This is question #8 of the Year End Countdown Challenge held in Dec 2012, where we count down to the new year with 13 reflective questions. The challenge is now over but you can do the tasks in your own time. Visit the overview page for all the challenge tasks.
Welcome to Day 6 of the 2013 Countdown Challenge! :D
2013 Countdown, Question #8…
Questions for the 13-day, 13-question countdown so far:
- #13: How has your year of 2012 been? | 168 Comments | Post Your Response
- #12: What are 12 things you love about year 2012? | 120 Comments | Post Your Response
- #11: What were your lowest points this year? Why? | 113 Comments | Post Your Response
- #10: What lessons have you learned from those low points? | 69 Comments | Post Your Response
- #9: What could you have done better this year? (Be honest with yourself) | 41 Comments | Post Your Response
Today’s question, question #8, is:
[Cont from #9] What can you do to ensure you don’t repeat the same behaviors in 2013?
Your Task
- Reflect and answer today’s question. There’s no word limit – whether minimum or maximum. Write as few or as many words as you want. It’s all up to what you want to express!
- Share your answer. After you are done writing, copy and paste your answer in the comments area and post it there.
- Check out other participants’ answers. Other participants will be sharing their answers too, so feel free to read and reply to their answers.
Look forward to reading your answers! :)
(After you are done, proceed to #7: What are you most grateful for in 2012?)
(Images: Field, Constructing a lego set on a field)
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I think there’s much I can do to make sure I don’t procrastinate and stay committed to the things I want to try this year, as well as being positive and less fearful.
The biggest one I can think of is to simply stick to the plans I make. So often I make plans but push them aside thinking, “Oh, I’ll just do that the next day, or the day after” and before I know it, it’s spiraled out of control. Take this challenge, for example. I keep telling myself I’ll catch up the next day, and now it’s the last day of 2013 and I’ve got eight prompts to answer! The fault is my own, but I am determined to finish this challenge even if I’m finishing the prompts late!
The next is to try not to take up so much at once. I always get very excited that I’m going to change my life for the better, and make plans for all of these changes I want to create, but nothing ever sticks. This is because I’m always trying to make many changes at once. This year, I’m going to make sure that any time I want to make changes, I space them out so that each change has a chance to stick. I’ll make a list of the habits and changes I want to make, and then make plans on how to incorporate those changes into my life in a way that doesn’t make me feel overwhelmed and want to give up.
To avoid procrastinating, I’m going to do some soul-searching into why I procrastinate. I think this relates to me being fearful, and I feel that if I start drilling into my fears with some introspection I may be able to come out the other end being less likely to procrastinate. I’m hoping this will also break me out of being lazy, as I’m prone to feeling. I think if I remind myself of what I want to achieve, and lose my fear of not being able to achieve it, then I should start getting much better results in my life.
As for being positive, well, that’s the first habit I want to start introducing into my life. I’m perfectly capable of being positive, of thinking positively, but I want it to be my natural way of thinking and not something I have to shift my mind into. I think that being fearful and negative causes so many issues for me, that being positive may prove quite beneficial in getting the results I want.
I hope that by following this plan, I can make 2013 my best year yet!
Avoid beginning on that path in the 1st place, faithful in less,faithful in much!
#2013Countdown, #8: [Cont’d from #9] What can you do to ensure you don’t repeat the same behaviours in 2013?
– Use affirmations and positive self-talk to learn to love myself more. :hug:
– Experiment with creative, guilt free play (this sounds great to me so I certainly will do this!).
– The previous point comes along with the time spent with people I like, love and appreciate – I want to schedule quality time with them, share joyful moments, learn and play together!
– Meditate, be more mindful / present in my daily life, listen to my body and feelings, observe my reactions so I can step up when appropriate.
– Read some books on management and coaching and more importantly, use the tips, experiment with them in real life situations.
• Better time management.
• Making monthly and yearly plan with SMART objectives.
• Improve my German language one small level per month.
• Focus on personal development by identifying my SWOTs, improving on my improvement areas, developing weak areas, and making better my strengths.
• Understanding of business and developing a certain business plan for passive income.
• If I feel a certain opportunity is good/suitable for me then avail it without second thoughts or doubts (especially if instilled by second person).
• Ensuring I have a saving account started and target to be completely self-dependent to avoid having myself in that awkward situation of asking someone else for financial support/help/sponsoring.
• Cooking one new dish every week and focus on improving it before trying another.
• Focus on improving my analytical abilities and management skills further.
• Really learn to love myself more and be happy on my own.
• Need to learn/work on not letting problems take the best out of me.
• Focus on my health and lifestyle habits, and make them better.
