Week 2 has come and gone. Above I have a visual of how things week. Not as good as week 1, eh? On Monday and Tuesday I came down with a flu, so we can see how I decided to let that affect my goals. Yeah, I decided to sleep in. Also, in that "Up by 6:30" number, I rated myself lower, because even though I would get up at 6:30, I still went back to sleep an hour or so later. So, technically I got up, but I defeated the purpose of getting up early by going back to sleep.
They say that it is important that our goals are measurable. I feel like my goals can be completely measured on an "all-or-nothing" scale, but that takes too much time to record that everyday. So, I've decided to give myself a rating on my total effort each week in doing these things. That way I can factor in my intent and also other little "untechnicalities" such as going back to bed or doing a half-hearted service for someone.
I have definitely seen the enthusiasm for doing these things drop (is that a surprise?), but hopefully as I report to you all each week, I'll be a bit more motivated to get those color bands thicker. I haven't had much temptation with staying out too late on the week days, so that's been easy. I have started to feel my old habits wanting to creep back in when I think about or not about making my bed and cleaning my room, or just hiding out and not thinking about anybody. When those thoughts and feelings arise, I have had the distinct declaration come to my mind "You have a choice." That statement is powerful. It puts emotions and feelings in their proper place: as subjects rather than king. It is our agency that has its rightful position upon the throne of our souls, not these fickle emotions, thoughts, and feelings. I have noticed that I do let them rule quite often = not good.
Additionally, these goals are bleeding into other parts of my life. I find myself more disciplined when it comes to brushing and flossing my teeth, wearing my retainer, taking my contacts out at night, reading my scriptures, praying, etc. I'm finding that I want to do them more completely and not just to check them off. That fact makes me happy because it's actually fulfilling my primary purposes of these goals--which are definitely not to impress any of you. :)
Thank you for your support, friends. It means a lot.
The thing about goals is that you don't always have to be perfect in doing them. That's something I've learned. You learn from your experiences every day and improve on them the next day. Remember, perfection is a process, not an event. You'll get better, and eventually you will be "perfect" in these things. They will become second-nature and then you can find something else in your life that needs improving. I'm glad you're not doing this for all your readers. Otherwise there would be a major problem and I don't think you would be very successful. :)
ReplyDeleteKeep it up! You're doing great!
That's true. I imagine that I'm going to have some pretty thin bands during the year. I don't want to, but I'll allow myself that, I guess. I just don't want to give up, like President Murphy talked about in our conference yesterday. Wasn't his daughter JC(?) impressive? I would have just thrown in the towel. I don't want to do that to myself and prove that I can make the atonement real in my life by changing. You're such an great help, Erin. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis is your Blood Brother. :) I am doing some thing similar but I haven't been making graphs. I like the graph idea! Are you just enting your stats into excel?
ReplyDeleteHey Carl! Yeah. Then, I just do a printscreen and edit in Gimp.
ReplyDeleteNice graph BJ. That's a lot more visually appealing than the check-off list next to my bed. Recording helps. Sometimes I have a gap between honest self-evaluation and coasting in life thinking I'm just fine. Some method of recording helps ground me into the reality of my behavior. But, apparently seeing things as they really are is empowering too. People who record improve faster and overcome barriers faster than those who don't (I just read a research article on it). So, keep going, you are doing great! You inspire the rest of us who also have slip ups to keep pressing forward.
ReplyDeleteSorry you had a sick week, hope you are feeling better.
I love that statement--"You have a choice." It's hard not to succumb to what's easy--but you have the long-term desire. Keep it up, and I'll try to keep looking at my goals at least ;)
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