Everything Old is New Again!

The New Year is here and with it comes contemplation and introspection about 2012. Did I meet my goals from last year? Was there something I wanted to achieve that I haven’t been able to yet? How can I take what I’ve learned and apply it so that 2013 is the most productive year of my life?I’m sure I’m not alone in trying to make sure 2013 is the BEST year yet. Though I don’t do resolutions, because they’re so easily broken, I prefer to set goals. But setting goals can be an overwhelming task, can’t it? Will we be setting ourselves up for failure?

As I scour my calendar and plan for a productive year ahead, I know some people will be more successful than I am. Haven’t you ever wondered how someone who works 40 hours a week still has time to write 3 books a year, market those books, raise a family, and volunteer in their local community? I know I do. Whew! I’d love whatever that superwoman is drinking. (Is it rum? Jack always has better luck when he’s drinking rum.)

Rum or no rum, the truth is very clear. We all have 365 days at our disposal. We all have 12 months, 30-31 days each month (except for February), and 24 hours in a day. How are we using those months, days, hours, and minutes? Are we using our time wisely? Are we wasting time? Do we use each day to our fullest advantage? Understanding ourselves and how we monitor time can make all the difference between success and failure at whatever we attempt to achieve.

I recently purchased a calendar from Staples. It’s the 2013 Action Day Planner, Designed for Action by Thorsteinn Gardarsson. This type of calendar was a boon for me a few years ago, but I didn’t use it to its fullest advantage. Now that I have deadlines to manage, release dates, marketing and promotion to organize, books to plot and write, blogs dates to remember, I need to ensure that I make use of my time this year. Enter my need for a purposeful calendar…

What makes the Action Day Planner so valuable? A full calendar profile is typeset at the beginning of the spiral bound desktop book. I can look at four months together and get a broader scope of the year and how I can best utilize my time. Each calendar week is set on a two-page spread. Within these two pages are sections for Tasks to Execute, Listing projects and who they’re delegated to with due dates, Goals, Results, and Action steps, as well as listings for each day by hour. Even greater! The beginning of the calendar book helps each owner understand The Power of Attitude, Goals and Actions.

“Most of us go to our graves with our music still inside us, unemployed.” Oliver Wendell Holmes

Imagine, if you will, the potential in days, months, years. How do you see yourself in one year, five years, ten years? Calculating time in large lumps can be mind-blowing. But, if we monitor time day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year, it appears more manageable, doesn’t it?

In order to achieve a goal, you MUST have a positive attitude. The Action Day Planner breaks attitude down for you into doable chunks. Do you see the glass half-full or half-empty?

“Your attitude about who you are and what you have is a very little thing that makes a very big difference.” Theodore Roosevelt

After the parable of an African farmer who sells his farm in search of riches, only to have the next owner discover the largest diamond mine in the world on that very same farm, Gardarsson goes on to say, “We have to look within, our greatest fortune lies within ourselves. We have to discover our mines and polish the diamonds we possess. Our diamond mines represent the attitude we have toward ourselves and our work and communications.”

If you are setting goals this year and need a calendar to monitor those goals and deadlines you set for yourself, I highly recommend the 2013 Action Day Planner, me hearties.

“It’s never too late to be what you want to be.” George Elliot

“Man is a goal-seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals.” Aristotle 

Are you striving to achieve more in 2013? Gardarsson says, “A thousand-mile walk always begins with the first step.”

My oldest daughter just had her first baby, my third grandson. It occurred to me that his life is unwritten. How he’s raised will determine how he makes use of his time, how successful he’ll be, how fascinated by the world and grounded in faith he’ll become. We can achieve our goals, my friends. Like a newborn baby, we can make this year our pirate ship by taking each minute, each hour, each day by the helm.

I’m going to do it! You can do it! We all CAN do it!!!

What do you hope to achieve in 2013? Have you defined your goals?

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