Spiritually –
At next year’s retreat, I will focus on understanding before making resolutions
I will be more circumspect in my choice of a spiritual director
Emotionally –
I will scrutinize friendships to see if emphasis is giving or getting
I will not be pressured into giving my assent
Physically –
I will try to get some exercise done :-)
To improve on organisation for 2013 I am going to get organised in January and put everything in a place!
Don’t be so hard on myself.
Be better with my money.
Stop worrying so much all the time! Maybe start up meditating again!
Look at different ways to relax or to calm down.
I can reflect on my life and refine my values and purpose in order to create
Some compelling goals for 2013 so I know what my priorities are.
To make a list of everything I need to fix and sort out in my home, all the things
I need to do to better organised, such as sort out my emails, decluttering, have
Safe places for important things and make my home functional and do it, starting
With sorting out emails, both work and personal, and my laptop, over the holidays.
I can organise my time better and allocate blocks of time to important tasks so
They actually get done on a weekly basis. This includes getting chores as well
As creative work done in the evenings and ensuring I do fun things with my son
On the weekend such as visit parks and be creative at home.
I can sit down every Sunday and plan the upcoming week with everyone
Involved in my son’s childcare so I am clearer on what time I have available
And can better plan.
Set clear limits on how much TV/computer/mobile games time my son can have and
Stick to it. Put more effort into his reward chart, which isn’t working too well at the
Moment. Do some parenting research to decide how to go about this.
Develop a better routine for my son and show him the weekly plan of who will be
Looking after him every Sunday.
Make a reading list for the year and find some good podcasts to listen to.
Set goals that include pursuing certain interests and meeting certain kinds of people.
Start getting up at 5 am every morning so I can meditate, write morning pages, do my
Back exercises, get ready for work, get my son up, have breakfast together and not
Have to rush or get stressed. I would need to be asleep before 11 pm to do this.
I could make some goals about meeting up with people such as my family and take
Some initiative.
I could design my home how I want it to be and include decorating in my weekly tasks
To do.
I could think carefully about how my decisions affect other people.
I could design myself in terms of how I want to look and make it happen.
I could create goals at work and decide how much I want to share, as well as have
A careful think about how I can really add value. I could also plan what my ideal job
Would be and find out what skills I should focus on. I could also suggest ideas to
Azeem via email and improve the work environment. I could also have more faith
In myself and my ideas and express them more, in a quietly confident way.
Whilst creating my goals I could also create a vision for my life, a vision board,
And practice creative visualisation, focusing on what I want as much as possible.
I need to move on from my ex in a loving and kind way.
I need to make a decision about my son’s schooling, do I go to church and have him
Make is holy communion so he had the option of going to a catholic secondary school
Or do I just leave it and see what happens or do I take him out of his school and put
Him into a secular school ASAP. Perhaps looking at other schools whilst attending a
Church I can tolerate is the best option.
I could keep in mind that my mum has had a hard childhood and is so defensive because
She is insecure.
I could get hold of the Buddhist book that really helped me a couple of years ago.
I will stop procrastinating
I will stop being all words and more action
I’m tired of being stuck it’s time for change
To ensure I don’t repeat the same behaviors I will:
discipline myself
manage my time
social less and listen and observe more
work to my fullest potential
be more confident and stand-up for what I believe in
stay focused
pray and love
appreciate life to its fullest
love like there’s no tomorrow
help more
speak life into my future and be positive
plan accordingly and follow through with the plan
not settle for less and strive for perfection
be a better friend to those worthy of my friendship
not waste my time and try to fix people I can not
not let others manipulate me and take advantage of me
not criticize others before taking a look at myself and fixing my problems and when I do criticize it is constructive
go too church
be a better sister and mentor to my siblings
exercise and eat healthy
:clap: :D :dance: :heart: :hug: :hug: :heart: :clap: :clap: :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel: :heart: :heart: :dance:
What can I do to ensure I don’t repeat the same behaviors in 2013?
I need to be mindful of my action. Whenever I catch myself slipping up, I should remember that I get to do it all over again any time that I choose, as soon as the next 5 minutes.
Well, it sums up to one rule I guess: “Stop procastinating and move&action”
– Create a timetable and MAKE SURE I follow it! Be prepared for every lessons. Start on a project/an assignment as soon as I get it. Take breaks during study hours and don’t overwhelm myself. Balance both education and leisure.
– Don’t hang around the shops unless I NEED to get some neccessity.
– Only spend for things that are needed!
I need to set goals for myself. Find ways such as meditation to find myself and change for the better. Learn to separate my work relationship with my parents and my relationship with them outside of work. Find more time and use it to write, take classes to learn new things that will help me in the future. Exercise religiously before my health starts failing me and it won’t be an option anymore.
