I stopped making New Years Resolutions years ago. It seems the only resolution I have ever been able to achieve was to make no more of them.
After reading an article about cancer patients setting goals for themselves was a common trait in long term survivors. Goals can be treatment related, milestone related, exercise or personal achievement related. It's up to each of us to decide what we need.
So, I found an article that breaks down goal setting for survivors and how to approach them to succeed. I will post a link to the article but these are the recommended steps.
1. Set a rigid and quantifiable goal. It needs to be something that can be measured.
2. Expect plans to be flexible. Life, work, and cancer all throw us curves. Cancer doesn't happen in a vacuum, allow yourself a bit of flexibility when a challenge interferes
3. Now is the time. Wanting to have that swim with the dolphins? Do it now, next year something might happen to keep you out of the ocean.
4. Enjoy the journey, Every large goal is achieved by completing a subset of smaller goals Celebrate or allow yourself a bit of satisfaction when you finish each
5. Join a community. Find people who have similar goals Supporting each other along the way increases achievement Seek people who have achieved your goal and learn from them.
Arthur Ashe made famous this quote by an 18th century gentleman when he said, "Start where you are at. Use what you have. Do what you can".
Wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year!
