2016: Looking Forward

"We know not of the future and cannot plan for it much."

          -- Josiah Chamberlain

Happy New Year! 

I wish you the best year ever! 

I love New Years wishes. I want them to come true. I want to end 2016 healthier, wealthier, and wiser than I ended 2015. 

I want to be a better husband, father, grandfather, and friend than I am now. I want to become a better and more consistent writer. I want to grow a more productive garden both at home and for others. I want to visit new places and have adventures with family and friends.  

Having goals is necessary but having a goal does nothing to get me where I want to be unless I take actions to make the goal happen. If I keep doing what I did 2015, I will keep getting the results I got in 2015. If I want 2016 to be my best year ever, I need to either do things differently, or do different things.  

• If I am to be healthier, I need to make it a habit to exercise regularly and watch what I eat and I need to put specific actions on my daily class list to make sure these actions get done every day. 

• If I am to be wealthier, I need plan actions to track spending and encourage savings and frugality.

• If I am to be wiser, I must dedicate time to reading and study.

• If I am to be a better friend, I need to do more things a friend would do.

• If I am to become a better and more consistent writer, I need to make writing and publishing a habit. I set aside time to write every day, and I need to publish on a schedule. 

• If I want a productive garden, I must prepare the soil, plant at appropriate times, water and weed. If so, I should be rewarded with a harvest.

• If I want to travel and enjoy adventures with family and friends, I need to do the research and make the arrangements. 

And I need to track my progress in accomplishing each task. 

Situations may change. Circumstances will almost certainly change. Goals established early in the year may become untenable. If so, I can and will adjust. But, if I translate my goals into every day doable actions, and track my progress doing of those actions, then 2016 can very well be the best year ever.

How about you?

What are your goals for the New Year?

What actions do you need to take, what habits do you need to establish to make your goals for 2016 happen?