As January Fades

Our kitchen calendar, photo by J. Berta

Greetings All:

January is over, one month down.  Here in Iowa, winter still rules yet the cold has not been as biting.  We have no snow and the days are tantalizingly getting longer.  I'm under no illusions that there is still a LOT of cold left before spring arrives.  Still, watching January fade does not bring me any sadness.  There are 49 days of winter left, come on, spring, come on, spring!

As I look back on this month, I am surprised at how fast it flew by.  Certain things I had hoped to accomplish are still on track.  Others are still on the drawing board.  Some are DOA.  

Let's take one for example-exercising more.  Overall, it's been a pretty good month.  Yet today I totally slipped and talked myself out of getting on the treadmill.  I was even wearing running shorts and all I had to do was put on shoes and walk about 50 steps to the machine.  I even have a book I look forward to listing to ready to go.  But it didn't happen.

Why?  There are the natural culprits:  Motivation, prioritization, ineffective time management.  All true.  Yet I would say that the biggest reason I did not get on the treadmill was I was not convinced of its importance, its significance.

My not exercising is just one example of why certain things I "wanted" to do did not happen.  If I do not see the importance in an activity, I will not do it.  If I do not view it as a high enough priority, it will not happen. 


One of the best things we can do as we head into February is to re-engage with our goals for 2017.  Goals help clarify the things that are important, significant and a priority in our lives  My friend, keynote motivational speaker Dave "The Shef" Sheffield sums it up nicely in this video.   I invite you to watch it.

Along with revisiting our goals is the equally important task of deciding what is not as important.  It is ok to not respond to every post you see on Facebook.  (Are you really going to change your friend's opinion about "__________"?)  Join a group?  Serve on a committee?  Attend a charitable event?  These are all worthy endeavors but it is something that is assisting you in doing the big things that will help make 2017 your best year ever?  There is nothing wrong with saying NO and I am attempting to do that myself.  It is somewhat of a trite comment but it is true:  By saying "NO" now you can say "YES" to other, bigger things down the road.

So here's to the next 11 months of 2017.  I hope it is terrific for you.  Here's to all of us re-engaging with our goals as winter, like January, fades.

Be well my friends,
Jeno