasonable goal is to assume you could do either of those in a short period of time.  Some goals are possible within a month, such as losing five pounds, but learning how to speak fluent Chinese in that amount of time absolutely is not.

It is important for us to plan for the future so we’re not aimlessly wandering through life.  Sometimes setting long-range goals can be overwhelming because they’re so far out in the future that we doubt if we’ll ever meet them.  If there aren’t intermediate goals along the way to your ultimate goal, it will be too easy for you to lose focus and give up.

Instead of having just the one, long-range goal, consider having small goals that you can work on – even on a daily basis.  This will help you by allowing you to feel a sense of accomplishment when you meet one of the smaller goals, as well as letting you know you’re on the right track to reach your goal.

How do you break down one big goal into several smaller goals?  That all depends upon what your goal is.  You can choose best what you need to do each day to help keep you on track.  Don’t let your gaze go too far down the trail that you have laid out for yourself.  If you don’t stay focused on the day at hand, you might miss something wonderful along the way.

Remember that reaching a goal is much like going on a journey.  If you’re too focused on the destination, you’ll miss the beauty along the way.  You can stop along the way and smell the roses rather than speeding along the path you’re on and missing them entirely.  By setting smaller goals that you can reach, you’ll be moving toward your goal and be much more likely to actually reach it.

Don’t give up if things don’t work out exactly like you’ve planned.  Things in life happen that may keep you from reaching a small goal in the time you had hoped.  When things settle back down you can pick up where you left off.  It may take longer to reach your goal than you wanted, but that’s no reason to give up.

Give yourself a reward when you’ve reached a smaller goal, rather than waiting to complete the large goal.  Knowing you’ll have a small reward when you have met a goal may be the impetus you need to keep going when you feel discouraged.

When you have a goal in mind, consider the steps you can take.  Set New Year’s goals that are not beyond your reach.  Reward yourself when you’ve reached a small goal and then keep going to the next one.

Graphic from Heartland Graphics New Years Collection

Dance

Do You Have the Work At Home Blues?

Do You Have the Work At Home Blues?

When you work at home, it’s easy to get pulled in so many
directions that you feel like you’ve gotten little to nothing done on any single
priority. The house needs cleaning. Your clients need you to finish that project
yesterday. The kids want to play with Mommy. And none of your friends or family
understand that you are at home working, not watching television and chowing
down on snacks all day.

Sound familiar?

It’s easy to get a little down in the dumps about working
from home. Whether your business is just starting and you aren’t quite making
the money you need, or your business is so crazy hectic you can barely see
straight…it can really take a toll on your emotional and mental well-being.

But there are ways for you to try and nip those blues in
the bud and bring some balance and levity to the situation.

First, you need a support network. Ideally, you already
have a support network of local family and friends. These are the people who
know you and have been your cheerleaders from the start. Don’t forget that these
cheerleaders can be great listeners when you need someone to just hear you vent.

But to truly connect with those who live the same issues
and triumphs as you, then you want to find some fellow work at home parents who
make similar sacrifices, understand the daily trials of working from home and
can relate to even the most silly work at home situation. You can find the
support in forums, or via social networking platforms such as Twitter…but the
main thing is to find others who you can connect with and commiserate with on a
daily or weekly basis. It’s great therapy to chat online with others who are
juggling working at home and family as you are.

Another great way to defeat the blues to get some fresh
air. Ideally, you can get outside for a few minutes each day. A walk to the post
box, and quick jog with the dog, a few minutes with the kids in the
backyard…just a few minutes of getting outside in a given day can help give you
a break from the house and the workload.

If weather isn’t on your side, then stay inside but do
something to get your blood pumping. If you have a piece of exercise equipment,
then hop on and give yourself a few minutes to break a sweat. No treadmill or
bike? Then grab an exercise dvd and take a few minutes to dance around. Whether
you want to kickbox out your frustrations, salsa dance the stress away, or laugh
as you learn a new belly dancing move, a short amount of time spent on something
completely different than home or business can really turn your day around. Even
cranking up the radio for a couple songs and dancing around the house can be
just the thing to get you revved up about the rest of your day.

If you’re getting a little stir-crazy inside the house and
you need to get out, then do it! Pack up the kids and head somewhere else for a
few hours so you can get a different perspective. Did you know that many fast
food restaurants with play areas also have high speed internet? Let the kids
blow off steam and get some work done at your fast food joint down the street.
Know any work at home moms in the area, or even some stay at home moms? Ask if
you can bring the kids over for a playdate…and make it a working playdate. Pack
up the kids and your work and head on over. Not only do the kids get playtime
with friends, but you can have a great sounding board as you bounce your
business ideas (or frustrations) against your mommy friend.

Defeating the “blues” associated with working from home
doesn’t require intensive treatment, especially if you try to prevent it from
settling in. By tackling it head on and making a few adjustments in your work at
home life you can find that not only will you avoid the blues, but actually
remember why you made the decision to work from home in the first place, and
enjoy the position you are in!