I like to hit the ground running when it comes to New Year’s Resolutions and tend to have my goals for the year in place well before the ball drops in New York City. I have them written down and find that I start thinking about this in October when the first Christmas decorations hit the local craft stores. But what can start out as good intentions can quickly become a distant memory as life starts back up. That blissful/crazy lull in real-life called the holidays where delivering cookies is the most important task of the day. New Year’s Resolutions are quickly forgotten when a new work project begins or the basement floods. Because of this, I am often asked how I stay on track all year? It’s actually quite simple: I don’t let my goals out of my sight.
Yep, I make a vision board.
Just like the Christmas List I made as a kid, cutting up the Sears toy catalog and gluing to a piece of paper for my parents. But we now have Google so I can literally find an image that represents any goal and print it out keeping my kindergarten skills sharp. I’m honest with myself and hold myself accountable for what I truly know is important. I make a collage just like I did as a kid and hang it on the back of my bedroom door. Yep, it’s really that simple. Because what I have done is put my goals directly in my line of sight. Every. Single. Day.
I see my goals daily. I re-read the words. I re-calculate the numbers. I chuckle when somebody asks if my child made it and I smile when I hit a goal that nobody will ever know about. As the year marches on, the paper starts to curl along the edges. It isn’t looking so hot as I’m writing this in December…but it is still there. I still look at it every day. Now it’s a list of wins, not of goals. My biggest goal of the year was achieved. I still look at it every day and feel proud of myself.
Some may call this living with intention, or laws of attraction, or some phrase popular on the motivational speaker circuit. I just call it having laser focus on my goals and never letting them out of my sight.
Do I achieve all of them? Nope. Do I achieve most of them? Yep. Have I forgotten any of them? Nope. And for me, that was the most important goal achieved.
Kimberly Enders CFP® CWS©
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional
Enders Wealth Management
37800 Van Dyke Ave, Suite 125
Sterling Heights MI 48312
www.enderswm.com
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) owns the CFP® certification mark, the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification mark, and the CFP® certification mark (with plaque design) logo in the United States, which it authorizes use of by individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.