Pages

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Goals

How does one reach goals? especially challenging ones.  I find this a very hard question to answer especially when I don't know where to start.  I would really love to make a go of making a business from my art work but I don't know where to begin. 

I sat down to figure out what things were stopping me from trying to achieve this goal and finding out where to start.  The biggest reason was I could find was fear.  Fear of failure,  fear of not being able to do it,  fear of not having enough time to meet my goals, fear of inadequate skills and fear of rejection.

Fear is a really hard thing to overcome.  As a child the fear of a monster under the bed can be almost debilitating.  Fear is our bodies way of showing caution for a new experience.  But when fear takes over it can be very hard to let go of that fear and work though it.  I still have not worked through a fear of being locked in dark spaces or pinned down  after my brother locked me in a cupboard as a young child. I still irrationally cannot cope when someone sits on me and can't move or when I play hide and seek and the cupboard door I am in closes tight and I can't get out.  Starting a quilt business is a bit like this fear for me, quite irrational but understandable. 

In what ways can I overcome this fear?  I spent some time thinking about other fears I have had and how I have overcomed them.  I use to be scared of the dark and being home on my own and night but I seemed to have worked through these ones.  So I wrote a list of what I did to get rid of these fears.
  • I didn't dwell on the fear
  • I wrote down my fears
  • I tried to experience the fear with someone else supporting me
  • I made myself do the thing I feared so I gave myself an opportunity to try to overcome the fear
  • I talked about it with a friend and my hubby
  • I celebrated the successes. 
  • I shared my success with my friend and hubby
  • I kept challenging myself until I could regularly go into the dark on my own.
  • I kept my imagination from running overtime.
Now that I have written this list I can see that I can use these same skills to work on my fear of failure.  This list helps me to know how to attack the fear and make a go of a business. 

I was surprised to see how well this list idea worked.  Now I wonder what other things I can help myself with.?

Sunday, January 1, 2012

New years

I have spent the last couple of days reflecting on the past year and looking ahead to the new one.  2011 was a year of many challenges and ups and downs. I have finished the year exhausted form looking after and supporting people though many difficulties and I have survived another year with teenagers :)  (7 down and 12 to go...one disadvantage of having a large family)  I have spent a few days taking time out and just resting so I can get some energy back again and I am glad to say that I am starting to feel a little more like myself again. 



I love the ending and beginning of things.  I love to look back on what has been but I really enjoy the setting of new goals and having the excitement of new experiences. This year has been no exception.

I want to
  • Get fit.  I really want to feel healthier and to have more energy I'm even thinking about running a half marathon.  But we will wait and see
  • Progress more with my art work
  • Have better relationships with my family
  • Have a weekly date with my husband
  • Extend my education through reading




I may not get everything done but it is really nice to plan and prepare for the year ahead.  What goals are you making?  How are you going to spend the next 366 days?