LIFE’S FLAVORS 12/30- ALLISON LIBBY-THESING OF THE OAKS BED & BREAKFAST

The end of the year is rapidly closing in on us, and as the month of December draws to close, it brings to question did you achieve everything you set out to achieve? Did you mark down your goals or resolutions for the year and check them off as you completed them? A resolution as defined by Webster is the act of determining. While a goal is defined as the end toward which effort is directed. Personally, the thought of making resolutions for the next year seems to be a great idea in theory but in reality, are rarely ever achieved by those who set them. A resolution is fleeting and set with good intentions, but sometimes begin to rapidly fizzle by the end of January. That might not be the case for everyone but, can be lost for people who do not start out with an end in mind.A goal is more that just good intentions, it is defined and has a set date which the user wants to achieve at the end. If you want to see real change within your life, make goals not just resolutions. Resolutions can be the big picture, while goals can be the nitty-gritty of your desire towards self-improvement, so long as your goal can be a measure of success for you. What you determine to be a measure of success might not be what your neighbor or friend sees as success. Do not let others determine your success, only you can make your dreams a reality and your goals come to fruition.

No matter if you set goals or make resolution statements, you are stating to the world that you want to see change happen in your life. How you determine to make that change is up to you. If your resolutions fail, that becomes the burden you must bear. If they succeed, then share your success with those you love and set more to continue your road for success.

The key to either is how you feel about the resolution or goal at the end of the year. Did you stand by your resolutions for much of the time this year? Or did you find success in reaching your goals and checking off the boxes of success while continuing to make new goals throughout the year?

Personally, we set goals. As a measured experience, where we can determine when our goal has been achieved or if we reach the end date and have not reached our goal, we adjust and reevaluate our choices. One goal for this year as parents, is to make sure our oldest child is ready to take on the world. As she prepares to graduate in May, from High School, we want her to be able to cook ten different meals for herself, and be able to manage her money, and time well. Within the larger goals, smaller achievable goals are set, so that when the time comes for her to leave home, we can feel confident that she is leaving with a foundation for life beyond college.

So, much of the next six months will be focused on her and getting her through the last hurdles of adolescence, into an emerging young adult, who can make her own decisions and mistakes. We will need goals for the other children as well. We do not want them to be left behind or feel as though they have been forgotten. As parents our goals for our younger children will be education and social based. Those are just a few examples of some of the goals we have set. Business and personal development goals will be needed as well.

Let us know what goal you have set for the next year and when you plan to achieve that goal and set a new goal. You determine your success, no one else can take away your success or undermine the goals you have set and have achieved. Put your goals out there for everyone to see, and when you smash it, let them know. Be proud of your accomplishments and keep on fighting for what you want.