I love this time of year and the rejuvenating energy that’s in the air. I often have my military spouse clients create vision boards in January and set some new intentions, thinking about all the things they want to attract into their lives over the next year. I especially enjoy completing the life wheel as a free tool for considering what I would like to accomplish in each area for the year to come.
The difference between this year and years past is that I am NOT going to bully myself into taking action steps in each area. I am going to focus on 1% change instead—baby steps toward success. Small 1% changes in each area of our lives can feel much more doable, and I think this is even more important for busy military spouses.
The Baby Steps Approach to Success –
Perfect for Military Spouses!
Between deployments, relocations, and maintaining the home front, military spouses already have a lot on our plates. We have so many important responsibilities supporting our heroes, a harder time finding jobs, cultivating friendships, and feeling close to our loved ones. It’s a lot to handle, and you definitely deserve a big hug for all you’re already doing!
So, many of us ask, why add goal setting to the to do list and make it even longer? Initially, it seems like a chore for many of us.
That’s why, instead, I like thinking about goals as fun and doable seasonal intentions. I try to be gentle when it comes to planning my to do lists.
To help with this enjoyable and hopefully pain-free task, I’m offering a free coaching call at the end of January. We’ll be discussing how to gracefully seek change and plan out our year, seasons, months, and weeks in a way that works with our busy military spouse schedules.
I really hope you’ll join me for this free call where we can brainstorm and share strategies for making life easier. Sign up at www.militaryspousecoach.com/events.
Ditch Negative Resolutions
I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions that often just make us feel bad about ourselves. Military life is already stressful, so I don’t like anything that adds a feeling of overwhelm. This year I let go of the need to put “lose weight” or “save money” at the top of my to do list and decided that I would, instead, add little things that I’ve been putting off as a gift to myself.
These are small things that I know will help my stress level but I put off for whatever reason. For example, every time I get a new in-person coaching client, I send a similar email explaining the directions to my office, parking information, etc. And, for years I’ve thought about how simple it would be to just create an attachment with all of the information in one place. For whatever reason, I don’t do it, so this joyful time saver is going to the very top of my 2018 to do list!
Create a Joyful Action Plan
I’ve decided that, instead of making huge resolutions, I’ll just focus on doing little things that make life easier. I believe that adding simple items to my to do list like “Make directions attachment,” “Drink a bottle of water on the way to work,” or “Taco Tuesdays” make life better without adding stress or negative thoughts.
Think of your life and where you can plant a small seed. What systems will serve your lifestyle and make things go more smoothly in the year to come? Share your little systems in the comments below so that other military spouses can gracefully steal them.
And, for more support, check out my free call at the end of the month. We’ll be chatting about goal-setting for the year to come in a painless and even fun way. Sign up at www.militaryspousecoach.com/events. I hope to see you there!