Preparation

PREPARATION

Over the last couple of blogs we have looked at the issues of procrastination and perfectionism, this week we are going to review preparation? What does that mean? It means that before you make those New Year’s resolutions you need to do a bit of preparation.
Did you know that the top three resolutions are: to lose weight, exercise more and get control of personal finances. Does that sound familiar? I know it does for me. And I also know of that sinking feeling when by the end of January most if not all of those resolutions have been broken. For the longest time I could not figure out why that happened, why I went from the righteous glow of anticipation to the depths of self-flagellation.
Now I know that what was lacking in all that was preparation. I did not have a plan and so I was doomed to fail. Without the necessary preparation: exercise clothes/ shoes, the time the facility opened, there was going to be no exercise. And did I really need to buy a fitness pass to start or could I just find someone who would agree to walk with me 3-4 times a week? Then build from there.
It was the same with weight loss, all those tempting holiday foods in cupboards and fridge on January 2 do not make it easy to start that new eating plan.
The other piece of preparation we often don’t do is to really look at what we have accomplished in the current year and what can be done to finish up. If you have pieces of the past (projects, promises etc) hanging in your mind it is difficult of focus on the present and the future. (For more on that check out David Allen’s book (“Getting things Done”)
This is the last blog for 2012; I will be back on January 2, 2013. I wish you a safe and enjoyable holiday season.