Suddenly the frenzy of Christmas is over, with shopping, wrapping, and cooking behind me. First I have to deal with the aftermath of cardboard and paper recycling, eating of leftovers and finding places to store all of the kid’s new toys, then I can move on to the next BIG thing. Some people have a hard time trying to figure out what to do with themselves after Christmas besides hitting the after-Christmas sales or buying a new outfit for New Year’s Eve, but I have something much bigger in my sites.

What is next? Annual goal-setting! Last year was the first year I considered such a thing, yet this year it has become a ‘must-do’ activity. With all the accomplishments from last year, I seem to have gained the momentum of a snowball rolling downhill during an avalanche. Now that I have started accomplishing goals, I can’t stop setting them or achieving them. Last year I took the first step on a life-long goal of writing a book. Next year I will be editing, rewriting, and publishing the book. A giant task? Of course! Possible? Absolutely.

I learned many things last year about goal setting:
1) You can’t accomplish goals if you don’t set them.
2) If you think you have no goals, sit in front of hundreds of magazines and cut out pictures that grab your attention – they will just come to you.
3) Dreaming Big = Accomplishing Big
4) When you have friends to support you on you journey, any goal is possible

My biggest challenge for next year is setting achievable goals – because I feel like there are more things I would like to accomplish, than what I reasonably have time to complete.

Here is my first cut at goals for 2011, and now that I wrote them I guess I am committed:
1) Complete editing and formatting of my book “Clocks and Olives” and then find a publisher
2) Buy a new car (my VW Golf is from 2000)
3) Continue a healthy lifestyle of yoga, running, meditation and eating
4) Plan 1-2 vacations for the year to a place outside of Arizona
5) Bring peace, serenity, calm, and creativity into my life.
6) Learn something new like a language (Italian?)

What goals do you have for 2011?