By Lisbeth Coiman
May your 2020 be filled with regular celebrations of small accomplishments towards an overall goal.
As a person who suffers from a mental disability, I often speak in public about how I live a regular life while coping with the challenges of my condition. The audience often expects me to speak about dreams for the future. Instead, I say that I don’t dream anymore because I am actually pursuing my goals.
During the last decade, I have approached every new year with an overall theme to guide my planning for the year. This practice has helped me make life changing decisions. It hasn’t prevented me from some unexpected turns on the road, but it has served as a light in times of difficulty.
My approach has been to set an overall theme for each year and goals around that theme. When the theme was “survival,” my goal was to complete requirement to find a reliable job, find an affordable place to live, and well, there is no other way to put it, to not kill myself. There was a year of “reinvention,” and a last year of “presence.”
When I think of my goals I write achievable, specific, and measurable objectives, in which the different aspects of my life are interconnected. For instance, achieving a financial or professional goal may open time and space to reach a creative goal. I also set a timeline for milestones, so I give myself a sense of urgency. Finally, I post this yearly plan where I HAVE TO SEE it every day, reminding myself that I have to work daily to accomplish what I want.
In the few days before to return to work, I will prepare my vision board with those specific goals and activities I want to achieve by the end of 2020.
I invite you to do the same. Think of an overall theme with all the aspects of your life you want to improve. Set specific goals, and a time line to achieve them. And then keep the focus while going through 2020 like a woman on a mission, achieving one small step at the time.
And enjoy the ride.
Felicitaciones en todos tus logros! Que Dios te siga Bendiciendo ?