New Year's Resolutions? or Governing Values?
Read More: Another year come and gone. Holiday celebrations enjoyed. New Year's resolutions made. Now what? Will we keep our resolutions this year? Will we even look at them as the months progress?
I don't know about anyone else, but when I've made resolutions in the past, I made a great start...for about two weeks. Then I'd get side-tracked, lose focus and energy, and eventually forget that I ever made a resolution list.
This year I did something a little different. I sat down with this excellent book called The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life Management by Hyrum Smith. I got this book because I needed to better manage my time, and my life. I read Law 2, "Your governing values are the foundation of personal fulfillment," and completed the first assignment "Write your own constitution" which lists the values that govern your life. It was more difficult than I thought it would be, and it took some soul searching, but it was worth it. You see, when I identified my governing values, I realized that much of my time was spent on things that had nothing to do with them. As such, they were time wasters, and I needed to prioritize according to my values.
What freedom! It was like I now had permission to weed out the seemingly important things, decide what was truly vital, and work on what would give my family and me the most benefit and inner peace.
The next step was to "identify some long-range goals and intermediate goals that will move you toward one of your governing values." One of my values is to maintain a strong and healthy body. I needed to identify how I was going to do this, what steps I would take, and when these steps would be completed. When I had complete this step, I realized I now had a useful, workable plan to actually realize these goals and live up to this governing value.
I have fifteen governing values. When I have gone through this step with the other fourteen values, I will have a way to live a life that is organized and peaceful. I will have a foundation to build upon to prioritize my days...to make a task list based on my values and goals. Then I will be able to control what I am able to control, and respond to interruptions and crises with my values at the forefront of my mind. These decisions will be more than crisis control or a reaction, and that will free me from many distractions.
I'm really excited to get back to work on my values list and identify the goals and steps that it will take to set this process in motion. I haven't finished the book yet, either, so I've got some work to do, and a lot of fine tuning. This is so much better than a list of resolutions that I should keep and won't. This promises to be a turning point in how I manage my life. Buy the book, be sure to read it and do what Hyrum says. You'll be glad you did!
Views: 225 
About the Author: Wendy Johnston
Member Since: 11/28/2008
Industry: No Industry Selected
Primary Web Site: No Website Entered