Make use of the supports I have in my life – my family, my wife, my friends, both in real life and online. I have been trying to do things all by myself, in order to please others, and I don’t have to. I can do them for ME, with the help and support of others who want me to succeed (again, for me, not for them). Asking for and getting help when I need it is not a crime, and it’s not a failure. It shows strength, not weakness.
And, ultimately, I just have to keep working on it. I won’t succeed all at once, I may backslide now and then – but I only fail if I stop working on what I need to do.
1. Mainly I want to make sure that I don’t take on too much that eat away time for activities important to my long term goals. Also to be firm on my decisions, esp turning down assignments that are impossible or conflicting with my other work tasks. So I am planning to maintain a weekly calendar (synced with my iphone, ipad etc) and keep it on prominent display at my desk. That way even my superiors can see what my deadlines are and hourly tasks and realize that I have a very valid reason for turning down assignments.
2. Keep weekends only for family. Spend 45 minutes a week calling up my cousins in Asia and Canada.
3. Spend one hour every morning to maintain my own blog and follow up on my creative ideas.
4. Spend one hour every night finishing my technical readings.
Simply recognizing that these are behaviors I want to change I think is the first step, and one of the hardest.
Next I need to establish some goals and measurements for my desire to be more open in my communication.
When I start to think a task is something I don’t want to do, I need to make sure I’m not letting my fears take control and just do it.
I will continue to work to see the bright side of life, be thankful for what I have and accepting of my mistakes.
I’m a little late with this one, it took me some time to think about it. What I’ll do next year is:
– continue to serve
– continue to be grateful
– create a vision board
– be a better friend and coworker
How will I ensure I don’t make the same mistakes this year?
Definitely I need to make sure that I’m proactive and not reactive. I need to identify problems in advance and react to them before they happen, rather than playing catch-up. I can apply this to every single aspect of my life. In terms of relationships I am going to listen to the advice that is something along the lines of “Effective communication is first to seek to understand, second to seek to be understood”. I think this is hugely important.
I’m going to think much, much more and waste less time on pointless endeavors that won’t serve me. I want to understand more about what I want and aim more towards these things and continue practicing the idea of being 100% responsible for my life.
I am getting angery in each and everything which I do not like but in 2013 I make promice that I will keep my head cool in all circumstances.
I will forgive all due to which I am getting angery.For this I have started practicing Vipassana on daily basis.
Its improving my angry behaviour tremendiously.
For this thanks to Sh.S.N.Goyanka.
JAI HIND.
In having learnt from these behaviours I have prioritised time for my family and lessened some of the things that took me away from that. I have stepped away from involving myself in situations that put me around negative people. I will need to continually work on procrastinating and decluttering my house but these are at the top of my list and I have written these up and put them up in my room and in my office at work so hopefully that reminds me.
I could consciously work on things that keep me happy set achievable goals and plan towards achieving them
Be more open to communication in a relationship try telling what I feel and not constantly adjust to the whims of others
Learn to stop procrastinating and be more active towards finishing my tasks , control my temper and ego and not take any decision in a hasty manner
1) I could had written my novels. – Do my own personal Nanowrimo Challenge
2) I could had participated in Personal Excellence’s early challenges – Participate in what you can from now on and buy the books when you have money.
3) I could had woken up earlier – Establish hours for my schedules
4) My grades could had been better – Eat a snack when you arrive from home, then study. Don’t study by nighttime.
5) I could had done something special and give the half of my necklace to my girlfriend in the last day I physically saw her back at May 28. – Forgive myself and simply make her happy.
6) I could had taken better care of my general health (brushing teeth, going to the doctor, my diet, exercising). – brush my teeth in the mornings, talk to mom like every day/week reminding her of doctors, eat a balanced diet, exercise on weekends.
7) I could had stood up for myself more. – deal with the root issues on why I don’t stand up for myself
8) I could had given a gift to my friend on valentine’s day. – Forgive myself and move on
9) I could had gotten my driver’s license. – keep studying on weekdays as I am doing now
10) I could had gone out more like the zoo and an amusement park. – go out more to the places I can go by myself or with friends and talk to dad and mom and offer ideas
11) I could had de-cluttered my room and my life more. – throw away the past
12) I could had worked harder on my blog since the start. – Keep doing as I’m doing now. (going one thing at a time)
13) Depending on my girlfriend – concentrate on my own life and my own goals more frequently than I already do
Reflect more (started a journal for this)
Going to venture out of my “comfort zone” (A friend of mine has issued me a challenge where try something different once a week)
Talk less, listen more
Think positive (One way is to read good websites like PE!)
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