A Plan for the Journey

This year, I think I will give myself a very unusual gift. If there is anything that I have longed for and seemed to just miss out on , it is discipline. I am the most undisciplined person I know. Over the years I have completely overused the following excuses to keep from developing any semblance of self-discipline: I'm left handed (this got me out of learning to knit and crochet); I'm lazy (I heard this enough that I figured it must be true); I'm a perfectionist therefore since I know I can't be perfect, why try?; I have children; I work; I'm too overweight; I have ADD; it goes against my personality; I've tried before and been unsuccessful. But the most crazy of all is thinking that I can't be disciplined because I'm not.

Since I have not been able to buy discipline, and believe me I have tried, I figure that what I need to do is develop it. I know enough about myself that it won't be good for me to just say in so many days I am going to become a disciplined person. Such thinking is doomed to fail because it is not specific or measurable. Instead of setting a globally ineffective goal for myself, I am going to use my goal setting standards (SMART) and identify four target areas within my life that I intend to address by developing self-discipline.

The first two are in the area of the physical. The other day when I saw the cardiologist I weighed in at a whopping 240 pounds. A week previous to that I saw my physician and she told me that I need to address the obvious issues related to cholesterol and glucose through the means of improving my diet and exercise. I would love to weigh one hundred pounds less by my next birthday. Short of gastric bypass, I will have to diligently work at this through exercise and diet. My goal for the remaining month of April is to begin to adjust my eating. The main thing that I will seek to increase is my intake of vegetables and water consumption. I will set my next diet goal on April 30 for the month of May. As for exercise, I will work out with the Easy Shaper at least 3 times a week, ride my bike at least twice a week, and walk the dogs 3 times a week.

The next area is creative. I have sat here thinking long about this. There are so many things I want to do. I don’t want to set one limiting goal. I think instead I will set a monthly goal. So, for the remainder of April I will identify 10 already written pieces to send in for publishing and send them in by April 30. By April 30 I will also identify my goal for May.

Determining a fourth area means ruling out other viable contenders for attention. I’m sure that Nelson would like me to become more disciplined about housekeeping. I could easily set a monthly goal related to de-cluttering my life. I could see setting a goal in the area of community action. I even thought about a teaching goal. But sitting quietly, I asked for guidance in the identifying of the final area for attention in this coming year. And I believe that I need to both grow and discipline myself in the area of study.

I am out of date and stagnant. I need to get current and really stretch my mind. One thing I would love to do is get training toward certification in MBTI. I also want to improve my knowledge base related to spirituality and personality. Many years ago, I started translating the book of Philippians from the Greek to English. I would like to complete that. To move closer to accomplishing those goals, in the month of April I will research and identify a MBTI training that I would like to attend. I will gather and set aside my Philippians resources and work on translating the first chapter. I will read one book about Philippians.

I have read and read this piece, checking the do-ability of each goal; measuring it’s requirements against my schedule. I want to develop discipline, but I’m not going to go on a retreat to accomplish this. I will keep working and watching my grandson. I have commitments at church that I want to follow through on and obligations at home. I want to develop discipline as a life style so that other areas of my life will be positively impacted, not ignored. I want to go into this completely believing that what I am setting out to do is what I can do, what I want to do, and what I need to do grow.

I will be 54 tomorrow. I have a plan to go with me as I journey toward being 55. I wonder what I’ll do then?