Carol's Corner

At the beginning of January, the start of a new calendar year, many people make resolutions or set new goals. By February, or before, our resolutions have faded into memory, our to do list appears so long we may never complete it and goals to be reached might seem unreachable. I am no exception. I never make resolutions since I know I will likely quit attempting them long before January ends. I do, however, like to challenge myself with goals for the year. At times it is a review of ones I never completed the previous year but always I add some new ones to the mix. By February I wonder if I have been overly ambitious. The journey to completion looms large and often overshadows the celebration of small steps along the way.

Several years ago, a young lady from one of the Toastmaster’s clubs I belong to, offered each member a jar. She had decorated each one to fit the person receiving it. Mine included beads reading – heart to heart – to commemorate my tagline on my webpage and business cards. The other beads – always believe – encouraged me to believe I could do the things I set out to accomplish. Her challenge to each of us – put a slip of paper in the jar with the item accomplished, the goal met, the award received and the date. To make it even simpler she removed the metal top to the jar and left only the ring – we did not even have to open the jar to add the paper. During the year we received gentle reminders to fill our jar. One year later we pulled the papers out of the jar to see what goals had been fulfilled. When you know someone is checking up on whether you have filled your jar, it helps keep you working towards meeting goals, celebrating small steps and having the chance to track each step of your journey.

This pretty little jar still sits on my desk, beckoning me to revive the plan for this year as a method to keep me on task, help me track successes, no matter how small or large and then celebrate at the end of the year when I reflect back.

What plans have you made this year? How do you track your progress towards completion of the plans? Maybe you want to pause in your work, your obligations and have some fun – make a pretty little jar or a box and fill it with slips of paper tracking your accomplishments. If you have other ideas you use – have some fun and share them with others.

Wishing you success as you track your progress this year.