For those of you who have been following the my column, or know me well, you are very aware that it has been a tough year for this veteran life coach.
A quick review: Last August, I was suffering with chronic migraines. Additionally, I injured my back rearranging furniture, as I was too impatient to wait to get some help. A side note: I am now convinced, that when the urge to move, DECORATE, remodel, comes over you and you MUST DO IT NOW, not next week or even tomorrow, but this very second, you are probably in the throes of peri-menopause. I have been conducting informal surveys and am now convinced. My girlfriend and I brainstormed a new word; instead of menopause, she came up with DECO-PAUSE!
It has been over 9 months since the day I gave the furniture a shove and I am still unable to sit down for more than five minutes. I can’t drive or go to a café, and when I type, I lie on my side and type with one finger. To top it off, most days I still suffer from migraines.
So as you can imagine, setting formal goals for 2007 was unimaginable. Other than the obvious, to be able to sit without pain, and to rid myself of the debilitating migraines, everything else seemed trivial.
I had the immediate thought that I had set no concrete goals and had accomplished nothing. Had I not spent the last 6 months mostly lying in bed in pain? Hardly worthy of a column called “Blast Off!” “Busted In” was more like it.
In June, I normally ask my clients to take out their goals and do a 6-month review. Being unable to model that process, what with no real goal plan this year, I tried a different approach.
What the heck, I would make a list of what I had accomplished without goals:
- Got over my life long work addiction at last…nothing like an imposed 9-month work slow down to have you rethink what is most important. I now work with a very small number of dedicated telephone clients.
- Learned to type with one finger while crafting my columns for 50Fabulous.com, reaching thousands of 50+ women like you, on-line.
- Exercised 3 times a week (never could fit that in before) in the pool, for my back. My dear friend Jill drives me and, afterwards we sometimes have an outdoor picnic, with me lying on my inflatable mattress in the park. Fun!
- Reached my ideal weight and holding steady
- Established two new, dear friends-no real quality time for friends before.
- Painted the living room, dining room, and bathroom with beautiful cheery colors-courtesy of my wonderful friend Rochelle and my husband, Jim, who respected my need to have it done NOW, and completed in the project in one weekend!
- No longer depressed over the injury…who could be depressed with a sun drenched bright yellow dining room?
- Completely updated my summer wardrobe, with gorgeous sun dresses (from Ross!) and colorful running shoes for my back. Again, the idea and implementation was courtesy of my friend Rochelle.
- Established a Friday night hot tub date with my husband.
I am thrilled with the results! I have accomplished more, in these last 6 months, than I have in many years, in areas that matter the most!
Share the summer’s bounty. Make a list of your 6-month accomplishments, today!
