Small Victories

In years past, I have set goals. I have picked words. I have started strong. And I have fallen off the wagon somewhere around March or April. And it is for this very reason that this year, I'm focusing more on the small victories. The things that sound small on paper or in a blog post, but I know would actually make my daily life better. It's not about running the marathon, it's about taking the first step.

Photo by Max van den Oetelaar on Unsplash

And so here I am, working on blog post #13 of 2022. I aimed for twelve this year, and at the beginning of the month, I had only written eight. But then I decided I needed to work on making the time I had work for me. I needed to fight the urge to kill time after a long day and instead use it to pour into something I used to really enjoy doing...writing. And suddenly, using the same amount of time I had before, I have written five blog posts, found images, and hit "publish," bringing life back to a part of me that has been dormant. It's a small victory. 

And what about those other small victories? Well, here's a quick list of what I'm aiming for in 2023:

• Lose 2 lbs. a month
• Read 1 book a month (for fun)
• Write 1 blog post a month
• Walk a minimum of 3 days a week
• Use up the tea stash (I *might* have a tea collection problem)
• Clean various areas of the house once a month
• Try "No Spend" weeks
• Instead of hitting "buy now" from Amazon, put the same amount in savings daily/weekly

These are not massive goals, but if I could develop them into habits, working them into the time I have in my day, they would make a noticeable difference in various areas of life - physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially. These are the small victories that lead to bigger wins.

To facilitate these small victories, I'm giving myself a practical tool, guaranteed to be used, to help keep me on track. Rather than looking for the perfect paper planner or buying another cute notebook that will be used for a day or two before becoming part of the growing piles on my desk, I've created a personalized, monthly checklist using the Google Keep app on my phone. Nope, this isn't sponsored. Other than tracking everything I do, Google doesn't know I exist. But the Keep app has been my second brain for the last six years, and it finally dawned on me that in addition to using it for my grocery list and meal planning, among other things, I should set up checklists for my monthly goals. 

Because if there's anything this INTJ likes, it's checking things off a to-do list for an instant boost of accomplishment endorphins. It's right up there with filling boxes with unused stuff and dropping them off at our local donation center. Small victories. And breathe...